how to steep grains

I have steeped grains on two recipes, the first a wheat taht i wanted to add some citrus flavor to and the second a stout. it wasnt that important for the wheat so i just heated them in a pot of water to 150 for an hour and dumped out the water into the brewpot and squeezed out the grainbag over the brewpot. i did the same on the stout and it was very light colored and i thought it might be bc i dont really know how to steep grains. anyone wanna show me how?

Heat water to 150°F, Put grains in a big bag, make sure they're a little loose, Make sure they all get nice and soaked, let it sit for 45-60 mins... that's pretty much it... right? sure....

While the grains are steeping like omar suggests, heat a gallon or two of water (or more if you can) to 170 F in another pot. When the steeping period is over, remove the grain bag from the steeping kettle and place it in a colander. Hold the colander with the grains over your brew kettle and pour the 170 degree water evenly and somewhat slowly over the grains to rinse them of any remaining sugars and flavors. This step is called "sparging" and ensures that you have maximized the yield from your grains. Avoid squeezing the grain bag - that can extract tannins - bitter flavors that are undesirable.

what exactly is a colander?

grrtt78 said:

what exactly is a colander?

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A kitchen strainer, like this:

ooo lol ok i got one of those

Is that right? I thought steeping grains had nothing to do with extracting sugars from them.

Ol' Grog said:

Is that right? I thought steeping grains had nothing to do with extracting sugars from them.

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Steeping grains extracts a small amount of fermentable sugars (maybe a couple gavity points worth), but it's main function is adding flavor and color and body (in the case of crystal malts).

I would steep at 155 to 160 degrees for 30-60 mins depending on the style. Longer for darker beers. Be careful listening to others. Steeping is not the same thing as mashing and you want to keep your temps between 150 and 160 degrees so that you do not extract Tannins from the grain.

If you rinse the grains with 170 degree water then you are pushing the envelope as far as tannin extraction. I really do not see the reason to rinse with water that is hotter than the steep temp. Why risk extracting bitter tannins...............I rinse my grains with 158 degree water which is the same temp I steep at.

dougjones31 said:

I would steep at 155 to 160 degrees for 30-60 mins depending on the style. Longer for darker beers. Be careful listening to others. Steeping is not the same thing as mashing and you want to keep your temps between 150 and 160 degrees so that you do not extract Tannins from the grain.

If you rinse the grains with 170 degree water then you are pushing the envelope as far as tannin extraction. I really do not see the reason to rinse with water that is hotter than the steep temp. Why risk extracting bitter tannins...............I rinse my grains with 158 degree water which is the same temp I steep at.

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There's this guy. Goes by the name of Papazian. Methinks he'd disagree with you.

When I started brewing, I was doing extract w/ steeped grains. Papazian's extract recipes call for 170f water for 30 minutes. That's what I did. Same goes for sparging water. I never had any problems with tannins, and I think it would suffice to say that Charlie didn't either, or else he wouldn't have advised as such in his book. Maybe you've had problems, personally, with tannins @ 170f, but I don't think that that's common. From what I understand, you have to go up another 10 degrees at least to have any problems with tannin extraction.

What I do know is that 170f is hot enough to shut down the enzymes, so sugar conversion will be minimal---that's why it's called steeping, because it's not mashing. Lastly, I think the reason why Papazian recommends 170f is because it extracts more color and flavor in a shorter period of time than 158f water does.

Hmmm I got this from Papazian's book "The procedure is identical to that for extract brewing. However, the specialty grains will be steeped in the pot before the extract is added. The 3 gallons of water in the boiling pot is heated until it reaches 160°F +/- 10°. Then the grain bag is immersed in the pot for 30 minutes. The grain bag may be dunked and swirled like a tea bag during this time to make sure that all of the grain is wetted. Agitation will help to improve the yield. Remove the grain bag from the pot, giving it a squeeze to drain the excess wort and avoid dripping on the stove. "

and

"The compounds give the wort a dry puckering taste, much like a black tea that has been left to steep too long. The extraction of tannins is especially prevalent if the water is too hot - above 170°F."

FWIW, all the extract recipes I've done have called for steep in the 150 to 155 F range.

Even if we're not sparging for sugar extraction perse, a fresh rinse still down get additional color and flavor out of the grains. I "sparged" my grainbag with about a quart of water into a separate container just to test the theory and it was dark and flavorful. No reason to throw it away so in the pot it went.

I think the only draw back is if your trying to match a recipe, if you extract more from the grains then the original intent, you will come up with a darker beer and possibly effect the flavor.

JnJ said:

Hmmm I got this from Papazian's book "The procedure is identical to that for extract brewing. However, the specialty grains will be steeped in the pot before the extract is added. The 3 gallons of water in the boiling pot is heated until it reaches 160°F +/- 10°. Then the grain bag is immersed in the pot for 30 minutes. The grain bag may be dunked and swirled like a tea bag during this time to make sure that all of the grain is wetted. Agitation will help to improve the yield. Remove the grain bag from the pot, giving it a squeeze to drain the excess wort and avoid dripping on the stove. "

and

"The compounds give the wort a dry puckering taste, much like a black tea that has been left to steep too long. The extraction of tannins is especially prevalent if the water is too hot - above 170°F."

