Extract brewing without steeping grains or partial mash

I've been brewing all-grain for a while but having kids has taken its toll on my free time for brewing. My typical brew day has been to start warming mash water at 6am and maybe get done by 11 or 12. I used to brew about a batch per week but now I'm lucky to get one per month. I'm looking for ways to cut down my brew day significantly enough that it can squeeze into my schedule more easily. Extract brewing seems like it might help with this but I don't think that steeping grains or partial mash will get the time down enough. The problem is it seems like the variety of beer that I could brew would be pretty limited. I could see being able to do pale ales both American and British but not sure what else beyond that. I think the wheat extracts are half wheat and half pils so I could maybe do a hefeweizen with that. I know Coopers makes a stout extract that's hopped but don't know how good it is. Are there things that I can add to take the place of crystal/caramel malt? What about roasted barley? Oh, and if it's not even close to as good as I make with all-grain then I'm not really interested. I've heard of some half baked recipes but I feel like that's just a waste of time really.

You can do partial boil extract with steeping grains fairly fast if you use two pots. I put about 1 gallon/lb of water and steep my grains in a smaller pot. While that is going for the 30 minutes or so I have the remainder of the water (3-4 gallons) heating to a boil in my brew pot. If it boils before steeping is completed I'll use that time to add the malt (and then heat to reboil). When the steeping grains are done, I drain them and dump that water in the brewpot with the rest. Drastically cuts down on the amount of time you are waiting for stuff to boil.

I've gotten mine down to 4 hrs from start to end of cleanup doing 2 separate 5-gallon batches at once. I imagine I would have it down to just about 3 hours if I only did one batch at a time.

Ok. That makes sense. I haven't steeped grains since I first started brewing. Do you just throw the bag away? I remember my buddy telling me I could wash it and reuse it but it was a huge pain getting all the grain off of the mesh bag. What about hop utilization? I'm sure there's a thread on that somewhere. If you want to get high utilization by boiling your hops in plain water while steeping, how do you calculate the utilization?

I am a simpleton. I just use premade kits. I don't know too much about hop utilization and such.

I don't add any hops until I have everything together in one pot. Pretty much its just cutting down the time you are waiting for a boil.

Normally you would:
1. Heat 3-4 gallons to 155.
2. Steep for 30 minutes
3. Remove grains
4. Wait for all to boil
5. Add malt, wait to boil
6. Start with hop additions and boil according to recipe.

I pretty much doing steps 4/5 during 1 and 2. Eliminating about an hour.

My kits come with the muslin grain bags which aren't reuseable. If you have a reuseable mesh bag the best way to clean it out is to flip it inside out and swish it around in your pot when it is filled with oxyclean to get clean. Gets out most of the particles.

Steeping could be as quick and easy as putting the bag in the cold water and turning on the burner to start the boil. When the water hits 170F on the way to the boil remove the bag. That's enough to get what you need from the steeping grains. The way I steep the grain takes another 20 min but I'm not certain it's any more effective in extracting the flavors.

I toss the bags. I use the cheap muslin type bags.

Hop utilization will be effected by the gravity of the boil. I'd recommend using a program like beersmith to help figure you utilization.

I brew strictly extract and my brew day is about 3-4 hours including cleanup. Having 3 kids and several other hobbies keeps me from doing AG.

+1 on using steeping grains with extract as an alternative. I don't do it as often anymore but, I still love the simplicity and time saved.

I also save my mesh bags. Yes it can be a pain, but my solution has been to dump the grains after use, and hanging the bag outside on my chain link fence. Once it drys out, it is real easy to shake out the remaining grain particles. I rinse it out and dry it and save it for the next brew day.

I did small boils and Late Additions for years, actually still do some.

According to Papazian's TCJOHB, the trick to Hop Utilization is keeping the boil water to malt ratio at 1:1 which will result in a gravity of 1.040 (1.045 according to BYO). Meaning, if you boil 3 gals of water then use 3 lbs of DME (in this case). Add your hops as usual.

I boil for 30 mins then add the Irish Moss. Boil another 15 mins, remove the pot from the flame then add the remaining malt, dissolve and steep for the last 15 mins (NOT stopping the timer). All too simple.

