Started my batch last night.
My brewday did not go according to plan, but I think it should come out alright. I had to fight the cold being one issue among many. This was my 2nd all grain batch and I am still figuring this out.
A few mishaps:
Heated strike water to 188, added when it was 180, mash temp started at 163 around 1.25 q/gal. Added about another gallon of cool water and got temp to 158. Stirred in, and 20 minutes later temp was 154. Mashed for 75 minutes and final temp was 150 degrees. I had my cooler indoors, but not sure why temps dropped so much. Total water and grains in mash amounted 6 gallons with 3.25 grains left afterwards. Sparged with 3 gallons at 180 degrees. Probably should have went with 185 and 3.5 gallons. I have 72 oz of deadspace in my mash tun left afterwards.
I started the boil with the first runnings while I was sparging and it was stuck around 180 degrees when I noticed my propane tank had frozen to the ground. I got it unstuck and agitating it and got the flame to speed up. I added the sparge water and moved the propane tank inside (boil outside) and set it it warm water and it got moving again until it ran out of propane when the temp was at 200.
So I split my boil and threw it on the stove. Once boiling, I waited 15 minutes before adding the hops (unnecessary) and accidently threw in the .25 oz Sorachi first. I went ahead and added .25 oz of Motueka and only added a dash of sorachi at the 20 minute mark. After the boil I ended up right around 5 gallons with an OG of 1.060 (propane issues outdoors stalled at 180 degrees and boiled off more than I realized). I added about 1/2 gallon of spring water and pitched my 3068 smackpack and aerated with medical oxygen for a minute. Threw it in the closet at 68 degrees with an OG of 1.054.
Mostly rookie mistakes and nothing horrible, but definitely not according to plan. Everything else seemed to go okay. Still much to work on and another coworker said I could have his old propane tank today. Need to make a wind shield soon to get better efficiency during the boil. Not a fan of cold windy weather for brewing.
Anyways, 2 pictures.
I might get beersmith soon. Time for more control.