Moving on up to All Grain

[Sinnick]

Alrighty guys, I am taking the step up to all grain brewing. I thought that I had a good handle on what to do but now that I am just about to do it, I am a little confused. I have a 5 gallon kettle but a 15 gallon enroute (not available just yet), and a cooler with an auto sparge attachment.

What I really need is a simple step by step...

My buddy had a setup with some PVC pipe attached to allow the water to trickle down onto the bed of grain. I was told today that I did not need that since I have an auto sparge. That it served the same purpose.

What I am gathering is that I need to find the right temp to get my water to have my grain sitting in water at about 151 degrees for one hour. After that hour I should "rinse" the grain with another set of water at a slightly higher temp and back into a kettle to prep for the boil. Do I have this right?
What exactly will the auto sparge do for me?
If I have to wait for the delivery of my larger pot to get here, how should I store the grain?

Thanks ahead of time for all the help.

-Nick

 

[SOB_OCDAVE]

Nick,
Lots of questions... Many of the answers you seek can be found in most brewing publications (the complete joy of homebrewing, the brewmasters bible, etc).

The sparge arm that i am familiar with controls the flow of sparge water over the top of the grain bed which should be matched with a subtle out flow from the valve at the bottom of the mash/lauter tun. the sparge arm has to be installed at the right height so that the ball will float on the top of the water. as wort flows out from the bottom, the ball begins to lower (like the float in the back of the toilet) and allows more hot sparge water to enter the lautering vessel. the entire process to collect your wort should take anywhere from 30 mins to an hour depending on your flow rate. Typically slower flow rates produce higher extraction. If you want to keep cracked grain fresh put in in freezer zip lock bags and place in the freezer.