First AG - got recipe - need procedure

I have never done All Grain before, for the partials i have done, I would heat my water up in a 6-quart stock pot on the stove, and steep 3 pounds of grain at a time. I have been reading up on AG as much as I can.

recipe:

6.0 lbs Maris-Otter
1.5 lbs Munich Malt (20L)
1.5 lbs Flaked Barley
1.0 lbs Cara-Pils
1.0 lbs Caramel Crystal Malt (40L)
0.5 lbs Roasted Barley

2.0 oz EKG 5.0% - bittering
1.0 oz Fuggles 4.5% - aroma


procedure?

build MLT
pre-heat MLT (boiling water to heat the cooler? and then drain?)

add grains to MLT (all of my grains or do i mash them all seperate?)
add strike water (assuming 10 degree's higher than target temp?)
mix up grains and hot water for maximum contact
let them soak (60 minutes? 90 minutes?)

drain (take first runnings and put back in to be drained -- 1 gallon-ish?)
rinse with hot water (170 degree's? is this like mash out?) until it comes out clear


additional questions:

lower temps for more fermentability - higher temps for more body - what is the middleman temp to get a full body without too much sweatness?


... i am sure i will come up with more questions

.... i have read a lot of the links listed, and i think i understand most of it for the most part .. sorry for the questions, i just want to make sure I understand it, there was a lot of information to digest

looks like your procedure is pretty good. I would put the water in the MLT first, then add the grains (yes all grain at once), then mix together.

Also look around for a temperature calculator online. You put in the temp of the grain and your target temp and it will tell you how hot the water needs to be to achieve that target.

As far as mash temp, i like 153 for the majority of my beers, but that will take trial and error to see what you like.

You don't really have to fill your mashtun to preheat. If you add a few degrees to the strike temperature and let it sit 10 minutes you will be close to the strike temperature. Stir well to check the actual temperature. If it is at the strike temperature then add and stir in all the grains.
If it is still over then stir a few minutes and the temperature will slowly fall. When you reach the strike temperature then add all the grains, stir well and put on the lid. From this point on do not remove the lid except to quickly check the temperature.

Checking temperature:
Stir well and take the temperature several places in the mash, all readings should match. If not stir again and recheck.

After some practice you will know how many degrees to add to the strike water to preheat the mash-tun. If you practice this before you actually brew (no grain) you will find out what works best to hit the strike temperature and have the tun normalized with the strike water every time.

Ref: http://www.rackers.org/calcs.shtml

All Grain

I use the single burner and kettle method. Good read too.

thanks very much guys

i appreciate it very much

shaggynuts24 said:

I would heat my water up in a 6-quart stock pot on the stove

Click to expand...

For an A.G. brew you will need a much bigger kettle than 6 qt. The smallest I've ever used successfully was 30 qt, and I had to watch it like a hawk to prevent boil overs. A 40 qt kettle is ideal for a 5g batch.

shaggynuts24 said:

pre-heat MLT (boiling water to heat the cooler? and then drain?)

Click to expand...

Don't use boiling water to preheat the MLT. Boiling water could damage it severely, possibly splitting the lining. To start with, use the right amount of strike water for your mash water about 10F greater than you need. This will preheat the tun, wait about 10 minutes, and check the temperature. If it's high, stir it, wait a few minutes and check the temperature again..
Green Bay Rackers--Mash Calculators gives a great calculator for determining the correct strike temperature. If you find the temperature too high, then don't heat the strike water so much for the next brew.
As WBC said, if you do this, you don't need to drain the MLT.

shaggynuts24 said:

add grains to MLT (all of my grains or do i mash them all seperate?)
add strike water (assuming 10 degree's higher than target temp?)
mix up grains and hot water for maximum contact
let them soak (60 minutes? 90 minutes?)

Click to expand...

Add all of the grains to the strike water in the preheated MLT. The only time I would recommend anything else is if you have a Phils Phalse Bottom in the MLT. If you do, send me a P.M. and I will give you revised guidelines that took me quite a while to work out.
60 minutes is usually quite long enough for the mash, but if you have a poor grain crush, or you are mashing at less than 150F, or you are using more that 1.5 qts/lb grain, you may want to mash for 90 minutes.

shaggynuts24 said:

drain (take first runnings and put back in to be drained -- 1 gallon-ish?)

Click to expand...

I find 1/2 gallon is enough. You just need to make sure that the runnings don't contain any grains or husks. It doesn't be crystal clear. A bit murky is OK, but no obvious solids.

shaggynuts24 said:

lrinse with hot water (170 degree's? is this like mash out?) until it comes out clear

Click to expand...

No, this is not a mash out. It is sparging. From your description, you will be batch sparging, in which case a mash out is unnecessary. I would suggest about 185F sparge water rather than 170F, as this will raise the grain bed temperature towards the optimum 170F, and result in better efficiency.
Check out All Grain for some excellent information on sparging (and other things).

shaggynuts24 said:

what is the middleman temp to get a full body without too much sweatness?

Click to expand...

Only you can answer that, but 152F to 154F is a good starting point.


Hope this helps, and good luck.

-a.

sorry ... maybe i said it wrong ... previously i would use the 6 qt for steeping grains

the one i boil my wort in is 60 quart (crawfish boiler)

i'll be using 1.25 gallons of water per pound of grain

i should probably anticipate a bad crush and push for a 75 minute soak at 154-ish


thanks again for all the information

T minus 10 days to go buy ingrediants

shaggynuts24 said:

sorry ... maybe i said it wrong ... previously i would use the 6 qt for steeping grains

the one i boil my wort in is 60 quart (crawfish boiler)

i'll be using 1.25 gallons of water per pound of grain

i should probably anticipate a bad crush and push for a 75 minute soak at 154-ish


thanks again for all the information

T minus 10 days to go buy ingrediants

Click to expand...

And more probably I read it wrong. You did say heat, not boil.

I'd use about 1.25 qts (not gallons) water per lb grain for the mash.

Good luck.

-a.