Brew day checklist

[fhk]

So, I am still aquireing equipment but have ordered supplies for an American IPA (everybody's first batch, right?). I am trying to make a checklist to be sure I don't forget any steps. From my reading and research I am somewhat confused on the order of some steps like lautering, vorlauf, sparging.
Would love some feedback on my list to see if I have the right order and any feedback on steps that can be combined, etc. I plan on printing it and checking off as I go for the first few batches:

Mash in cooler with bazooka.
Lauter into bucket
Vorlauf 2-3 qts. while beginning lautering
Sparge & Mash out into bucket, dump back to boil kettle
Boil- Bittering hops near start, aroma hops near end
Sterilization critical from here on
Wort chill (plan on using the wort chiller in the boiling pot)
Aerate to the fermenting bucket (is a siphon aerator run once through adequate?)
Pitch yeast

 

[govner1]

I would Vorlauf several times to mskevsure the wort is flowing clearly. Them drain your first runnings into the BK. Add a low heat to this. Them sparge & after ten minutes Vorlauf the sparge then drain into your BK & turn your heat up to get to boil. Keep the lid OFF the BK.
Add hops per your recipe.


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[fhk]

OK, so bear with me, I am brewing in my head only at this point!
1) Vorlauf until clear while lautering
2) Transfer some of this to the boiling kettle (how much wort?, any water addition?) heat it up and sparge with this wort.
3) Vorlauf while sparging.
4) Boil, lid off.
Is this close to what you are suggesting?
I don't mean to be obtuse, but the book I have is somewhat vague on these important steps.

 

[govner1]

Not quite:
1) vorlauf your runnings from the mash until clear. Add this back to your tun slowly to avoid disturbing your grain bed. I use an inverted aluminum pie pan on top to help.
2) drain your mash tun (1st runnings) into your BK. Add LOW heat.
3) add your sparge water to your tun w/ grains and stir vigorously. Let it sit 10 minutes (unless recipe calls for a different time).
4) vorlauf sparge water until clear as above. Add to your wort already in the BK. Turn up the heat to get your boil going.
5) follow recipe re hop & other additions.
6) chill & pitch yeast per recipe


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[srice]

I would personally add another step before every step of the brew process.

- Are your valves in the correct position for the upcoming step?

such as - is your brew kettle valve closed before dumping wort in?

It's taken a few "Oh sh*ts" before I learned this lesson the hard way

 

[govner1]

^^^^This for sure! And make sure you have a hot mitt or glove for handling valves, etc.

 

[peterj]

Palmer has a pretty detailed step by step here: http://howtobrew.com/section3/chapter18.html.

OK, so bear with me, I am brewing in my head only at this point!
1) Vorlauf until clear while lautering
2) Transfer some of this to the boiling kettle (how much wort?, any water addition?) heat it up and sparge with this wort.
3) Vorlauf while sparging.
4) Boil, lid off.
Is this close to what you are suggesting?
I don't mean to be obtuse, but the book I have is somewhat vague on these important steps.

He wasn't telling you to add the first runnings to your sparge water, he is picturing having 2 pots. You have a pot heating up your sparge water and then seperately you have a boil kettle that you can drain your first runnings into. If you only have one pot you'll need something else that you can drain you're first runnings into.

 

[tootal]

Relax, have a home brew!

 

[Puddlethumper]

OK, so bear with me, I am brewing in my head only at this point!

I don't mean to be obtuse, but the book I have is somewhat vague on these important steps.

Good advice so far. I think peterj caught an important point in that you probably only have one kettle available to heat water. So you are using it as both boil kettle and hot liquor tank, right?

In a nutshell, during the mash you are creating some really sweet wort. These are your first runnings and will contribute most of the fermentable sugars to your beer. Drain them off at the end of the mash after vourlauf and save them (either in your boil kettle or in a separate and clean bucket).

Measure how many quarts you drained off. You'll need enough hot water added back to the grain to get the 6.5 gallons you'll need for your boil. You'll probably have to add somewhere between 13-18 qts. of 180F water to the grain at this point depending on how stiff (dry) or loose (wet) you made your mash.

Stir thoroughly and then allow to sit for 10-15 min. Vourlauf and then drain this into your first runnings. You should now have 6.5 gal. of wort and you are ready to boil.

Hope this is of some help. And +1 to Palmer's book. David Miller's "Brew Like a Pro" is also an easy read and can be quite helpful.

Cheers!

 

[fhk]

Yes, 1 kettle, that wasn't clear. Thanks for all the good info.