A couple coolers for the financially impaired

[ThomasPaine]

I have been acquiring my equipment for several months now. I haven't been in a hurry, as to not spend too much money at one time, as well as to give myself a chance to happen upon good deals and such. I was lucky to have acquired the igloo coolers for free. Both were from friends, one with the lid missing and both with broken valves. I found the braid for the mash tun in the shed. I decided not to with the expensive valve that everyone wants to push. The barbed brass fittings work fine with a rubber gasket and plastic faucet nut. I went with $3.00 CPVC for the valves. I should have put bigger diameter hose on the cpvc, but it was brew day and I wasn't going back to the store. I mashed at 150 degrees witch dropped to 148 degrees in about an hour (maybe way too long and not hot enough) I set my valve to a dribble on top of foil, and a nice layer of water stayed on top of my grain bed. My math was right on with water, and both tuns fully drained in about 20min (should i be sparging longer?). I asked my LHBS to up my grain bill and give me a double grind. I had post boil OG of 1.06 (13 lbs of grain into 5.5 gals of wort). I need to do efficiency math. No more activity in ferm and I have a FG of 1.004. . I carbed my small 12oz sample in a soda bottle and it tasted great. But I am not a seasoned taster by any means. I want to go on but I have written a lot. My second all grain was a success (Octoberfest in march). My first try was batch sparged way too quickly with very low efficiency. Tanks for listening