mashing question

I have reading about grains that must be mashed and cannot be steeped and one of those listed as mashing only (according to an old BYO magazine) is Munich malt.
I have just just brewed a Paulaner clone from clone brews which was an extract recipe with steeping grains and it called for 4oz of munich malt

BYO magazine says that munich malt is useless steeped. What's the deal here? Was using the munich malt a waste of time?

Munich malt may give some flavor if it is only steeped and probably a little bit of sugars (since steeping is very close to mashing), but the big payoff in both flavor and sugars comes when you actually mash it. IMHO, I would never steep Munich malt or any other malt that should be mashed.

Wait and see how your beer tastes before deciding if it was a waste of time steeping the malt.

-Steve

Are you sure it's asking for Munich and not Cara Munich?
Munich is a base malt, and does require mashing.
Cara Munich is a crystal malt and doesn't require mashing.
The two are completely different.

-a.

ajf said:

Are you sure it's asking for Munich and not Cara Munich?
Munich is a base malt, and does require mashing.
Cara Munich is a crystal malt and doesn't require mashing.
The two are completely different.

-a.

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The recipe says

4 0z German Munich Malt. I beleive that's different from cara munich, no?

exbrit said:

The recipe says

4 0z German Munich Malt. I beleive that's different from cara munich, no?

Click to expand...

Yeah, that's clearly the one that needs to be mashed. At 4 oz. though, they're probably including it just for some flavor addition-- that much malt would not provide very much fermentable sugar if it were mashed.

-Steve

They also could have meant malt extract. That would make way more sense. Can you give us the whole recipe?

-Steve

SavageSteve said:

They also could have meant malt extract. That would make way more sense. Can you give us the whole recipe?

-Steve

Click to expand...

crush and steep in half gallon for 20 minutes
4oz german munich malt

then bring to boil and add

6lbs wheat DME
1oz German hallerau (bittering)

wyeast 3056

Yes, the recipe specifies the Munich base malt and not Cara Munich, but as SavageSteve says, steeping is very close to mashing. It's quite possible that your steep was actually a mash as you had a base malt in there.
If you want to post the recipe, we can probably give you more information.

-a.

The only thing you will really gain from steeping munich malt, is starch in your beer.

enderwig said:

The only thing you will really gain from steeping munich malt, is starch in your beer.

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Clone brews is a solid book, right? Why would they have an extract with grains recipe using base malt that will add nothing but starch to the beer?

I followedone of their recipes already for an APA

I must stop answering the phone while posting. I get way to far behind.
If you steeped between 150 and 160F for 20 minutes, you will actually have performed a mini-mash.

I hope you removed the grains before brining it to a boil.

-a.

ajf said:

I must stop answering the phone while posting. I get way to far behind.
If you steeped between 150 and 160F for 20 minutes, you will actually have performed a mini-mash.

I hope you removed the grains before brining it to a boil.

-a.

Click to expand...

I brought the water to a boil and then added the grains.

I'm confused though about extract with grain recipes. If what i did is considered mashing then aren't all the recipes mash. I did an APA that included steeping grains for twenty minutes also although for that one i steeped in 1.5 gallons. And why do they include a mini mash option on the side to go with the extrct recipe?

4 oz. of grain in 64 oz. of water for 20 minutes is definitely not a mash, mini or otherwise. Little or no starch was converted, so it basically contributed a bunch of haze-forming starch and maybe a little bit of flavor.

I have no idea why they would have called for that in the recipe. I'm sure the beer will be fine, but I'm really puzzled.

-Steve