jpsloan
Well-Known Member
Long time coming, but I finally brewed an all-grain batch yesterday!
Things that went right:
1. Immersion Chiller worked like a champ.
2. I maximized downtime with cleaning and clean-up at the end was a snap.
3. MLT held together, nothing exploded.
4. Got my mash temp within a couple degrees. Was shooting for 150d, ended up with 152d. I'll call that close enough.
Things that didn't go so well:
1. Windy day, can't fight the weather.
2. The defoaming agent didn't work for poop. Had multiple boilovers. Alas.
3. My new wine thief couldn't collect a large enough sample for my hydrometer. Still, since it bottomed out, I can tell the OG was no higher than 1.030, which was light for the recipe.
But, the sample tasted great. It was a hell of a lot of fun, and I've got a list of things to tweak by my next brewday. So, I'm stoked.
Incidentally, the recipe I went for was a variation of Biermuncher's Centennial Blonde, but with Simcoe hops. I'm interested in seeing how that flavor comes through.
Things that went right:
1. Immersion Chiller worked like a champ.
2. I maximized downtime with cleaning and clean-up at the end was a snap.
3. MLT held together, nothing exploded.
4. Got my mash temp within a couple degrees. Was shooting for 150d, ended up with 152d. I'll call that close enough.
Things that didn't go so well:
1. Windy day, can't fight the weather.
2. The defoaming agent didn't work for poop. Had multiple boilovers. Alas.
3. My new wine thief couldn't collect a large enough sample for my hydrometer. Still, since it bottomed out, I can tell the OG was no higher than 1.030, which was light for the recipe.
But, the sample tasted great. It was a hell of a lot of fun, and I've got a list of things to tweak by my next brewday. So, I'm stoked.
Incidentally, the recipe I went for was a variation of Biermuncher's Centennial Blonde, but with Simcoe hops. I'm interested in seeing how that flavor comes through.