Put the kids to work?

Seriously, my kids do help when I make beer, they learn something new every time and we get to hang out too. Mine are 8 and 10 though.

I like the idea of steeping while getting the main amount of water to a boil. That would be a time saver!

tonkota said:

Put the kids to work?

Seriously, my kids do help when I make beer, they learn something new every time and we get to hang out too. Mine are 8 and 10 though.

Click to expand...

Yeah my kids are 1, 2, and 6. The 6 year old always wants to help but isn't much help. The 1 and 2 year old just try to make a mess and get in the way and have to keep them away from the burner. So it ends up that the wife has to keep them out of my hair which is asking a lot of her when my all-grain brew day is 6 hours.

maida7 said:

Steeping could be as quick and easy as putting the bag in the cold water and turning on the burner to start the boil. When the water hits 170F on the way to the boil remove the bag. That's enough to get what you need from the steeping grains. The way I steep the grain takes another 20 min but I'm not certain it's any more effective in extracting the flavors.

I toss the bags. I use the cheap muslin type bags.

Hop utilization will be effected by the gravity of the boil. I'd recommend using a program like beersmith to help figure you utilization.

I brew strictly extract and my brew day is about 3-4 hours including cleanup. Having 3 kids and several other hobbies keeps me from doing AG.

Click to expand...

Wow. 3-4 hour brew day would be a life saver for me. I could get a lot more brewing done then.

You guys have convinced me. I'm going to try extract brewing again to see how much time I can save. I like the idea of taking the mash tun out of the equation. One less thing to clean. The time to heat strike water, drain to kettle, get to boil. That's half my brew day right there.

My curiosity is piqued about this steeping the grains while bringing the boil up for the extract in a separate pot.

From my limited knowledge, there are 3 things that the steeped grains are supposed to be providing to the beer:

1 Flavor (duh)
2 Color
3 Body

It's the third that I'm a little concerned about with the method eluded to above. I tend to steep my grains in the full 5 gallons, mainly because I don't know the science behind the whole steeping thing.

Basically what I'm asking is, since I've always had body issues with my extract beers, would not steeping in the full 5 gallons have any affect from the amount of body the steeped grains provide in the finished beer?

+1 on not understanding the difference between steeping and mashing. I've also heard about some specialty grains needing other grains to be present because they lack the enzymes for conversion. I need to find some info on this before I start converting recipes.

drat said:

My curiosity is piqued about this steeping the grains while bringing the boil up for the extract in a separate pot.

From my limited knowledge, there are 3 things that the steeped grains are supposed to be providing to the beer:

1 Flavor (duh)
2 Color
3 Body

It's the third that I'm a little concerned about with the method eluded to above. I tend to steep my grains in the full 5 gallons, mainly because I don't know the science behind the whole steeping thing.

Basically what I'm asking is, since I've always had body issues with my extract beers, would not steeping in the full 5 gallons have any affect from the amount of body the steeped grains provide in the finished beer?

Click to expand...

Steeping with less water could be argued as a better method. Depending on how much grain your steeping you probably only really need 1-2 gallons for it to be effecting in extracting what you want from the grains. More water means more extraction. At some point you will be extracting bad things (husk) that could give the beer a astringent quality. This is particularly important with darker highly roasted grains. It's similar to an AG brewer over sparging.

With that said, many people (including myself) steep in 5 gallons and have no problems. In fact I sparge my grains with some extra water and still no problems with astringency

Problems with body have more to do with your recipe. Maybe your not steeping the right grains. Is the beer too thin or too thick?

Belmont said:

+1 on not understanding the difference between steeping and mashing. I've also heard about some specialty grains needing other grains to be present because they lack the enzymes for conversion. I need to find some info on this before I start converting recipes.

Click to expand...

Well, there are two basic different types of grains. Specialty grains, and base grains.

The base grains have diastastic power and depend on enyzmes (made during the malting process) to convert their starches into fermentable sugars. For that to happen, conditions must be right. Temperature and pH are crucial. The reason you wouldn't mash in a full 5 gallons of liquid would be because it would screw up the pH. That's why a mash is in the 1-2 quarts of water per pound of grain area.

