Well, first AG batch is in the fermenter, and I was looking for a SG of 1.060 or thereabouts after the boil, and I got 1.040. So if it finishes out at about 1.013 like I hope, it will be about 3.5% ABV. So instead of a Robust Porter, I'll call it my (Not So) Robust Porter. Meh, sessionable at least!
Lessons learned:
1-When you sparge for 20 minutes and you're already at 5 gallons of wort collected, you're probably sparging too quickly.
2-if you don't hit your target mash temp, call it a "step mash" and try again! lol i missed my target of 152 and decided to try letting it rest at 144 for 15 minutes, then added 1 quart of 192 water which brought me to 154, where I finished out. I'm not sure of the effect this will have, but I went with it!.
3-and not related to my actual brew process- screw glass carboys. i just shattered a 6.5 gal. one. No injury, no lost beer, just 6 gallons of star san/water all over the place and a bunch of glass chunks to clean up. now i just have to convince SWMBO to let me get a conical instead of buckets/better bottles... maybe if i don't tell her that buckets and better bottles exist???
Lessons learned:
1-When you sparge for 20 minutes and you're already at 5 gallons of wort collected, you're probably sparging too quickly.
2-if you don't hit your target mash temp, call it a "step mash" and try again! lol i missed my target of 152 and decided to try letting it rest at 144 for 15 minutes, then added 1 quart of 192 water which brought me to 154, where I finished out. I'm not sure of the effect this will have, but I went with it!.
3-and not related to my actual brew process- screw glass carboys. i just shattered a 6.5 gal. one. No injury, no lost beer, just 6 gallons of star san/water all over the place and a bunch of glass chunks to clean up. now i just have to convince SWMBO to let me get a conical instead of buckets/better bottles... maybe if i don't tell her that buckets and better bottles exist???