Lautering

Hi guys,
I'm about to do my first AG and I wanted to know if you mash out first or lauter first? I am planning on doing a three step infusion mash. Problem is, I have my wort/grains in the mash tun and I'll be preparing sparge water in my original brew kettle. I was wondering if I could lauter, sparge, then raise to mash out for 15 minutes before boiling. OR, do I just bite the bullet and buy another huge pot to prepare sparge water? My recipe calls for 20 qt/ 5 gal of sparge water. I was figuring it would be easier to just prepare this in the brew kettle.

Skip the mashout is what I suggest. There's very little to be gained from it.

Just lauter into a bucket or something else. Or heat your sparge water hotter than it needs to be, put IT in a bucket, then lauter into your BK. Thats what I do.

Sorry I'm no help on your real question though.

First off for your first AG I would not do a 3 step infusion mash. A single step infusion mash works fine for modern malts. Just prepare your sparge water in your brewing kettle and drain the wort into a bucket.

GT

I was going to use 2 row Pilsener lager malts. I thought that I needed to do two protein rests in order to fully convert them.

MacGruber said:

I was going to use 2 row Pilsener lager malts. I thought that I needed to do two protein rests in order to fully convert them.

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You don't even need to do 1 protein rest! Nearly all malts, including pils, are fully modified and don't need a p rest. In fact, it could even be detrimental. Take it easy on yourself and just do a single infusion.

Thank you! I was nervous about the protein rests. I'm going to just go for a single infusion for my first AG. I'm just gonna RDWHAHB.