Doing my first all grain next weekend...HELP!

I've been away for the last month or so, but now that the weather's finally starting to cooperate in my neck of the woods, I'm getting ready to try my first all-grain brew on Friday or Saturday.

First of all, I found this recipe:

http://www.brew-monkey.com/recipes/html/bitterbaldguy.htm

It seems like a simple ESB recipe. I tried to find a Blonde Ale recipe, but most that I found had multiple rests, etc. I'm batch sparging, so I wanted to keep it basic, which I think this recipe provides.

Anyway, I'm not completely clear on how to figure out the scale-up factor for the grain bill when batch sparging. So, I just upped everything 10%, hoping that would cover any efficiency drop I may encounter. Does this sound reasonable?

And, for those with 36 qt. Coleman Extreme MLTS, what calculations do you use, such as dead space, etc? And, as for grain temperature, I assume that would just be the ambient temperature, assuming that it's been stabilized to the surrounding conditions, right?

Sorry, for all the questions, but I bought all this stuff, and then realized that I'm not quite as knowledgeable as I should be. I took a little break from homebrewing, because after I got all my AG equipment in order, the weather here in Wisconsin really took a turn for the worse...a couple of blizzards, and some really cold streaks where brewing outside didn't seem like the most desirable thing. But, spring is definitely here now, so I'm all ready to go, except for these nagging questions. Any help would be most appreciated!

You could try that, or just brew it as is and learn how your particular system actually works before changing anything.

boo boo said:

You could try that, or just brew it as is and learn how your particular system actually works before changing anything.

Click to expand...

You mean, brew with the original recipe, and make adjustments on the next brew? I thought of that, too. But, in the end, I figured I'd be losing efficiency not only because I'm batch sparging, but also because it's my first AG. I figured 10% would at least reduce some of the ill effects of my inexperience.

LHBS guy suggested keeping about 1 lb. of DME on hand in case my OG is a little low...I suppose I could do that, but then it would be a partial-mash, wouldn't it? No way do I want to compromise the integrity of my first AG brew.

Good idea to boost your numbers a bit, although I get as good or better efficiency batch sparging than I did fly. Just increase the base malt, the others won't really matter in an ESB.

Since this is your first run, pre-heat the cooler and eliminate that potential problem. I use hotter water, give it 10 minutes to stabilize, adjust to strike temperature and add the grain.

david_42 said:

Good idea to boost your numbers a bit, although I get as good or better efficiency batch sparging than I did fly. Just increase the base malt, the others won't really matter in an ESB.

Since this is your first run, pre-heat the cooler and eliminate that potential problem. I use hotter water, give it 10 minutes to stabilize, adjust to strike temperature and add the grain.

Click to expand...

I already bought the grains, and upped all of them. Oh well.

As for preheating the cooler, I had planned on boiling a couple of gallons, putting it in the cooler, and then dumping it out after 10-15 minutes. I had planned on adding all the grain after that, and gradually adding strike water, while stirring. Are there benefits of doing one method over the other?

greg75 said:

I already bought the grains, and upped all of them. Oh well.

As for preheating the cooler, I had planned on boiling a couple of gallons, putting it in the cooler, and then dumping it out after 10-15 minutes. I had planned on adding all the grain after that, and gradually adding strike water, while stirring. Are there benefits of doing one method over the other?

Click to expand...

You don't waste as much hot water.

Many coolers don't like hot water, boiling water may ruin yours. And. it is unneccesary. You just need to heat it to the mash temp. I just use my mash water, pouring half of it in first, waiting a couple minutes, then adding the grains, then the rest of the water, and stirring. I don't think I want to raise the temp of the grain too fast, too high, so I add it to 1/2 of the water at a time. This heats the grain and cools the water. My old cooler is getting wrinkles inside, without ever being exposed to boiling.

casebrew said:

My old cooler is getting wrinkles inside, without ever being exposed to boiling.

Click to expand...

Well you did say it's getting old!

Yeah, I made the mistake of putting boiling water in my cooler to preheat and I got a bunch of heat blisters. It didn't breach the cooler walls or anything, but it was a stupid mistake. If your cooler is not warm, just use a hotter strike temp and wait for it to equalize down to your target. It works! No need to ditch the water, what a waste.