Steeping Munich Malt

I'm trying to follow a homebrewer99's Paulaner hefe recipe with 4oz of Munich Malt steeping grains. In Beersmith it says Munich must be mashed. Any idea what I'm missing ?

Yes, munich must be mashed. If you steep it, the only thing you will get from it is starch.

I agree.

Except..............I have only steeped munich and it worked out ok.

Munich can convert itself, and even if it doesn't convert, you can gain some flavor from it. So, I'd recommend "steeping" it in 1.25 quarts of water per pound of grain at 153 for 45 minutes, and you've got yourself a mash.

This is the process from the recipe. As it's one of the most viewed recipes on the forum and no one had raised an issue before I assumed the process was sound:

"Grain: 4 oz. Briess Munich Malt 6-row
Steep: Crush malt. Steep in ½ gal water at 150F for 20 mins. Sparge with 1 gal 150F water."

Diablo said:

This is the process from the recipe. As it's one of the most viewed recipes on the forum and no one had raised an issue before I assumed the process was sound:

"Grain: 4 oz. Briess Munich Malt 6-row
Steep: Crush malt. Steep in ½ gal water at 150F for 20 mins. Sparge with 1 gal 150F water."

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It should be ok. Like I said, I've steeped Munich before and it worked fine!

YooperBrew said:

It should be ok. Like I said, I've steeped Munich before and it worked fine!

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Ok I'll give it a go. Thanks for your help!

"Grain: 4 oz. Briess Munich Malt 6-row
Steep: Crush malt. Steep in ½ gal water at 150F for 20 mins. Sparge with 1 gal 150F water."

A. This is effectively very thin mash.
B. 6-row has more enzymes, so the short time isn't too big a problem.
C. 4 ounces mashed or steeped doesn't add much to the gravity anyway. Just flavor and color.

I'm doing a Paulaner clone right now. I'm doing the all grain version, but the extract version from (boot: Clone Brews) has 4 oz of munich malt steeped.

From the book
"Crush and steep in 1/2 gal(1.9L) 150F (65.5C) water for 20 minutes."

I think that small amount, I don't think it will make much difference.

What if you're doing a pound? I'm doing a Ninkasi Tricerahops clone and have a lb of Carahell and a lb of Munich I was going to steep at 152 for 30 minutes. Should I add some 2-row for enzymes and make it into a 3lb minimash? Should I "steep" longer?

BadgerBrew3r said:

What if you're doing a pound? I'm doing a Ninkasi Tricerahops clone and have a lb of Carahell and a lb of Munich I was going to steep at 152 for 30 minutes. Should I add some 2-row for enzymes and make it into a 3lb minimash? Should I "steep" longer?

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That's a good idea. Mash it rather than steep though, using 1.25-1.5 qts of water per pound of grain, and hold at 152F (or so) for an hour. A large pot in a 155F preheated oven works great.

Using a pound of 2-row, pilsner, or any other diastatic base malt will give you good conversion. Sparge 2x after collecting the first runnings.

The Munich has plenty enzymes, and the how-long-to-mash question will likely ignite the usual discussions bordering on religious fervor


...and once again, The Lizard is faster.

BadgerBrew3r said:

What if you're doing a pound? I'm doing a Ninkasi Tricerahops clone and have a lb of Carahell and a lb of Munich I was going to steep at 152 for 30 minutes. Should I add some 2-row for enzymes and make it into a 3lb minimash? Should I "steep" longer?

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If you "steep" it at 152 for 30 minutes you will have performed a mini-mash. That's the meat of mashing. 1.25 quarts per pound works well as does 4 quarts per pound.