Well, I did it. I brewed my first all grain batch yesterday, and she is chugging away in the fermentor. I did have a few hiccups along the way, so I thought I'd share my story. Perhaps some of you can relate.
I got going at 11:00 AM. Got all my gear setup on my deck. Every time I went out, I remembered 2 more things I should have... Note to self... Make a checklist for next time. Measured out my strike water and got it heated up. While that was going on, I figured I'd get the temp of my grain... First mistake. When I checked the grain, it was 70 .. Same temp as my house. Unfortunately, it was 40 outside where I kept the grain waiting. By the time I stirred in my now cold as hell grain, I missed my strike temp by 5 degrees!
I quickly boiled 2 quarts of water and dumped it in... Only brought it to 150... Needed 154. So I boiled yet another 2 quarts... This time I got to 152, and figured I could live with that. I let it sit and went back inside to subtract a gallon from my spare volume so I wouldn't end up a gallon over. This is when I remembered I forgot to add the PH stabilizer... ****! Ran back outside and put it in.
Got my sparge water heated and when the hour was up, I vourlofed about 1.5 gallons with before I started the slow trickle to the pot. Fly sparge went nicely as well. When it was over, I checked my pre-boil gravity and nailed it! Here's where I started to get cocky
I also nailed my pre-boil volume... More cockiness ensued.
So now me and my cocky self stared to bring the 6.5 gallons of water to a boil.. I realized this may take a while, so I figured out I'd get a head start on cleaning and cleaned the mash tun. Got it all scooped out and still had some time, so I figured i'd go in and make 2.5 gallons of Star San. Started pouring the water in the bucket and went back outside to wash the mash tun out. It was gleaming white. I was so proud of myself, until I remembered I left the water running int he house....****!!!!
Upon entering my now flooded kitchen, I realized that I shouldn't try to multitask ever again. Got every towel we owned and got all the water cleaned up. Good thing the wife wasn't home to see that one
The boil went great.. My extract brewing knowledge kicked in here and all went well from there on out. All in all, it was a success... I had some hiccups, but recovered. No major damage was done, and no one got hurt... Cheers!
I got going at 11:00 AM. Got all my gear setup on my deck. Every time I went out, I remembered 2 more things I should have... Note to self... Make a checklist for next time. Measured out my strike water and got it heated up. While that was going on, I figured I'd get the temp of my grain... First mistake. When I checked the grain, it was 70 .. Same temp as my house. Unfortunately, it was 40 outside where I kept the grain waiting. By the time I stirred in my now cold as hell grain, I missed my strike temp by 5 degrees!
I quickly boiled 2 quarts of water and dumped it in... Only brought it to 150... Needed 154. So I boiled yet another 2 quarts... This time I got to 152, and figured I could live with that. I let it sit and went back inside to subtract a gallon from my spare volume so I wouldn't end up a gallon over. This is when I remembered I forgot to add the PH stabilizer... ****! Ran back outside and put it in.
Got my sparge water heated and when the hour was up, I vourlofed about 1.5 gallons with before I started the slow trickle to the pot. Fly sparge went nicely as well. When it was over, I checked my pre-boil gravity and nailed it! Here's where I started to get cocky
I also nailed my pre-boil volume... More cockiness ensued. 
So now me and my cocky self stared to bring the 6.5 gallons of water to a boil.. I realized this may take a while, so I figured out I'd get a head start on cleaning and cleaned the mash tun. Got it all scooped out and still had some time, so I figured i'd go in and make 2.5 gallons of Star San. Started pouring the water in the bucket and went back outside to wash the mash tun out. It was gleaming white. I was so proud of myself, until I remembered I left the water running int he house....****!!!!
Upon entering my now flooded kitchen, I realized that I shouldn't try to multitask ever again. Got every towel we owned and got all the water cleaned up. Good thing the wife wasn't home to see that one
The boil went great.. My extract brewing knowledge kicked in here and all went well from there on out. All in all, it was a success... I had some hiccups, but recovered. No major damage was done, and no one got hurt... Cheers!
