1) The all-grain aspects, mashing, full boil, proper sparging, etc. was pretty easy! I had rehersed those in my mind for a whole week. That went just as planned
2) After 15 years of extract brewing in the kitchen, I was not prepared for the changes in my basic setup/process by being outdoors. I did not realize I had become so comfortable with my old way of doing things.
3) My new equipment worked flawlessly! (n.b. wort chiller was old equipment
)When I went to O'Sheas to pickup supplies, several things had to be changed based up on material availbility. They did not have StarSan, so I picked up the SaniClean instead. At home, having not read up on the differences, and not used to iodine based cleaners ... I got confused real quick. I ultimately decided to just go with my gut, and I think my quick conversion of oz. to ml worked fine.
Here is the final recipe I ended up with after seeing what I could get at O'sheas and with your suggestions online.
8.0# Pale Malt (2 Row) - US
1.5# Caramel/Crystal Malt -45L
1.0# Munich Malt 10L
0.5# Melanoidin Malt
0.5# Cara-Pils
0.66 oz Centennial Hops (60 min)
0.66 oz Centennial Hops (15 min)
0.67 oz Centennial Hops (2 min)
1/2 tsp Irish Moss (10 min)
1 California Ale Yeast (WLP-001)
The batch did end up at 5 gallons @ 1.060 SG.
On the Mash, I used a strike temp of 166-F. I had put the grains in the tun first, then poored the water on top. Is one way better than the other? Using the kettle clip thermometer (with 12" probe) on the tun, I stirred the grain bed watching the temp drop form 160-F down to the 154-F target. I put the lid on and waited 20 mins.
When I poped the lid to stir & get a temp read, the mash was at 150-F ..too low! I started heating up my sparge water, while keeping the lid on the tun. It took 15 mins to get my 3.75 gallons of water to 175, and I scooped a couple of pints of water into the tun using a sterile measuring cup. In all, I put about 2 quarts of hot water to get it to 154-F.
I extended my mash time to allow for more time at the 154 target... a total of 35 mins since adding the 2 extra quarts. I then drained to the brew kettle, and did a single batch of 168-F sparge water (~3.5 gallons).
n.b. I was suprised at how loose the valves, bibs, etc. became during this long exposure to heat. The seals all held, but when I was twisting my hosing on to the valve bib on my tun, it screwed in a good couple of turns!
I was real happy with my new 60,000btu burner.
It heated things up real quick! I boiled for 60 mins, with hop additions as shown. Chilled it down with the immersion wort chiller ( 
), transferred & pitched. Done.After all your great comments on the subject of aerating the wort for the yeast, I did try to find something at O'sheas, but they did not seem to know about such things or just didn't carry them. So I just relied on the old slosh & shake method.
Fermentation is off to a real slow start, which is not suprising at this point. I'd love to hear any comments & suggestions. You guys have all been fantastic, and I learned more in the past week about making beer, than in the past couple of years! I really appreciate all your comments & advice.
Now, time to enjoy a homebrew!
--LexusChris
I paid $1.50/lb for Pale Malt, $2.00/lb for Crystal Malt, $1.50/lb for Munich Malt, $2.75/lb for Melanoidin Malt, $2.00/lb for Carapils Malt, $7.85 for 2oz of Centennial Hop pellets, and $8.95 for the Yeast. I think that comes out to $35 .. and then I use store-bought drinking water, which is like $1.20/gallon.... so another $10.
Become a Brewer's Hardware Fan on Facebook!