Mr. Awesome

Recipes 

I'm not a beginner, but this was pretty dumb.

I did not have a grain bag when I was brewing today, so instead of steeping in the bag I put the specialty grains in a strainer and held a spatter screen on top while steeping. Inevetably, a few grains spilled out into the wort. I did my best to ladle as much as I could back through the strainer, but some (not many, but certainly some) are stuck in the pot. Can I expect some nastyness, or does it take more than a few grains spilling from a 1 pound steep to ruin a batch of beer.

I'm guessing it was fine, but I was looking for some wisdom of the masses here.

HOOTER

Recipes 

Obviously you want to avoid boiling the grains so hopefully there isn't a ton in there, which it sounds like there isn't, and they will just settle to the bottom of the fermenter (or get strained out) so I would think you'll be just fine.

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McKBrew

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The masses are speaking and they say RDWHAHB!

sigmund

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Yeah, what he said.

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noisy123

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This is actually the method that Papazian suggests for steeping grains. Granted his book (The Joy of Homebrewing) is a bit dated, it will still show you how to make good beer. I don't think you'll have any problems.

Someone will correct me if I am wrong but I think the main concern would be the leeching of tannins from the grains by soaking them in a dilute solution. It doesn't seem like a few grains could contribute much for tannins.

PeteOz77

Recipes 

You can use almost anything for a steeping bag. I use a nylon "Delicates" bag designed for washing ladies undergarments in the washing machine. It doesn't stain, cleans up easily and lets the water flow through it very well. In a pinch you could us a T shirt and tie it up.

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