First AG this afternoon - I'm pumped!!

[IndyPABrewGuy]

Hey all -

Been gone for a while, but I'm back now, and am about to take the AG plunge. I'm doing a Saison using my buddy's rig this afternoon, so to prepare, I'm doing a PM Dark IPA. Yummy.

Any last minute tips for an AG beginner?

Cheers,

 

[Warped04]

Relax and have some fun. You'll be fine.

 

[steelerguy]

Just did my first AG this past weekend, here is what I learned:

Have some extra boiling water handy when you dump your mash water in. I did all the programs and was right on with the strike temperature, but when all the water was added I was a few degrees lower than I wanted...would have been nice to have some water already at 212 ready to go to up it quickly.

Aim for the upper OG of the style you are making, you probably won't have great efficiency on your first attempt. Might be a good idea to have a couple pounds of a base malt DME around if you don't like your gravity.

Know how much preboil wort you are going to collect, I had to do a pretty long boil to get down to 5 gallons.

Take notes, it will help the next time go easier until you got your process down. Note how much wort comes out of the first running. This will give you an idea of how much is staying behind not just because of grain absorption but also the amount that just does not make it to the drain tube (it may be higher than the real bottom of the MLT).

Other than that, it was pretty fun to relax out on the deck with a beer while I brewed away! Should have gotten an earlier start though...4:00 PM was a bit late.

 

[Kauai_Kahuna]

IndyPABrewGuy - So how did it go, or are you too tired and hungover to talk about it?