I didn't sparge my grains, so it boiled during the entire brew.

HasstheBoss · 12-29-2009, 10:14 AM

I just brewed my first batch of homebrew ever. I'm a total amateur so I was just trying to go off of books and videos that I've seen online. My understanding now is that I should have removed the grains after the 30 min boil @ 160 degrees, but I thought that you left the grains in for the entire brew process.

I boiled the barley for 30 mins, added the malt extracts and brought to a rolling boil, then followed the hopping schedule for an hour. I chilled the beer to 80 degrees, filtered it into a clean 5 gallon carboy and pitched the yeast into it.

Did I make a big mistake by not sparging/removing the barley grains after the 30 min boil?

Any help is most appreciated.

thanks

**buffalobrewer** · 12-29-2009, 01:25 PM

typically you leave the grains in at around 150-160 for a period (.5-1 hr) remove and then get up to boiling temp. you might get some off flavor from leaving them in, but probably nothing that will be disasterous. this might be worth a read: http://www.howtobrew.com/section2/chapter13-1.html

Barc · 12-29-2009, 01:32 PM

Alton Brown did this on his Good Eats episode about homebrewing... I'd say you're going to be ok. It will still be beer. It may have an off flavor but probably not much. What was the quantity of grain in question?

barleynhops · 12-29-2009, 01:41 PM

How much grain did you boil? The grain husks contain tannins that do not get released until higher temps (180ish). You will likely have some tannins released in the beer due to boiling the husks. the PH level of the wort and the amount of grain boiled will be the ultimate determinant in whether or not your finished beer is "ruined". If there is a high degree of mouth-puckering astringency to your final product, this is what happened. At this point, I'd just go through the process and hope for the best. It may not turn out how you wanted, but it may still be drinkable.

**shelly_belly** · 12-29-2009, 02:48 PM

Gelatin will help. Read this...
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/gelatin-finings-53912/

jjones17 · 12-29-2009, 03:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HasstheBoss

I just brewed my first batch of homebrew ever. I'm a total amateur so I was just trying to go off of books and videos that I've seen online. My understanding now is that I should have removed the grains after the 30 min boil @ 160 degrees, but I thought that you left the grains in for the entire brew process.

I boiled the barley for 30 mins, added the malt extracts and brought to a rolling boil, then followed the hopping schedule for an hour. I chilled the beer to 80 degrees, filtered it into a clean 5 gallon carboy and pitched the yeast into it.

Did I make a big mistake by not sparging/removing the barley grains after the 30 min boil?

Any help is most appreciated.

thanks

Well, welcome to the best hobby ever. Anyway, do not let your first few errors dissuade you from trying again. I noticed that you said you 'boiled' for 30 minutes @ 160. You really should refer to that as 'mashed', which is the same as 'soaked', neither of which are 'boilied'. I am definately not being nitpicky, my point is if you use the word boil then you will definately get confused later on. Your boil comes after removing the water from the grains (or the grains from the water

). I would definately read the previous posters website link to John Palmers online book. Althought, you seem to have a good understanding of your 60 minute hop schedule. Good job there.

I hope that helps, good job no a first try it will probably taste fine!

BubbaK · 12-29-2009, 04:21 PM

also using a 5 gal carboy for primary fermentation may make a mess. Make sure you use a blowoff tube instead of an airlock.

**david_42** · 12-29-2009, 04:23 PM

Quote:

Did I make a big mistake by not sparging/removing the barley grains after the 30 min boil?

Yes

Did it ruin the beer?

Probably not. The biggest concern in boiling grain is tannins, so if the wort does not taste like black tea already, don't worry.

**Bobby_M** · 12-29-2009, 05:20 PM

Now that you know not to boil grain, I'll also point out that you'll be better off getting the wort down to 70F or a bit less before pitching the yeast.

**Shooter** · 12-29-2009, 05:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjones17

Well, welcome to the best hobby ever. Anyway, do not let your first few errors dissuade you from trying again. I noticed that you said you 'boiled' for 30 minutes @ 160. You really should refer to that as 'mashed', which is the same as 'soaked', neither of which are 'boilied'. I am definately not being nitpicky, my point is if you use the word boil then you will definately get confused later on. Your boil comes after removing the water from the grains (or the grains from the water

). I would definately read the previous posters website link to John Palmers online book. Althought, you seem to have a good understanding of your 60 minute hop schedule. Good job there.

I hope that helps, good job no a first try it will probably taste fine!

Well, being that he added extract later, it's quite possible that what he did here was "steep" his grains, not "mash" them for 30 minutes. Not being nitpicky!