Things I learned after my 1st "real brew"

[V-Fib]

So my wife thinks she made the biggest mistake of her life besides marrying me when she bought me a 1 gal all grain home brew kit for Christmas. After brewing the 1 gal kit, which turned out better then expected since I was under prepared with sanitation, equipment needed and time invested. For my second batch which I'm considering the 1st "real brew" I made 3 gal of a oatmeal stout. So far I' learned:

#1 Make sure your valve is closed on your mash tun
#2 Your mash tun loses heat faster then YouTube videos let on while you're stirring your grains in
#3 Plan a lot more time than you think you need
#4 Have plenty of sanitizer on hand
#5 a 1 gal garden sprayer works great for sanitation
#6 an ice bath is a bad idea for more than a 1 gal brew
#7 blow off tubes
#8 blow off tubes
#9 blow off tubes
#10 not popping the nutrition pack in liquid yeast isn't a big deal (refer to #7-9, fermentation took off like a drunk 17 year old at prom after 18 hours)
#11 its cheaper to buy swing top bottles filled with beer then it is buying empty ones (odd)

Its been loads of fun so far and I've learned a lot lurking on the forums. I plan on leaving the stout in the primary for a month then bottling for a month. Any other input would be appreciated. Hopefully I can be up to 5 gal brews and kegging soonish if Craigslist helps out.

 

[Azbrewboy77]

I thought I was the only one with those issues , ha

 

[safcraft]

Same situation here too !!!
Wife bought me a xmas present with a starter kit consisting of buckets, hydrometer, kit beer can and cleaning stuff. Everyday she regrets the present, she thinks i am lost to the dark side...
Since then i made 4 batches, the last one beeing an all grain hefeweissen, and bought more gadgets like electric boiler, 3 more fermentors, temperature controled fridge, a lot of malt , wort chiller, mash tun.....well i also think i turned to the dark side...

 

[eadavis80]

In regards to no. 3 - they do call it a 'Brew Day' - you will learn, through experience, how to do things in a certain order or what to do while other steps are happening in order to save time, but yeah - it does require patience.
In regards to no. 4 - I just keep a 5-gallon bucket of Star San on hand.
Congrats on the obsession - it sure is fun!