First AG batch.....AWESOME!

Well I finally took the plunge and after getting all my equipment together did my first all grain. I probably didn't need to make my first batch a DIPA but I'm a bit headstrong and that's just what I wanted to brew. Everything went great for the most part. My MLT worked really good only losing maybe 1 to 2 degress over a 75 min mash. I took everyone's advice and preheated it which I think helped a lot. No problems with stuck transfers or anything, I was impressed.

The only bad part was the fact that I came up short on my OG. Beersmith figured it around 1.089 and I got around 1.070. I am chalking that up to the fact that this was my first batch and I was dialing everything in, plus I didn't sparge with enough water and didn't boil down enough. I ended up with about .5 gallon less than expected also.

Despite that I was happy with every other aspect and can't wait to brew the next batch! Here's some pictures of that momentous day:

Grains and hops....yummm!


SS scrubbie worked beautifully


Going to carboy


Lunch!

Looks good.

Good to see the scrubbie worked for you. KISS.

Thanks Orfy.

Yeah I racked my brain thinking about what I was going to use in the kettle. Finally settled on the scrubbie. Didn't plug up once even with 2 oz of pellet hops and 4 oz of leaf hops and break material. I honestly didn't think it would work that well..

What's a scrubbie, false bottom?

Congratulations! Sounds like a great first AG. I'll let EdWort welcome you to the club.

Welcome to the real world, Neo

Well after 5 days in primary I tasted this yesterday as I was pulling a gravity reading.....all I can say is you AG'ers have really been holding out. I never dreamed I could even come close to a commercial brew.

This brew has big alcohol but not overpowering, definitely plenty of maltiness to offset the hops. The lingering hop aftertaste was out of this world. I could literally drink this right now out of the carboy although it would be a flat and warm. Definitely beyond any expectations I had and I even missed my OG by about 10 and I'm glad I did because these yeast are still working away and it was .016.

Going AG for me personally best move I ever made. Thanks to this board and all of it's members, it turned out great! Already have another batch lined up for next weekend, an APA...:rockin: