USM_Eagle

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I've always boiled big but never steeped small, and I also never thought to add more primary grain to replace loss from the extract. It makes sense, great tip.

bhughes

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Why does it make a difference to steep small?

Socrates_the_Dog

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I think I'm gonna get a turkey fryer and start doing bigger boils.......

chelero

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I bought a big pot(43L). should i try and do a full 6 gal boil? or just like 4gal and top up with cool water in the fermenter?

cheezydemon3

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There's this great thread that explains that.........oh wait.....

WE'RE IN IT.

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Obelisk

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Why the obsession with high hop flavor? I hate IPA's because of the hop bitterness. I can't think of a PA that I enjoy unless it's with food. There are so many wonderful beers with low hop content, and yet so many of these tips are suggested with hop treatment as the reason.

My real question is this, If I don't care about having high hop bitterness, can I cut down on the boil time? If the LME only requires 15 minutes to sanitize it, can I increase the hops and reduce the boil time to say, 30 minutes?

The suggestion to step up to "real" or "better" PA/IPA won't help me.

Thanks

HSM

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Where credit is due:

10 Steps to Better Extract Brewing

Author Chris Colby
Issue October 2005
Chris Colby is the editor of Brew Your Own magazine.

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HenryKDuff

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I have the same question and I'm not sure it's explained all that well in the OP. He advises to steep small to get the color and flavor you want out of your grains, but there is no mention of what the consequences are of steeping too big. I brewed today and steeped 2 pounds of malt in 2.5 gallons of water. Now I know better (I should have steeped in 2-6 quarts), but I'm curious how my mistake may affect my brew.

AnthonyD

Recipes 

I'm hoping for a little clearer explanation on this as well.

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Scotty_g

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I think the reason you don't need excess water for steeping/rinsing is because if the pH in your steep is too high, you can extract tannins from the grain. In AG/partial mash/mini mash brewing, the conversion of starch to sugar depends greatly on pH (among other things).

I did one mini-mash (used an equal quantity of 2-row with the specialty grains in the steep, tried to control temperature better, let it sit longer) when I was feeling cocky and ended up getting a lousy 45% efficiency. However, that beer has the biggest, fullest taste of any beer I've made in its gravity range.

Normally I steep and rinse on the high end of the recommended range and the beers come out good. However, I do almost all the other recommended tricks. I heartily support a late extract addition; you will get much lighter beer and more hop utilization if you want it (more bittering or save $ on hops, your choice). You will want brewing software to adjust recipes though.

I also second the notion of pulling your kettle off the heat to dissolve wort and using an immersion or flow-through chiller.

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