My first AG brew pr0n

Just like everyone else, I took pictures of my first AG brew session. Let's hear what you think. I did a pale ale, named it "Newton's Not-So-Pale Ale".

Here's the brew pr0n!

Things I learned from my first AG:
1. I'm going to build a fly sparge manifold (we lost the end-cap from the SS braid manifold in the mash and thus we have a pretty cloudy beer)
2. I'm going to get some proper hop bags, i used a brand new set of pantyhose I found in SWMBO's drawer and i think it put off-flavours in the beer
3. I need a bigger kettle! Using the same pot as HLT and boil kettle is annoying.

Altogether, I think it went rather well. Can't wait until the next time.

The recipe is below
11 lbs. Gambrinus 2-row organic malt (this is the standard 2-row at LHBS)
0.5 lbs. 70 deg crystal
0.25 lbs. wheat malt

single mash @ 155 deg F (1 litre/lb)
mashout 5 litres of boiling water
batch sparge 4 gallons
(do you like my metrimperial units?)

60 minute boil

0.75 oz cascade (60 min)
0.75 oz EKG (60 min)

0.5 oz cascade (5 min)
0.5 oz EKG (5 min)

1 envelope dry Nottingham

target volume: 23 litres
actual volume: ~19 litres

target OG: 1.050
actual OG: 1.052

Looks great! I like the pantyhose hop bag! haha

have you ever thought about using a starter? They'll improve your beer quite a bit.

I'm guessing you are using the Coleman MLT with the stainless steel braid. I have the same setup and I've never had a problem mashing. I'd try and fix that end-cap before investing in a fly sparging system.

Did you hit your mash temperatures correctly? That was my biggest thing on my my first AG. I had to go back in to BeerSmith and make the proper adjustments for my equipment.

Also, where did you lose almost a gallon? Did you have that severe of a boil over?