Steeping Grain Water Volume...

I am getting ready to start a 2.5 gallon extract recipe with 8 oz of steeping grains. This is only my second brew so I am still trying to figure this all out. I have read that the volume of water is important when steeping and I think the ratio is 1 gallon per pound of grains.

My question is, can I steep the 8oz of steeping grains in 1/2 gallon of water for 30 minutes and then simply add the "steeped water" to the 2 gallons heating up in my boil kettle?

Sure can. And it'll speed up the process because you'll have grains steeping while the rest of the water is heating up to boil. They say "Steep small, Boil big."

Thank you, I will definitely try this.

Is there any need to rinse the grains or can the water just be added to the main boil kettle?

Hmm, I always figured for steeping the water amount doesn't matter as much since you are not extracting fermentable sugars from it like mashing (or atleast not nearly as much), its main purpose is for color/aroma? I thought the kits suggestion x amount of gallons to steep in, because they assume you have a small pot?

Question: if you where doing a full 5gallon boil... would you NOT want to steep in your 6.5 gallons to start? Rather you would want to steep in less water in a different pot, then combine it all to boil?

You say that steeping does not extract sugars. How come when I remove the steeping grains from my recipe in Beer Alchemy, the OG drops by a lot? I am not at my home computer right now, so I can't give you the exact numbers. This would leave me to believe that sugars are extracted right?

fbones24 said:

You say that steeping does not extract sugars. How come when I remove the steeping grains from my recipe in Beer Alchemy, the OG drops by a lot? I am not at my home computer right now, so I can't give you the exact numbers. This would leave me to believe that sugars are extracted right?

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I am going to take a stab and say that he meant there are no fermentable sugars are extracted. That would require enzymes that are not present in steeped grains. Gravity is just a measurement of the density of the water due to the amount of TOTAL sugars in your wort. Some are fermentable, some are not. But both effect your gravity.

(How am I doing?)

Confusing. So if they are not "fermentable" sugars, then they should have no effect on the final ABV of the beer correct?

If that is the case, then I don't understand why removing the steeping grains from my recipe would have any effect on the estimated ABV% for my beer, but it does.

fbones24 said:

Confusing.

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You got that right. Maybe someone will come along that knows what they are talking about. Again, mine was just a stab.

Some fermentable sugars are extracted during steeping of specialty grains, but compared to the overall volume of sugars added by the end, it's not very many. 8oz of grain can contribute about .002 - .003 gravity to a 5 gallon batch.

However, some extract + specialty grain recipes call for quite a few grains. I did one that called for nearly 2 pounds of grain, which can add about .01 gravity to a 5 gallon batch. That's a little more significant.

BendBrewer said:

I am going to take a stab and say that he meant there are no fermentable sugars are extracted. That would require enzymes that are not present in steeped grains.

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Then how do AG recipes work? If you don't get fermentable sugars from steeping/sparging the malted-grain, how do we get beer out of AG brews?

The 8 oz of grains are 'specialty' grains that contribute flavor and fermentables to the finished product. That's why they are in the kit. Otherwise it would be an all extract kit.

In AG brewing you are using a significant amount of malt that is capable of converting lots of fermentable sugars. You have to maintain specific temperatures to get good conversion efficiency. When you are steeping the only concern is getting flavors and compounds out of the specialty grains. With an extract kit you get either LME or DME which is really nothing more than super concentrated wort - the manufacturer used the base grains and created a wort then concentrated it. Read this free resource: How to Brew Particularly chapter 13.
From Chapter 13:

Steeping differs from mashing in that there is no enzyme activity taking place to convert grain or adjunct starches to sugars. Steeping specialty grains is entirely a leaching and dissolution process of sugars into the wort. If grain with enzyme diastatic potential is steeped, that is mashing. See the following chapters for more detail on that process.

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From our wiki:

There are two major categories of steeping grains:

To create crystal and caramel malt, the grain is essentially mashed in the hull, resulting in a malt that is almost entirely sugar already. These grains add sugar, including a high proportion of unfermentable sugars, to the wort, resulting in a distinct sweet taste in the finished beer.

Roasted malt and roasted unmalted grains are processed with heat high enough to break down any starch directly. As a result, these grains will add roasted flavors and dark colors to the wort.

BendBrewer said:

I am going to take a stab and say that he meant there are no fermentable sugars are extracted. That would require enzymes that are not present in steeped grains. Gravity is just a measurement of the density of the water due to the amount of TOTAL sugars in your wort. Some are fermentable, some are not. But both effect your gravity.

(How am I doing?)

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Yes, sorry I meant no fermentable sugars (or not very much as opposed to mashing)