First All Grain! Woohoo

First, big thanks for all of the knowledge I have picked up here on HBT!

The first AG brew day seems to be a success. Wanted to make a honey-brown-ish ale:
8lbs Rahr 2 row
1lb Crystal 60
1lb Honey malt
1lb victory malt
1oz Sterling @60
1oz Sterling @15
2lbs Honey @flameout.

Mashed at 152 - 154 depending on where I measured. 3.5 Gallons strike water
Batch sparged with 5 gallons split into 2 infusions at 185

Collected a little over 6 Gallons wort*

OG 1.071 Whoah, nice. Its not terribly brown, more goldish-red, meh.

Boil and chill were uneventful, pitched Safale 04 at 75. bubbling happy this am.

* Should have collected a little more. Ended up with just over 5 (like 5.1 Gallons).

Conrats on going AG! You will never look back

Yes, congratulations! Tis a great feeling after your first successful AG brew... even better when you sample the results!!

Make sure you let us know how that honey brown worked out. 2lb of honey at flameout is very interesting... sounds like something I'd love to try.

Way to go.I just did my 1st AG too and think I'm hooked.I'm doing my 2nd AG brew tomorrow.Everything worked out very well on the 1st brew thanks to all the great info here.Keep on brewing!

Congratulations!
You will never go back...

Brad

Racked this one to secondary today. Measured the SG to be right around 1.010. Tasted pretty good for warm flat beer. Honey is still pretty noticeable. There is a substantial amount of body for this low gravity. I am glad I had a substantial malt backbone to counter the honey thinning out the final product. I am pretty pleased so far with my first attempt at real beer.

Just cracked first one. I know... 3 weeks at 70. Carb is still a little weak, but it is very smooth. I detect a little banana flavor. I thought I did a good job of keeping the temps low, maybe its the honey malt? The honey? Hoping it calms down a bit. Other than that, pretty happy with it.

Aging it a bit does wonders. Usually your ale will take 4 to 5 weeks from boil to glass. If the OG is over 1.050 it can take longer. Relax......

Congratulations on the first AG. That actually sounds really nice, I would have chicken'd out and only used 1 lb of honey, or drop the honey malt and used 2 lbs of victory. I'm just wondering how the head turns out, usually I use around 1/4 lb of wheat but it does tend to cloud the final product. Not to critique your first AG, it just looks really good and I'm interested in any tweaks you thing would be good.
Please post back on the final personal review, this looks like the type of brew I really enjoy to drink.

It has been 6 weeks WBC

It has only been in the bottle 2 weeks though. I just wanted to sample one.

I am not sure if I am qualified to suggest tweaks Kahuna... This is my 9th batch, first AG, third original recipe. I will enjoy this beer like all of my other brews. I originally planned this one to be something with broad appeal. Also something a little lighter than most of my malty IPAs. I think it hits both marks.