Do you sparge steeping grains in an extract brew?

Just bought BEER CAPTURED book by Tess & Mark Szamatulski. Seems like a great book for extract brewers(like myself) but I noticed that they sparge their steeping grains on every brew. I've made just 2 extract w/grains recipes and both times steeped at 150-160F for 30 mins. I just picked up the grain bag every 7 or 8 mins and let it drip then stuck the bag back in the pot. Should I be sparging? Seems like they age their brews alot longer than other things I've read or folks I've talked to. Thanks in advance RR

I do, not sure if its necessary or not, but i figured it can't hurt.

Form what I understand sparging is done to rinse all the fermentable sugars off the grains. Since you are not expecting to get fermentable sugars from the grains it is probably not needed.

But, I don't think it will hurt.

I sparge my steeping grains just to get the most from them and to add water to my boil. Also, aging really depends on the style.

Yep, I sparge mine.

I sparge too. That sounds so dirty.

Me too! Got to get every last bit.

Wow, back when I was doing extract I never sparged... never thought about it, definitely a good idea though. ... hmm this has sparked another question in my brain, gonna start a new thread.

I've done it both ways.

I don't know that sparging gets you any more gravity points. The first time I did my hazelnut stout, I didn't sparge. My O.G. was 1.044. The second time I did it, I sparged and my O.G. was 1.043.

You might, however, get more color and flavor from the grains. I sparged with my Red Ale and it is impressively red.

feedthebear said:

You might, however, get more color and flavor from the grains.

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What he said. I do more of a hot water rinse than a sparge. I figure because we are not squeezing the bag, rinse all the flavor/color off the grain that you can.

Does the water have to be hot when you sparge? Or can you use room temp water?

I use the drip and drain approach for steeping. Water flow is water flow and that's how you get the goodies out.

Sparging also works & sparge water should be hot (~170F).

Hotter than 170F will start to bring out tannins and astringent flavors from the grains.

So you just leave your grains in a strainer and sparge water into another bowl? Then add that water to your boil for the wort?

I pick the grain bag up out of the steeping wort and put it into a really large funnel I have. Then I pour the sparge water through the funnel. I keep the water level above the grain top so I'm not just running all the water through the center grains. I should probably pour half the sparge water one way then flip the bag 90 degrees and run the other half to help reduce this even further.

Joe Dragon said:

I steep using one gallon less than my full boil amount. Following the directions I “tea bag” the grains every ten minutes or so. After the steep is finished I lift the grain bag up, slide a big strainer under it across the top of the pot and lower the bag into it. Then take that last gallon of the hottest tap water you can and pour that over/through the grain bag. In my mind that washes off the “good stuff”.

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Brewed "Mammy's Sweet Milk Stout" last night after the chillin' went to sleep. Steeped about 3/4lb black patent/chocolate mix in one gal of water at 150F for 30 mins. Then sparged with 1gal 150F. After sparging for the 1st time, it seemed like a natural thing to do & I probably will everytime now. :rockin:

Man, oh man!! This puppy is raging!!:rockin: This is my most vigorous fermentation yet. I aerated the hell out of the cooled wort this time with my new strainer and stirred like crazy with my paddle. Just pitched the dry yeast on top and started bubbling at a pretty good pace. Monday, in the wee hours of the morn, I woke up and decided to check my fermenter. Everyone does that, right? anyway, krausen foaming like mad out my airlock!! Take the airlock out of the ferm., rinse with hot water, spray with sanitizer, then replace. About an hour later I wake up & check the airlock again. More krausen & it looks like someone poured some of my Stout in the airlock. Rinse repeat. Rinse repeat. You get the picture. All is quiet now. 1 bubble every 10 mins. I think aeration was the key. Gonna fix a blow off tube to my airlock next time. Double duty for the strainer, nice. RR

I use about 1/2 gallon - full gallon of hot tap water to sparge. Do it until the water runs fairly clear.

So you just rise through the bag? I got the same book and had the same question. Any tehnique advice would be appreciated.