Let me tell you about my first time...

[Verge]

With -4.45 in my bank account, a bag of marris otter malt, one bag of wyeast British Ale yeast, and some cascade hops, I set about brewing my first batch of all-grain beer the day before yesterday. I had no brew kettle, no real mash-ton, and pretty limited everything.

I aimed for a mash temperature of 152. I put the grain and water in a bucket and wrapped it up tight in a sleeping bag. An hour later, it had only dropped two degrees.

I had to strain the wort off through a colander and a tea strainer. Lots of fun. Same for sparging.

I went to get my hydrometer and . . . damn. Broken. No reading.

Cooled it outside in the cold winter air and pitched the yeast at 80. Now it's bubbling merrily.

The only thing that sucked a bit was the ridiculous mess created from the half-assed way I tackled this project. I'm going to work my way toward better equipment as I progress.

 

[Pappers_]

Sounds like you made beer - congrats! I'm pretty rustic in my process, too.

 

[924RACR]

+1 to that, congrats, and it shows that you don't need to wait and save up to gather all the equipment before attempting your first all-grain! There's lots of great beer - and messes - to be made and enjoyed in the meantime!

 

[tre9er]

I brewed impromptu the other week on the stovetop with paint strainer bag, bucket, and turkey fryer pot. That beer turned out pretty good and was actually at FG in only 5 days, stable. Kegged it and served it at a party 10 days after brewing. Still, it was about as much work/time as doing my 9g batches down in "the lab"...so probably won't be repeating it.

 

[Verge]

Hahaha yeah, it certainly took some time... I would be willing to repeat the process, but only until I get enough gear to make it easier.