Wow, thanks for all the great input! My last IPA was made with 9 lbs of Pilsen Light DME (Briess), .5 lbs 60L Crystal (steeped) and .25 lbs Belgian Strong (steeped). Flavor was killer, but a little hazy, I ws thinking it might be due to starches that are not getting converted in the steep, and thought if I mashed that with some base malt, I might solve that issue. I am only working with a 3 gallon kettle right now, ugh, but have some goodies on order. Waiting on a 10 gallon brew kettle with a spigot and thermometer, 2 to gallon coolers, one for mash tun w false bottom and one with sparging setup. Plan on using a bucket for HLT, cant wait for it all to get here, just waiting on the false bottom to arrive! I do not want to interrupt my pipeline though, so I thought I might brew a few more 5 gallon extract batches first.
I have the advantage of working in a wine and spirits dept. of a Midwest grocery store chain and am in charge of the homebrew supplies, so my boss lets me pay cost for my equipment! I also get to brew for our "beer club" so I get to practice once a month or so for free as long as I bring the brew to the club tasting, nice deal for me!
Back to the topic though, would I benefit from mashing those particular grains with base malts instead steeping or just a waste of time? I mean I guess it can not hurt right, I kind of want to get an idea of the difference even a small mash can make in a brew.