I brewed my first all grain batch of beer yesterday, and I know that next time I will significantly change one part of my process.

This past batch, I used a strainer system to separate the grains from the sweet wort after mashing was complete. Not only was this a royal pain, but it smacked of inefficiency, and I was left feeling like I hadn’t gotten as much out of the grains as I could have, even after relentless sparging of each successive strainer full of wort. [Edit: I did hit my target gravity, but it just didn't feel right]

I know from my reading that the grains form a natural filter if left to settle on their own, so why mess with that? Next time I will employ a lauter tun system, likely by sacrificing one of my plastic buckets to drill full of holes to create a false bottom for one of my spigot-fitted buckets. Finally, a real use for the 3 extra buckets sitting on my porch!