First BIG beer brew.

[JonM]

This weekend I'm going to brew the Kate the Great recipe that was recently posted on HBT. This will be my first really high-grav beer.

Here's my prep:

Made sure all the grain (plus some rice hulls) will fit in my mash tun - it will, but it'll be a thick mash at no more than 1.1 qt/pound, maybe as thick as 1 qt/pound just to be safe,
Make a properly sized starter according to the Mr. Malty calculator with enough time to cool crash it,
Give the wort a good shot of pure O2 with an aeration stone,
Ferment with a big blowoff and expect vigorous fermentation,
Bulk age,
Anticipate at least 2 months of bottle conditioning to get carbonation.

I'd love any tips or pointers from more experienced high-gravity brewers. Anything I'm missing? Is it tricky working with a really thick mash?

Edit: And when I bulk age, I'll fill a sanitized secondary with CO2 and then rack into that.

 

[smchasta]

get ready to stir your ass off. You have to keep the temperature circulated and make sure all the malt is being used. Sounds like you have the right idea.