Just finished my first all grain...

It took me about 4.5 hours from start to finish, but I completed it! The recipe called for an OG of 1042, but I came out at 1045.

Mash temp. was supposed to be at 153, but I mashed at 154ish and never lost one degree ! My total grain bill was about 9lbs and I used a ratio of 1.25qt/lbs.

However I have some questions:

1. I'm proud of myself for hitting my mash temp, but will that one degree higher make a difference? I mashed for one hour.

2. I guess I did a mash out where I added about 1.5 gallons of boiling water to my mash, temperature went to 170 then I waited 10 mins., then vorlaufed and drained everything into my kettle. However, I had an additional 4 gallons of boiling water ready to go to help me get to my pre-boil volume of about 6.5 gallons. I added that, but my temp shot up to 185ish. I didn't let that sit long, so I drained it into my kettle until I reached my pre-boil volume. Will that higher temp effect anything?

3. I boiled as usual, cooled to about 75, then drained into my sanitized fermenter while at the same time splashing it around some to help aerate. After I transferred my 5 gallons I stirred it up some. Pitched a packet of dry yeast and sealed it up. Everything good there?

4. I tried to take notes, but honestly since this was my first time I focused on the whole process itself so I could see how this is done.

What do you guys think? I really am proud of myself for doing this and my taste at the end was FANTASTIC!

Cris

1. No 1 degree is not going to to anything! your in the clear and I wouldn't worry about a degree or two.

2. Im a little lost on this step? Did you batch sparge?

3.All good!

4. Notes are great but considering nothing exploded and you got wort in your fermenter I would call that a great first day. My first day a carboy exploded.....

When you say your temp shot up to 185ish, was that with grains in the mix? I'm new to AG also, but from what I've read anything over 170 can cause tannins to extract from the grains... along with other unwanted stuff. Perhaps some experienced AG people can elaborate on this for you and I both....

Your sparge water only needs to be about 180, not boiling. The only time you add boiling water is to hit desired higher temp, like another step in our mash, mashing out, missed your strike temp, etc. Otherwise when sparging you just need warm water to rinse the grains (180ish)

bmunos said:

1. No 1 degree is not going to to anything! your in the clear and I wouldn't worry about a degree or two.

2. Im a little lost on this step? Did you batch sparge?

3.All good!

4. Notes are great but considering nothing exploded and you got wort in your fermenter I would call that a great first day. My first day a carboy exploded.....

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1. Good to hear I'm in the clear there!

2. I did batch sparge, but I was trying to do like a double batch sparge. After one hour I added about 1.5 gallons of boiling water to the mash and this brought the temp up to 170. I let that sit for 10 mins. then drained the mash tun empty of wort. I then added about 4 gallons of boiling water into the mash which brought the temp to about 185...I kinda freaked so I stirred for a min. then just started to drain it off into my kettle until I reached my boil volume. My theory was I didn't want to extract any bad flavors from the grains so thats why I drained w/in a min. or two.

3. Awesome!

4. Yeah, I tried to remember to take notes, but I focused more on seeing how this all works and finding a process that fits me.

Stauffbier said:

When you say your temp shot up to 185ish, was that with grains in the mix? I'm new to AG also, but from what I've read anything over 170 can cause tannins to extract from the grains... along with other unwanted stuff. Perhaps some experienced AG people can elaborate on this for you and I both....

Click to expand...

Yes, grains in the mix, but the wort only stayed w/ the grains for about 2 mins. and then I started draining off.

cvstrat said:

Your sparge water only needs to be about 180, not boiling. The only time you add boiling water is to hit desired higher temp, like another step in our mash, mashing out, missed your strike temp, etc. Otherwise when sparging you just need warm water to rinse the grains (180ish)

Click to expand...

Copy that! I was following someone elses directions but they were using A LOT more grain. At the end though it tasted just fine!

Thanks!