grain steeping

**ben the brewman** · 08-19-2008, 11:29 PM

i was wanting to know if you would steep speciality grains for 30 min at 150 deg or so how much of the color and flavor would you get out of them in a %. i know a mash is done for 60-90 mins to get the full extraction so does that mean if i did it for 30 min would i get 50% extraction?

**johnsma22** · 08-20-2008, 12:19 AM

Steeping and mashing are two completely different animals. During the steeping of specialty grains there is no starch conversion occurring. All of the starches have already been converted to sugars during the roasting process. All that you are doing is making "tea" and dissolving the sugars, color and flavors into solution. A 30 minute steep is just a rule of thumb to ensure that enough time has elapsed for that to occur.

During mashing, there are heat activated enzymes that go to work to convert the starches to fermentable sugars. Those enzymes require time to get the job done. I can't say with any certainty how much only mashing for a half hour would effect the conversion.

**ben the brewman** · 08-20-2008, 02:03 AM

i understand the diff between mashing and steeping i was just using that as a example sorry i guess it was confusing. what im getting at is if i take 3 pounds of speciality grains and steep them for 30 min then take the same grains when im done with them and resteep them in a sepreate pot would that be like using 1.5 pounds specilaity of grain or would it be different.

**johnsma22** · 08-20-2008, 02:19 AM

Resteeping the 3 lbs of specialty grains would not give you much at all. The 30 minute initial steep would remove just about all of what you are trying to gain from them. All you would be left with are spent grains. There may be some goodness left, but not enough to warrant the effort.

**Yooper** · 08-20-2008, 02:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ben the brewman

i understand the diff between mashing and steeping i was just using that as a example sorry i guess it was confusing. what im getting at is if i take 3 pounds of speciality grains and steep them for 30 min then take the same grains when im done with them and resteep them in a sepreate pot would that be like using 1.5 pounds specilaity of grain or would it be different.

No, you'd get the vast majority of the color and flavor the first time. Think of it like a tea bag- you might be able to reuse a tea bag after it's been steeped, but you wouldn't get much color or flavor out of it after a 30 minute steep. I would have to guess how much you'd actually still have- but if you sparge the grains when done steeping (and you certainly should), I'd guess you'd have less than 10% of the grains' goodness left.

**ben the brewman** · 08-20-2008, 03:04 AM

thats what i was thinking it shouldnt be much but i wasnt sure.