Planning my first AG

[Dr_Horrible]

I bought two 10G converted rubbermaid coolers off craigslist in preparation for my foray into AG brewing.

I have done my fair share of reading online, books, and watching youtube videos of fly sparging so I have a good idea of what my brewday should look like.

However, I figure nothing beats good ol' experience. I'm curious, would it be better if I did a dry run with extra grain to get a feel for my equipment? The pro is that I get a better idea of what my strike temp should be, what my efficiency could be, etc. The obvious answer is - why not? Well because I don't have infinite time and money, so I'm gauging a dry run vs just going for it with my first recipe. How much could really go wrong? What do you all think?

Thanks!

edit: I plan on doing 5G batches with this 10G equipment, a brief search showed this shouldn't be a huge deal.

 

[madscientist451]

Dry run? No, go ahead and brew a batch, its really not that hard.
Find an established recipe of a type of beer you like and brew 5 gallons of it.
Why did you get two 10 gallon coolers?
Anyway, put hot tap water in the cooler to pre heat it. Look up a strike water mash calculator on google and put in the number it asks for.
Heat your strike water to the correct temp, dump out your pre heat water, put your strike water in the cooler and stir in your grains , you are now mashing. Use your thermometer to check the temp. Throw the lid on and in 1 hr slowly drain off your wort into a bucket if you only have one pot. Heat your batch sparge water and dump it in the cooler when your original wort is drained ( don't forget to shut the cooler valve) stir up your batch sparge and grains, let it sit for 10 mins, drain to your pot, add the other wort to your pot and start boiling, add the hops when the recipe says to, once you're done boiling, cool it off , put in fermentor, add yeast and you'll have beer in like 1-2 weeks.
Ok I skipped a bunch of advanced stuff like water profile, mash PH,
raising the temp for mash out, what to do if mash temp is low, whirlpool and many others but you have the basic idea, so go for it.

 

[Cyclman]

Use a good digital thermometer, go for it. AG isn't that hard.

 

[McKnuckle]

Don't think of it as a dry run. Just find a simple recipe and brew it for real - give it your best shot. Don't try to brew an Imperial Russian Stout with oak and cherries for your first go like some people seem compelled to do.

Hitting strike temp is hardly going to be the biggest of your concerns as you get deeper into things. That part is pretty easy. Just use an online calculator, heat your water up to a few degrees hotter, pour it into your cooler, and stir til it has dropped to the calculated strike temp. Add grains, and proceed.

My first AG was a dirt simple recipe - just American 2 row and Hallertau hops (don't know why I chose that variety...). It was a technical success, and enjoyable to drink while being quite a simple beer. And the rest is history!

 

[Dr_Horrible]

Thanks for the responses! I have a nice thermapen that will work great for ensuring accurate strike temp

 

[Strickix]

I say go for it! I was in the same boat you were in not too long ago and believe me it is not difficult. The only thing I would suggest is to look into batch sparging which might make brew day a little easier and quicker and less stressful.