1st AG Brew in 15 Years!

Just sent my first brew in 15 years to the primary. A Belgian Strong Golden. All-in-all it went well. Thanks to this forum I was pretty well prepared. Used a 10gal round cooler for my MLT. Thanks to FlyGuy for the instructions on putting that together. I shot for 154 for the mash and hit 152, but it stayed at 152 for the whole hour! Didn't get quite the efficiency I expected. Anticipated an OG of 1.084 and got 1.074. Gotta work on that. Here's the recipe:

Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 6.50 gal
Estimated OG: 1.084 SG
Estimated Color: 7.4 SRM
Estimated IBU: 26.6 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
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Amount Item Type % or IBU
11 lbs 8.0 oz Pilsen (2 Row) US (1.0 SRM) Grain 74.34 %
15.5 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 6.27 %
8.0 oz Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM) Grain 3.23 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 3.23 %
2.00 oz Mt. Hood [4.20 %] (60 min) Hops 24.6 IBU
0.50 oz Saaz [2.50 %] (15 min) Hops 1.8 IBU
0.50 oz Saaz [2.50 %] (3 min) Hops 0.2 IBU
0.50 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
1.00 tbsp PH 5.2 Stabilizer (Mash 60.0 min) Misc
4.00 oz Rice Hulls (Mash 60.0 min) (pre-soaked) Misc
2 lbs Candi Sugar, Amber (10.0 SRM) (15 min) Sugar 12.93 %
1 Pkgs Belgian Strong Ale (Wyeast Labs #1388) Yeast-Ale


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 13.47 lb
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Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Mash In Add 16.84 qt of water at 168.7 F 154.0 F
5 min Mash Out Add 4.00 qt of water at 207.9 F 163.0 F
Sparge with 12.5 qt at 170 F
-----------------------------

It's amazing when I look back at my brew logs from 15 years ago. I can't believe the things I did and didn't do and that the beer was drinkable. Just goes to show brewing can be quite forgiving. Can't wait to see how this one turns out. And looking forward to the next one.

Thanks to everyone on HBT for the excellent advice and guidance!

Congrats. Don't you love that FlyGuy conversion!

Good job and welcome back

cee3, what a move after 15 years. I have been doing extract / steeping for around 15 years also. I agree this site has been fantastic in motivating and aiding me in my first AG. I'm just hoping that the magic of beer making works for me and forgives me all my mistakes on my first AG.

Fly guys postings and others inspired me to do my first AG in an apartment, with a wimpy electric stove, etc.

You seemed to go all in with a very complex grain bill, I hope your end product is everything you thought it would be.

cee3 said:

Just sent my first brew in 15 years to the primary. A Belgian Strong Golden. All-in-all it went well. Thanks to this forum I was pretty well prepared. Used a 10gal round cooler for my MLT. Thanks to FlyGuy for the instructions on putting that together. I shot for 154 for the mash and hit 152, but it stayed at 152 for the whole hour! Didn't get quite the efficiency I expected.

Click to expand...

I also returned to the mashtun after that kind of time away. These cooler MLTs are way better than what I was doing before. Mine keeps temp like that, too. Really amazing.