FWIW, all the extract recipes I've done have called for steep in the 150 to 155 F range.

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Thanks JNJ.....I have only been brewing for 12 years....I think I know what I am talking about. Thanks for backing me up.

Yuri_Rage said:

While the grains are steeping like omar suggests, heat a gallon or two of water (or more if you can) to 170 F in another pot. When the steeping period is over, remove the grain bag from the steeping kettle and place it in a colander. Hold the colander with the grains over your brew kettle and pour the 170 degree water evenly and somewhat slowly over the grains to rinse them of any remaining sugars and flavors. This step is called "sparging" and ensures that you have maximized the yield from your grains. Avoid squeezing the grain bag - that can extract tannins - bitter flavors that are undesirable.

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while steeping and sparging, how do you ensure you end up with the correct amount of liquid in the end...if you steep and then pour more water into the kettle through sparging...how do you make sure you have the right amount of water...i hope this question makes sense...its 3:20 in the morning...

If you are steeping with 1.5 gallons and you want to end up with a boil volume of 2.5 gallons, heat up 1.5 gallons and sparge until you reach your desired boil volume.

Wild

Quick question that jumps back to an earlier reply. Most people say to use a stainless steel colander. Is it okay to use a plastic one when sparging?

Yes............

To continue this thread: what happens if you steep longer than the "instructions" say? I am going to be steeping the following grains for a stout this weekend:

1/2# Crystal 120
1/2# Chocolate Malt
1/2# Black Roasted Barley
1/2# Flaked Oats

The instructions say to steep for 12 min in 155 degree water. Is it me, or does that seem too short on time, especially for a stout? What would happen if I steeped these for 30 min? 45 min?

Thanks!

wow, that does seem like a short amount of time... I don't know how much you would get out if it... Experts, what do you all think?

Yeah, too short; half hour will be better.

Hmm, I just thought of something. Maybe I don't have to steep as long because the malt extract I am going to be using is Amber Extract?

Again, what would happen if I steeped it longer?

More flavor. More of the roastiness that you want from the dark grains, and the sweetness from the crystal. You'll probably get the color right even with a short steep, but the longer steeping will get more of the flavor out.

Steep for 30 mins minimum. It will not hurt at all. I have never seen a receipe with such a weird number (12 mins) for the steep time.

Oops, I guess I should have re-read my original post. That was supposed to be 15 minutes, not 12. My apologies.

I've done a couple extract recipes that called for a 15 minute steeping time. Turned out fine to me.

A question about tannins,

If you by chance happen to get a noticeable amount of tannins in your brew from steeping too hot would they mellow out with age and provide a nice ?depth? to your beer like they do for meads?

Also, thanks for all the info about steeping. It is appreciated.

epimortum said:

A question about tannins,

If you by chance happen to get a noticeable amount of tannins in your brew from steeping too hot would they mellow out with age and provide a nice ?depth? to your beer like they do for meads?

Also, thanks for all the info about steeping. It is appreciated.

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Generally not, for beer. Because in a mead or wine, you age it for years for the tannins to mellow into a nice blend of flavors. You age beer a couple of months, before the hops flavor begins to fade. It depends on the beer style of course- a barleywine can age for years, but a pale ale, or an American wheat beer doesn't age well. Also, tannins are part of the profile of certain wines- especially big red oaky wines. It's not a part of the flavor profile of beer- it's considered a flaw.

Thanks Yooper that's some potentially VERY helpful info.

anyone know of anyway to counter steeping too hot?

I just did a batch a few nights ago and while for the first 10 minutes I was within range (160-150'). I turned my back working on some siphon tubing and turned back to the stove to find the temp shooting up and the water turning to a boil (approx 190'+ from my quick glance). I took the pot off the burner and let it cool down. it cooled quick, about 1 min FWIR.

I put the pot back on and kept the temp below 170' for the remander of the steep.

should I have just pulled the steeping bag right then andd there?

is there anything I could have done before fermenting to counter act the tannins that might be present OR anything I can do now?

or is it a case of 'it is what it is'?

grrtt78 said:

I have steeped grains on two recipes, the first a wheat taht i wanted to add some citrus flavor to and the second a stout. it wasnt that important for the wheat so i just heated them in a pot of water to 150 for an hour and dumped out the water into the brewpot and squeezed out the grainbag over the brewpot. i did the same on the stout and it was very light colored and i thought it might be bc i dont really know how to steep grains. anyone wanna show me how?

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Did you remember to crush the grains? You should get plenty of color
even with steeping a few minutes.

Jim

sillyburt said:

anyone know of anyway to counter steeping too hot?

is there anything I could have done before fermenting to counter act the tannins that might be present OR anything I can do now?

or is it a case of 'it is what it is'?

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Barring the ShamWow, there are no "tannin-sponges" available.

Like you say: "It is what it is."

Taste it. You'll know if it's got to much tannin.
If it's over the top look at PVPP (polycar/E1202).

how much sparging water do you use? Is there a general rule of gallons per pound of grains?

I have typically sparged the grains until the color of the water coming out was pretty clear.

With stouts and porters that will never happen. The I have sparged with a couple of gallons.