first all-grain soon....

[danno]

OK, I think I'm ready... Got 2 30 qt aluminum turkey fryers, one for boiling, one for HLT. Got a 5 gal gott cooler with a homemade copper manifold for my mash tun. I believe I'm ready to go...

So, what's a good, easy recipe for a first time? I'm thinking a nut brown or a stout, just because I have two lighter color beers on tap now...

Any opinions? Things to watch out for? General hints or suggestions? (I've been doing extracts and partial mashes for almost two years now, so the boil/ferment/carbonate/serve piece I have pretty well covered...)

[shughes600]

Well here goes:

1) Set a side a lot of time.

2) Measure and treat your water well ahead of time. Your grains should acidify the mash tun by themselves, worry about the sparge water if need be. pH 5.2 - 5.4

3) You need a method to chill 6 gallons of wort.

4) Select a single infusion mash recipe.

5) Ask your homebrew shop for an all grain recipe at the same time you buy those ingredients.

6) The lautering process should take around 90 minutes or so. It can be agonizing but you will be rewarded in efficiency.

7) Didn't see a plan for sparging, I used a one quart sauce pan gently my first time. Invested in a sparge arm very soon afterwards.

8) Know when to end the lauter, SG 1.012 or pH 6.0. Positive on SG ? on pH.

9) There are two good books on this, well maybe three: Dave Millers Homebrewing Guide covers it very well and simply, Noonans New Lager Brewing is very detailed on decoction and is helpful for single infusions. Palmer talks about mashing as well.

10) Test mash for conversion. Iodine test (http://www.realbeer.com/discussions/showthread.php?s=&threadid=326) & Iodine Test (http://www.realbeer.com/discussions/showthread.php?s=&threadid=383)

[danno]

thanks for the tips... let's see...

1 and 2, check....
3, have a CFC, no problem...
4 and 5, my homebrew shop, Northern Brewer (http://www.northernbrewer.com/beer-kits.html) has all grain kits, figured I'd start with a few of those before I start messing around with recipes....
6, 8, and 10, check...
7, I forgot about that, perhaps it's time to throw together another copper whirlygig....
9, I already have Palmer's book, and another of Dave Miller's, can't remember the title at the moment...