Finally getting around to sharing some notes from the first brew day. I'll try to share the second brew day's notes tomorrow.
My first brew was a 9 gallon batch (don't ask) IPA. Here are the planned numbers vs the actuals. Water volume, strike temp, and etc. all came from BeerSmith by using the BIAB mash profile and the BrewEasy 10 gallon equipment profile.
Total water: 14.5 gal
Total grain: 22.5 lbs
Strike water temp: 169
Actual: 170
Estimated temp after dough-in: 151
Actual: 146
Mash Temp: 151 @ 45 min
Actual:
146->151 @16 min (ramped from 146 to 151 after doughing in)
153->151 @10 min (overshot 151 on ramp up and had to cool down to 151)
151 @40 min
Controller temp set during mash: 151
Actual: 154.2 (Had to keep the temp sensor set a few degrees higher to keep the mash at the planned temp of 151)
Mash out temp: 165 @15 min
Actual: NONE (given the longer mash than planned I skipped mash out - Wish I would have gone ahead with it though)
Bottom kettle volume during mash: 7 gal
Top kettle volume during mash: 7.5 gal (Calculated based on total water at start 14.5 and the bottom kettle reading 7 gal - The glass site read 8.25 but the site can't be trusted during recirculation)
Mash PH: 5.5
Actual: 4.2 (I forgot to buy something to raise it if need be! It stayed this low for most of the mash time - I'm assuming this screwed my efficiency)
Number of time bed raked: 4
Actual: 4
Outside temp during mash: 48
Pre-boil volume estimate: 12.62 gal
Actual: 11.25 gal
Pre-boil gravity: 1.048
Actual: 1.045
Efficiency: 68% (This is what I set it as in BeerSmith given what I read in previous posts)
Actual: 62.42%
Outside temp during boil: 35
Boil length: 60 min
Actual: 72 min (Went longer to try to get my gravity higher - Was an IPA so I didn't mind the extra IBU's)
Post-boil volume: 9.62
Actual: 9.5
Post-boil gravity: 1.065
Actual: 1.066
Carboy volume: 9
Actual: ~7+ (Lost about 2 gallons to trub but I used 3oz of whole hops, which I think absorbed a LOT of water)
Notes:
Overall it went fairly well. I did more messing around with the controller temp setting than I'd like, but I guess not horrible for the first time using it. Each time trying to heat up the strike water or mash temp, I was setting the controller for much higher than the temp I was trying to get to. My line of reasoning was that it would heat up faster with hotter water. However, this made things too hard to control overall. In the future, I'm going to just set the controller for 3-4 degrees higher than my goal temp and let the whole system level out with as much time as it needs.
The auto-sparge took a while to get the hang of, but I think I've got it nailed down now:
1) Allow the top mash tun to fill up to the desired level.
2) Turn off the pump and close the kettle valve
3) Press the float ball up until the sparge valve closes completely.
4) Unscrew the fastener
5) Push the valve end with your finger so the valve stays closed.
6) Push the float ball until it's submerged 3/4 of the way (not 1/2 way like the instructions)
7) Tighten the fasteners
8) Open the kettle valve and turn on the pump
I didn't really have any "bouncing" issues with the auto-sparge like others have mentioned. It did start to bob heavily a few times while messing with the float height, but I just held it down with my finger until it smoothed out.
Worth noting is that the boil kettle valve clogged with the whole hops I used. I couldn't get a drop to come out! I had to wait until it cooled enough to siphon out! That sucked. I think I'm going to try getting a hop spider for next time.
Overall I really like the equipment! I'm confident that I'll get it figured out and be able to consistently hit my numbers eventually.
Tune in tomorrow for my stats for the second brew day, where I didn't learn from the mistakes of my first brew day!