The other type of grains give color and flavor, but no fermentable sugars to speak of. They've already been processed. They will not convert in a steep, or a mash. These are malts like crystal (caramel) malts, for example. There are other specialty grains- some are roasted. But they all work basically the same way. In a steep (or in the mash with the other grains), they'll give tons of flavor, color, and aroma.

I recommend using at least some specialty grains in any extract brew. It provides flavor and complexity that extract alone just can't provide.

Belmont said:

+1 on not understanding the difference between steeping and mashing. I've also heard about some specialty grains needing other grains to be present because they lack the enzymes for conversion. I need to find some info on this before I start converting recipes.

Click to expand...

Yeah steeping is not mashing so don't expect to get any fermentable sugars from it. The extract has all the fermentables you need. The steeping is only for color and flavor. You will get nothing from steeping base grains.

YooperBrew said:

I recommend using at least some specialty grains in any extract brew. It provides flavor and complexity that extract alone just can't provide.

Click to expand...

I agree with everything you said

BUT

technically amber and dark extracts have some specialty grains included to provide the flavors and colors that you would get from the steeping. Amber and Dark extract is like getting the steeping without doing the steeping. BUT you have no control as to what was added. AND you have very little idea as to what was added. The mystery recipe of amber and dark malt extracts makes them a turn off for many brewers. This is why most folks like to use the light or pale or whatever they call it and make their own flavor recipe with steeping grains.

Another example of when you don't need steeping grains is a hefeweisen. You can make awesome hefe with no steeping. To a certain degree you could also make an fantastic triple or Belgian golden with no steeping. These beer derive so much flavor from the yeast that a complex malt character is not a plus.

+1 on putting the kids to work!

I have 2 kiddies running around the house and the backyard and Boyscouts and gymnastics...you get the picture and they deff keep me busy. I hav'nt even tried AG yet, and dont know if I want to. Its just more equipment to buy. Plus I got into this hobby with with the idea that I could brew quality beer and save a few dollars. Maybe when I'm retired or hit the lottory ( not holding my breath! ) or something I'll have extra time on my hands.

The all Extract kits keep it simple enough for me and provide plenty of great drinking product to enjoy for a few weeks to come. Add in some steeping grains and its like the bonus round for your taste buds. I prefer more malt flavor over hops. Thats just me.

I have Northern Brewers Phat Tyre Ale in the secondary that uses .5 lb of Victory malt and .5 lb or Briess carmel 60 for steeping before the boiling of extracts. Like Yooper said It wont add fermentables but will give you flavor and color. The steeping is done on your way to a boil and Most of Northerns kits are 60 min boil time. All said this prob took about 2.5 hours from start to clean up. BTW this is a 3.0 gallon boil added to 2 gallons of clean water for a 5 gallon batch

Although I hav'nt tasted the final product, I'm sure it will be great.
I would have to say if your looking for simpicity and brew that will still impress.... Extract with some steeping grains is the way to go.

Bassman said:

I like the idea of steeping while getting the main amount of water to a boil. That would be a time saver!

Click to expand...

yes, this seems like a good idea -- I might try it on my next batch.

If you are in love with creating your own custom beers from using All-Grain, you might consider Brew in a Bag (BIAB). BIAB may not have the same efficiency of a batch-sparge, but it only uses your brew pot and it should be less than 10 bucks to make a bag big enough to fit your kettle. I would recommend this is your pot is at least 15 gallons for 5 gallon batches, because you will have all of your water and grainbill in the pot at one time. This method will save you on the end that I find to be my least favorite, cleaning up at the end (I've heard some save about an hour and a half on cleaning).

Thanks for the suggestion Squirrels. I guess I didn't consider that. I've been doing mostly extract with steeping lately and it has cut down a considerable amount of time but there are some styles that I just don't feel I can make as good that way due to what is available at my LHBS. BIAB might be a good alternative. I don't care as much about efficiency. I'll gladly spend a few more bucks to get back some time.