First AG underway

Well I'm off to join the dark side. the weather is clear a bit windy but not to bad and I'm brewing an american pale ale. so far i have my strike water warming up and all my equipment reay to go. It took me about an 1/2 hour to get all together and set up but i figured that for my first time. well later ill send some pic and more news i'm sure this day is only going to get interesting

Hope you have a good one. Don't get hung up on all the details and just let common sense prevail. Take your time and enjoy the process. It isn't a race.

Don't forget the pictures when you can post them.

whew all done well still have to clean some more. went well i just didnt really account how hevy grain and water are. man to start off i had some trouble with getting my temp up for the mash. after a couple kettles of boiling water i go tit to 150. sparging went along good, its didnt gte stuck so i was happy and the boil went well. its was my first time useing whole hops man they are a pain to strain. but for my first day i can now see some stuff i would like to get to make my da ygo easyer next time around. I have to say the dark side feels good now im going to find a place to dump the grain and hops and take a nap. ill post some after pics later.:cross:

Well, you seem to have had a better day than I did.
When doughing in, I stirred too vigorously, and disconnected the false bottom from the spigot. Tried to sparge and got nothing. Transferred it back into the kettle, unplugged the spigot, transferred it back to the MLT and sparged, but all this transferring cooled things down a bunch. (Sparge was conducted at about 150.
At start of boil, I had to load up my wifes car, and forgot to put the false bottom in the kettle. After the boil, I tried to drain it through the CFC into the primary and got nothing.
Ladled the entire brew into various pots and pans, unplugged the spigot, cleaned the kettle, put the false bottom in, and added the wort back to the kettle. Brought it back to a boil, for 10 minutes (so much for the aroma hops), tried to drain again and got nothing. (CFC plugged with hops.) Flushed out the CFC, resanitized, and finally drained into primary.
Actually got required volume, and 87% efficiency, :rockin: but with all the moving around, I doubts that this brew is going to be as good as normal.

-a.

here are some pics of the aftermath


after airation and pre clen up


there was some hot water from cleaning that got on the carboy thats why the term is reading high

man i never knew that a brew day can take so long. but hey its my first and im happy that i aleast finished it. ill let you know in a couple of weeks how it cam out.:rockin: