[DrewG]

Picking up my mash tun (10 gallon Gott (I know, it isn't blue) with a ss false bottom) tomorrow, brewing saturday morning. Pretty geeked about it too. 

Since I have no idea what my efficiency is going to be, I thought I'd shoot for a Scottish 80/. I'm guessing I won't come in too high, and it'll give me the wiggle room between 1.030 for a 60/ up to 1.054 for the 80/. Not planning on a starter for this one since I don't know what my gravity will be so I'm just picking up 2 vials of 001 which covers me if I need a smaller or larger pitch.

All of that aside, any advice, tips, tricks, things that might pop up I'm not expecting etc that come to mind would be helpful. Thanks in advance

[melferburque]

measure out as many steps as you can ahead of time, especially if you're socializing and/or drinking.  it's so easy to blow right past that late addition if you're not paying attention.  a checklist/schedule doesn't hurt either.  I use a dry erase marker on my beer fridge.  otherwise, sanitize everything!

[Slowbrew]

Check your new cooler for leaks before brew day.  Fill it all the way up with water and let it sit for 20 minutes.  It's a lot easier to fix a leak without 3 gallons of hot water and 10lbs of grain inside.

On brew day, relax and roll with whatever might happen.  Have fun with it.

Paul

[Jimmy K]

Do you plan to batch sparge or fly sparge?

[greatplainsbrewer]

I would calibrate my boil kettle- you need to know how much is coming out.  Might be a good idea to run water through the MLT and see how much remains when it quits draining- not sure if it will be exactly the same as when you mash/lauter but it will give you an idea.  You may want to take a lot more measurements than you did when extract brewing.  I'd figure what/when/how to take those.

Maybe even walk through the process and look for potential headaches in your system.  I'm pretty low tech which means lifting/carrying kettles full of hot wort and water.  If you have that type of setup make sure you are prepared for what could be potentially dangerous.

What will you do with your spent grains?

Make sure you have everything lined up and prepared ahead of time.  I like to make sure that I have a sixer cooled and someone to help drink it.  BBQ also helps.

Have fun.

[DrewG]

Do you plan to batch sparge or fly sparge?

Batch ala Mr Denny

I would calibrate my boil kettle- you need to know how much is coming out. Might be a good idea to run water through the MLT and see how much remains when it quits draining- not sure if it will be exactly the same as when you mash/lauter but it will give you an idea.  You may want to take a lot more measurements than you did when extract brewing.  I'd figure what/when/how to take those.

Got my old cruddy plastic spoon marked for the big boil kettle, planning on a 2nd set of marks in a dif color for my 5g sparge water pot. Will check the MLT tonight, great idea.

What will you do with your spent grains?

They're going into the garden. Maybe a few spoonful's on the kibble for the dogs.

Make sure you have everything lined up and prepared ahead of time.  I like to make sure that I have a sixer cooled and someone to help drink it.  BBQ also helps.

All good ideas, thanks so much for the input

[DrewG]

Check your new cooler for leaks before brew day.  Fill it all the way up with water and let it sit for 20 minutes.  It's a lot easier to fix a leak without 3 gallons of hot water and 10lbs of grain inside.

On brew day, relax and roll with whatever might happen.  Have fun with it.

Never thought of that. The thought of my 1st AG wort draining onto the floor.....not good

[richardt]

Check your new cooler for leaks before brew day.  Fill it all the way up with water and let it sit for 20 minutes.  It's a lot easier to fix a leak without 3 gallons of hot water and 10lbs of grain inside.

On brew day, relax and roll with whatever might happen.  Have fun with it.  Paul

Yes, a 99 cent roll of teflon tape from Home Depot or Lowes is always handy to have to get watertight seals on all fittings.  Always test all seals/fittings before use, especially if they've been disassembled for cleaning.  That's true for mash tuns, fermentation buckets, kegs, etc.

[BP79]

I did my first AG last month and made a very simple spreadsheet combining notes from Denny's site and Palmer's book.  It's pretty straightforward with just a handful of inputs (mash temp, grain bill, etc...) and I ended up hitting the calculated numbers just about spot on. I'll be more than glad to pass it along if you'd like. 

Other than that, just like everyone else says, have a 6er waiting for you.

[DrewG]

I did my first AG last month and made a very simple spreadsheet combining notes from Denny's site and Palmer's book.  It's pretty straightforward with just a handful of inputs (mash temp, grain bill, etc...) and I ended up hitting the calculated numbers just about spot on. I'll be more than glad to pass it along if you'd like. 

If you could email that to me that would be awesome. Thank you kindly

andyjgallagher@gmail.com

[melferburque]

I did my first AG last month and made a very simple spreadsheet combining notes from Denny's site and Palmer's book.  It's pretty straightforward with just a handful of inputs (mash temp, grain bill, etc...) and I ended up hitting the calculated numbers just about spot on. I'll be more than glad to pass it along if you'd like. 

If you could email that to me that would be awesome. Thank you kindly

andyjgallagher@gmail.com

+1
melferburque at gmail.com

[timberati]

I did my first AG last month and made a very simple spreadsheet combining notes from Denny's site and Palmer's book.  It's pretty straightforward with just a handful of inputs (mash temp, grain bill, etc...) and I ended up hitting the calculated numbers just about spot on. I'll be more than glad to pass it along if you'd like. 

If you could email that to me that would be awesome. Thank you kindly

andyjgallagher@gmail.com

+1
melferburque at gmail.com

+1
timberati2[at]gmail.com

[sparkleberry]

I did my first AG last month and made a very simple spreadsheet combining notes from Denny's site and Palmer's book.  It's pretty straightforward with just a handful of inputs (mash temp, grain bill, etc...) and I ended up hitting the calculated numbers just about spot on. I'll be more than glad to pass it along if you'd like. 

If you could email that to me that would be awesome. Thank you kindly

andyjgallagher@gmail.com

+1
melferburque at gmail.com

+1
timberati2[at]gmail.com

+1 for me too please, if its not too much trouble.
thanks!
ryanpatricklynch@gmail.com

[sdavis84]

Definitely do a dress rehearsal if possible to catch leaks etc.  This will also allow you to do a reality check on your process...(ie can I really safely lift a cooler with that much hot water up to a high enough shelf etc)