1st all grain tips or pointers?

[Malichaidog]

1st all grain batch on new 3 keggle setup going on Saturday. Any last minute tips, pointers, or things you forgot on your 1st batch?
It is midwest's all grain hop head imperial ipa kit. I bought 2 for a 10 gallon batch.

 

[KuntzBrewing]

My tip is to make sure you know every single step before you start. And what to do incase something goes wrong.

 

[mike20793]

Beersmith!! It will help you out so much. Are you brewing the 10 gallons together or separate? I'm pretty sure you will get different results if you brew them together versus separate. You do not need to simply double everything to create a 10 gallon batch from a 5 gallon recipe. Beersmith will do the conversion for you. Make notes about your temps. Calibrating your equipment is essential for all grain brewing. Always account for heat absorption from the grain and the equipment. Last tip is to have fun. You will soon realize that it is extremely fun to brew all grain. Cheers and good luck.

 

[KuntzBrewing]

Id use kit one as a practice, drink it and see how it tastes and troubleshoot then brew the second. Guarentee the second will taste better!

 

[mike20793]

+1^ That is great advice. You will learn so much and fine tune your procedure on the first batch.

 

[diS]

My tip is to make sure you know every single step before you start. And what to do incase something goes wrong.

+1

This helped me when I brewed my 1st AG batch (batch sparge):
http://www.suebob.com/index.php?opt...in-primer&catid=40:brewing-articles&Itemid=66

Also, good idea is to make check list:
http://www.brewersfriend.com/brewdaysheets/

 

[Piratwolf]

I pre-measured, sorted,& labeled all my ingredients and ground my grain during the week before my first AG brew sesh. That way I was able to focus on the new equipment & process during the brew.

 

[prrriiide]

Be sure to take a pre-boil grav reading.
Go to Walgreen's and get some iodine.
Make sure your thermometer is correct all the way up to 212*F.
Get a graduated gallon pitcher to measure your runnings into the kettle.

 

[BeerG0ggles]

I dunno. Guess I'll be the buzz kill and say don't over think it. Relax and have fun; enjoy the experience. It's actually kinda hard to _really_ screw it up (aside from poor sanitation). We're not cracking the atom or doing something that nature wouldn't do anyway if we weren't around .....

 

[BOBTHEukBREWER]

clean up to running off the wort, sterile after that.

 

[william_shakes_beer]

Friends don't let friends brew drunk... the first time

 

[Malichaidog]

Success!! Hit my temps, no issues high gravity of 1.072 even though it was supposed to be 1.080. 2.5 hours in the primary and already have airlock activity!! Very good first all grain brew considering it was an ambitious 10 gallon batch for my first try.