Diving into all grain

[_Mick_]

This weekend I will be taking my first glorious step into all grain brewing. Got my ingredients yesterday for a delicious Chocolate Oatmeal Porter. I'll be doing a BIAB job as I haven't got a mash tun yet. Any last minute pointers for me? I'll post the recipe later so let me know what you think.

Cheers
Mick

 

[philmud]

Pointers: relax and have fun. Plan each step well so you know what you need to do, and when - that way you can avoid panicking when you realise you forgot to put in the yeast nutrient etc.

 

[brad81]

Any last minute pointers for me?

Maintain your mash temp

And just what Phil said too.

 

[Logman]

I found anything that could be done the day before was a plus at first, then I could think about it that night an discover what I'd forgotten - filling the water tanks, weighing hops and grain etc. Also, if you screw up at some point don't panic, it will turn out decent enough.

 

[RelaxedBrewer]

It might help to write out the process for your first time. That way you can just follow the steps.
Use a timer/alarm to remind you to do your next step of the process.

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

Weigh out and mill grain, weigh out hops and write down the "minute" addition on each sealer bag.

And don't drink until it's in the cube/fermenter. Just don't.

 

[Bridges]

Have fun, plan well take notes don't drink too much. Relax it'll turn out surprisingly well.

 

[_Mick_]

Thanks for the positive advice guys, should be a good brew day. I've been excited about this one for a while. I'll post the recipe this arv.

 

[_Mick_]

Thanks for the positive advice guys, should be a good brew day. I've been excited about this one for a while. I'll post the recipe this arv.

 

[_Mick_]

And as far as the no drinking advice goes, isn't it sacrilegious not to have a few home brews whilst home brewing?

 

[Droopy Brew]

Yes. Yes it is.

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

Nope. I'm of the view that if you want the next brew to be as good as the one you're drinking, then wait to drink. If you can wait 2-6 weeks to drink a beer you've made, you can wait 5 hours to finish off brewing it before cracking one open.

I don't like wort burns, forgetting hop additions, falling in the kitchen, spillages and the like. YMMV.

 

[_Mick_]

You make a fair point, but being that it will be a Sunday afternoon brew day I'm pretty sure I'm obligated to have at least one schooner. I don't want to stuff my first all grain so I won't be having too many.

 

[_Mick_]

You make a fair point, but being that it will be a Sunday afternoon brew day I'm pretty sure I'm obligated to have at least one schooner. I don't want to stuff my first all grain so I won't be having too many.

 

[Mardoo]

I have one once I reach mid-boil and another 1 or 2 once it's cooling. But that's it. Drunken brew days can be a disaster.

But on my first all-grain? Nothing. I just followed the very-detailed list on which I forgot to include "Drink a beer".

 

[Donske]

My general rule is no beers before the first hop addition, it's pretty hard to get drunk enough to make a serious error in 60/90 minutes.

 

[ben_sa]

Notes notes notes... and dont stress about slight mash temp variations at this stage. I think my first biab dropped 4 degrees and i was freaking out. Still turned out as my best brew to that point!

I dont pour a beer until i finish sparging... 98.C water on bare arms not so much fun

 

[_Mick_]

Yeah maintaining mash temp is my biggest concern, I'll be keeping it on the burner just in case it drops a bit.

 

[verysupple]

It might help to write out the process for your first time. That way you can just follow the steps.
Use a timer/alarm to remind you to do your next step of the process.

Great advice. I've done at least 10 or so AG brews now and still write up a check list for brew day because on the few occasions I didn't, I forgot stuff. Nothing major, and the beers were still great, but things like forgetting to measure the SG or missing a hop addition.

 

[verysupple]

Geez, I feel like a prude now . I only crack a beer after I pitch. I have to be strict on myself since the time a couple of mates came over to help and we drank more than we brewed and missed timings and all sorts of things.