I guess you call this the learning curve

I'm not too happy with this first all-grain batch. I think that I messed up the sparge. The OG was wa-a-a-ay too low. I just racked off to the secondary and measured the SG. Again, way too low. I took a sip and it's pretty watery. It's going to sit in the secondary for several weeks. (It will be that long until I can do anything with it.) We'll see... Maybe it will make a nice light beer.

(Of course the beauty of home brewing is that it's pretty cheap. I won't be out much at all if this goes down the drain.)

OK... Time to try an all-grain brew

I'm trying an all grain recipe for the first time. This is an ale called "Raucous Red".

I've been slowly building up the stuff I need for a mash tun. I've got an Igloo water cooler and I've replaced the valve with a 1/2" ball valve. Inside, I've made a screen from the steel braid off of a 1" water line. The resulting loop looks like it covers the correct amount of the cooler's diameter. Not too close to the walls and not too far away. (I'll post pics later.) I also got a wort chiller today. It's an early birthday present from my lovely wife.

Another 45 minutes and it's time to sparge!

Hops

I'm doing my part to alleviate the hops shortage...



This is a Chinook hops. I also have some Willamette growing, though it's not nearly as prolific as the Chinook.