adventures in noobland

hi,

I have searched forums for tons of info(this place is my best resource), but I'm about to do my 3rd full boil and had a few specific questions.

1. when steeping grains, i have read to steep them in a smaller pot, remove grain bag, and add steeped water to the rest of the full boil. Is this correct, and is it important to steep them in a specific amout of h2o so long as the steeped h2o + full boil h2o, is my target start amount?

2. i have the complete joy of hombrewing 3rd edition by charlie papazien...
in it he refers to sparging the gains, i know in these cases he is talking about extract brewing (which i am doing), but i am unclear on this. I thought "sparging" was a term for the AG process of removing the malt extract from the steeped grains? It is possible he means to run h20 over and through the grain bag prior to removal? is this good practice, or a bad idea because of tanins?

I know this got a little wordy, but i really appreciate the insight and help.

thanks!
Ben

Your steeped water plus your sparge water are what I think you should be starting with, then you add water to that.

Sparging is rinsing the grains of extra sugars. You should be doing it with partial mashes, I believe.

So, yes, your final volume should definitely include your mash volume as well as your sparge volume.

You need to clarify what process you are using: 1) extract with steeping grains or 2) partial mash. If you're not sure, you can share the recipe and we'll be able to tell which process it was made for.

I am using extract with steeping grains

thanks for the help

i've done steep&extract for years now and have never steeped my grains in a seperate pot. i do not sparge or run water over the spent grains either. just let the water drain out of the grain sack and you'll be just fine. KISS- keep it simple stupid!

to specifically answer your questions:
1 no it's not important to steep them in a specific amount of water. i have read that you'll get better utilization with a lesser amount of water, but fugit
2 i would say it is a bad practice to run water over the grains since you might release tannins. just holding the grain sack over the pot and draining is good enough. DO NOT SQUEEZE THE BAG!! that will definitely release tannins. once you go all grain then sparging will become important, but until then KISS...