I really need to stop getting bombed on brew day. I had my first all grain batch yesterday. i started off with something simple to learn the ropes AHS Texas Blonde. First off, I started drinking when I started setting up at noon. Well that's not good when your brew day ends up taking until 7pm and you never stopped drinking.
So my first mistake, I screwed with my mash tun when I didn't have to. I preheated my tun and was looking for a mash in temp of 151. I added my 2.5 gallons of strike water at 164 degrees and hit a mash in temp of 152. So hot dog that's good for a first timer, if i say so myself. Well, 30 minutes in and I was down to 150. I think my dead space was the cause. Well like an idiot who couldn't leave well enough alone, I heated up a quart and a half of water to 170 and added it in. My temp dropped to 140 almost instantly. Well, I was a dumb fool again and heated up another quart and a half of water at 170 and re-opened the tun again and poured it in. Well now my temp was down to 135. I'm certain the temp drop was from me opening the mash tun and letting all the heat out. The good news is I got a good 35-40 minutes at my mash in temp. So I let it be for the rest of the hour.
Then I vorlaughed and drained my first runnings carefully.
I did a double batch sparge with 2.5 gallons at 177 and ended up at 167 degrees on my last sparge, which was right on target.
By the time I was done, I was stupid drunk, and I couldn't find the stupid plug for the airlock. I ran around like a drunken wildman looking for the stupid stopper. I ended up using aluminum foil until I could go to the LHBS. I bought 3 of those stupid things today. Along with 2 more of every little part I could think of.
I'll be drinking water on my next boil. I bet it goes smoother.
So my first mistake, I screwed with my mash tun when I didn't have to. I preheated my tun and was looking for a mash in temp of 151. I added my 2.5 gallons of strike water at 164 degrees and hit a mash in temp of 152. So hot dog that's good for a first timer, if i say so myself. Well, 30 minutes in and I was down to 150. I think my dead space was the cause. Well like an idiot who couldn't leave well enough alone, I heated up a quart and a half of water to 170 and added it in. My temp dropped to 140 almost instantly. Well, I was a dumb fool again and heated up another quart and a half of water at 170 and re-opened the tun again and poured it in. Well now my temp was down to 135. I'm certain the temp drop was from me opening the mash tun and letting all the heat out. The good news is I got a good 35-40 minutes at my mash in temp. So I let it be for the rest of the hour.
Then I vorlaughed and drained my first runnings carefully.
I did a double batch sparge with 2.5 gallons at 177 and ended up at 167 degrees on my last sparge, which was right on target.
By the time I was done, I was stupid drunk, and I couldn't find the stupid plug for the airlock. I ran around like a drunken wildman looking for the stupid stopper. I ended up using aluminum foil until I could go to the LHBS. I bought 3 of those stupid things today. Along with 2 more of every little part I could think of.
I'll be drinking water on my next boil. I bet it goes smoother.