First AG in 2.5 years

After a rather long break I just finally got my first AG batch in the MHT. It's a 3 gallon batch and is the test batch for the grain I had left from when I stopped and for my pasta roller grain mill.
I'm hoping the thing doesn't lose much heat... it's full to the point that

putting the cover on caused a minor overflow. In testing this cooler this morning I discovered that the heat loss was apparently almost all through the cover so I put about an inch of styrofoam insulation over it. My thermometer goes through a hole in the lid so I won't have to open it to monitor temps, and I plan to just swirl it around every once in a while until it's done.

Lost 1 degree in an hour! I'm happy with that for sure! SWMBO ain't too happy with me though... spilled about 1/4 cup of wort on the floor....... that stuff sure is sticky!
It's in the boil kettle now.

Congrats on a mostly successful brew - be sure to report back here once its all done. I am curious to see how it turns out with 2 1/2 year old grain.

Me too. I tasted the grain a few times recently and it didn't seem stale, so I'm optimistic.

The unhopped, unboiled wort was sweet, no stale taste at all. I had about a cup in the bottom of the mash tun after the grain bag sat in there while I did everything else so I gave it a taste.
Now in a month or so I'll be able to finally answer the "is my grain still good?" question.

keep up the good work, and keep us posted.

and I thought >I< held onto things!
did you hit your OG target?

I was a MILE above it... but had so much boil off that I was able to top off with a gallon of spring water and that got me where I wanted to be, both in volume and OG.