Grain and Process Question

Isn't it a bad idea to boil grain, especially for more than 30 minutes? My understanding is that will give you a really harsh and tannin-like taste and a crappy mouthfeel. Maybe I'm wrong...

Is there anything wrong with my plan to steep crystal malt @ 150ºF for 20 minutes in the brewpot, then sparge the grains with a 1/2 gallon of water @ 150ºF? It's for a Magic Hat #9 clone, and it's my first attempt using grain and unhopped LME, so I need all the help I can get. The recipe and more questions are below, thanks!

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I'm trying to make a clone of Magic Hat #9, and this is my first attempt not using a hopped LME. I'm taking a few ideas here and there from several extract recipes. Above the recipe are my questions...

• Would you use corn sugar or DME to carb?

• The Wyeast was made 7July08, do I need to make a starter or smack three hours before and wait for the puff?

• Should I sparge the grains with 1/2 gallon @ 150ºF (once or twice?), or skip it?

• Do you add the pellet hops straight, or should I put them in cheese cloth? Does it matter?

(steeped in 1/2 gallon water for 20 mins. @ 150ºF)
1/2# 60ºL Crystal Malt

(Boiled for 60 mins.)
6.5# Pilsen Light LME
0.6# Bav. Wheat LME
1.5 oz. Tettnanger Pellets @ 4.3% AA

(Boiled for 15 mins.)
1/4 oz. Willamette Pellets for 15 mins
1/4 oz. Cascade Pellets for 15 mins
1 tsp. Irish moss

Wyeast 1056 American Ale Yeast

Ferment for 7 days @ 68ºF

(added in secondary)
3 oz. apricot beer flavoring

How does this look?

1: I'd use corn sugar to prime, as it's cheaper and faster. If having an "all Malt" beer is important to you, there's nothing wrong with DME. you'll just need to use a bit more (I believe 1 1/4 cup vs 3/4 cup for 5 gal) and wait a few more weeks.

2: I don't make starters from smack packs, although a lot of people do. since this is not a high gravity wort, I'd say don't worry about it.

3: I would skip the sparge, and also don't squeeze all of the water out of the grains, to avoid over extraction

4: this is personal preference. putting them in cheese cloth will result in slightly lower hoppyness (not an issue for this recipe as it's not really hop-centric), but is easier to deal with after the boil

Eskimo Spy said:

Isn't it a bad idea to boil grain, especially for more than 30 minutes? My understanding is that will give you a really harsh and tannin-like taste and a crappy mouthfeel. Maybe I'm wrong...

Is there anything wrong with my plan to steep crystal malt @ 150ºF for 20 minutes in the brewpot, then sparge the grains with a 1/2 gallon of water @ 150ºF? It's for a Magic Hat #9 clone, and it's my first attempt using grain and unhopped LME, so I need all the help I can get. The recipe and more questions are below, thanks!

Click to expand...

My two cents - Boiling grains is a bad idea. You should steep the 1/2 pounds of grain and then sparge with 1/4 gallon water (according to Papazian - "1/2 gal of sparge water is (ideally) needed to sparge each pound of grain....)
Do not squeeze your grain bag.
The general concensus is that a starter is always good - However it is not needed and you can smack the pack 3 hours before (just make sure you have busted the packet)

You can add the hops directly and strain them when pouring into the fermenter (this straining will also help the aeration)

Sugar vs DME - DME will give you a maltier foam as well as darken the foams color. Your choice - someone else may have an opinion on it though.

Good luck with this - You'll do well - this process just needs more attention than straight extract.

steep your grains in the total partial boil amount you plan on using. this will allow for a less dense solution and no need to sparge and use a big bag. double up your cheese cloth and make a bag 3 time larger than you think you need. this allows good flow through the bag and retains the powdered hop particles or dont worry about the hops, they will settle in the primary. starters are overrated on small low grav batches. Up primary time to 14 days. This allows the yeast to clean up after them selves and reduce the need for irish moss. There are a million ways to brew, it wont be long before you find the one that works best for you and your situation.