Steeping and sparging questions

Hello all,

First of all, I would like to thank everyone here. I have learned so much reading through the posts.

I have brewed 2 batches so far although neither is ready yet, and am planning my next few. I just got the AHS ESB extract kit which I will brew tomorrow or wednesday, but am planning the next already. I bought the Clonebrews book of 150 recipies by Szamatulski and am confussed bu the recipies. They say to steep the grain and then sparge it. I was under the impression that sparging was something that you did when doing all grain, and these are the extract recipies. Can someone please let me know what this is and how to do it as it pertains to extract batches?

The other question I have is about steeping. I know Palmer says to use no more than 1 gal per pound of grain. If I am doing a full boil, what is the difference between steeping ina smaller pot, then adding that to the remaing water, and steeping in the full 6.5 gal? Its seems to me like if I'm mixing them anyway, that kind of negates steeping a smaller pot.

Any help is appreciated.

If your steeping the grains in a grain bag you don't really need to sparge other then just letting the "tea bag" drain into the pot. I used a large stainless steel strainer when I use to steep. Just set the bag in the strainer.

On the other question Im not sure, I would think it would be ok. I only did 2 batches before I moved to all grain, and I just follow the 1 gal per pound of grain rule. I was only doing partial boils.

I would think it to mean they want you to gently pour some water over the steeped grains. You might get some additional benefits from that. I had some instructions that referred to it that way.

Yes, just rinsing the steeping grains works fine. I used to put the steeping bag on a large strainer over a one gallon bucket, and I would pour about a pint of water over them and just let them drip while I brought everything else up to a boil.

Yes, if you want to steep your grains in Palmer's recommended amount of water and then just add that to the kettle, you can. The difference between steeping in the smaller amount and the full 6.5 gallons is a concern about extracting tannins from the steeping grains.


TL

thanks for the replies! I'll be brewing today and will steep in a small pot, then add it to the rest.

just make sure you do not squeeze the bag of grains. let gravity drain it...nothing more aggressive.

+1 on steeping the grains in your boiling kettle. As long as it's not too wide and won't have to add too much water, it saves using one more pot.