If you could do it all over again...

[FizorZed]

What advice would you have for a guy about to do his first all grain brew based on your own experience? My friend from Michigan is in town and brought his gear for a full up 10 gallon all grain. Despite his knowledge and guidance I am looking for tips and tricks to have a great brew day.

Would you do anything different if you could do your first all grain again?

 

[Hammy71]

I would have made sure I had a calibratible digital thermometer for the mash. I eventually found out mine was over 7 degrees off. Kinda made the first couple of brews sub-par at best.

 

[sketerbuck]

i was going to say calibrate your thermometers. Try to control your fermentation temps and remember active fermentation will add at least five degrees. Use some kind of brewing software to figure out your strike temp.

 

[Golddiggie]

Pre-heat your mash tun, or make sure your recipe (or software) will compensate for the temperature differences. Get a quality, calibrated, thermometer (as already mentioned)... Also, a refractometer so you can check the SG of the wort pre-boil. BeerSmith has also been a very valuable tool, for me...

Also, know the effects of mashing at different temperatures will have on the FG of the brew.

Give yourself a few batches to dial-in the hardware setup... If you're also going to mill your own grain, make sure you don't run the mill too fast (if using a drill/motor on it)...

Above all else... RDWHAHB, just not too many while you're mashing. At least not for the first couple of batches. Or at least wait until the boil is going and you have all your hop additions staged...

 

[BrewerinBR]

Write a plan... My first batch was a mess... did a lot of planning and documented the plan and kept it there with me on a clip board. That one was a success and now I plan the brew day in detail, and document everything. Use the online resources to plan it out and... a good thermometer and hydrometer.

 

[Airborneguy]

Make sure you stir your mash very well. Don't leave any dough balls at all. Kills efficiency.

 

[FizorZed]

Great advice, guys. I'll be sure to pass on your tips to our brewmaster and see what he can add to the conversation.

 

[MattHollingsworth]

I'd add to not do a lot of crazy experimental beers to start with. You can get to those later. Better to start with some of the more standard fare and dial in your process. That way you know you're doing it right. THEN you can start doing weird ****.

I've known a ton of guys who always do experimental beers and nearly always make ****ty beers. I tell them to try to just make a few basic beers, an APA or Stout or something and they reply that they like to experiment. Okay. That's cool. But it's resulting in a ton of ****ty beers. Figure out your process first. Get it down so that you're happy with your beer, then you can get to the crazy stuff.

And make a damned starter for god's sake (if using liquid yeast). It's not THAT much work. *Not* making a starter will never result in a better beer than making a starter. You might be lucky and have no problem, but why risk it when you're putting in all of the effort to brew the beer.

 

[RM-MN]

Read the section of "How to Brew" by John Palmer that deals with all grain and then read it again. Do your brew and then read it again to see what you missed the first 2 reads. You'll have a good understanding of how the whole process should work.

 

[binkman]

Definitely underestimate your efficiency the first time. I assumed 65% my first batch, but only got 55.