Cold Steeping

I'm planning on brewing a stout, and I was wondering how I would go about cold steep .75lb of roasted barley. Should I mash the coffee grains, or should I cold steep these as well? How much water volume is needed?

So is cold steeping what it sounds like? I would think some heat would bring out the flavors of the grains vesus cold water.

I'm a noob, so there's lot's of things I haven't heard of before. One of which is cold steeping roasted barley.

I have read however, that cold steeping is the way to go for coffee beans, as it doesn't extract as much of the oils from the coffee beans, as hot water does, and you don't want the oils in the beer because it will shorten the shelf life (I think because oil/fats go rancid).

Blender said:

So is cold steeping what it sounds like? I would think some heat would bring out the flavors of the grains vesus cold water.

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Yes, cold steeping is exactly what it sounds like and it really is the way to go when making a stout or anything using a lot of dark grains. When dark grains are heated (both in the mash and the boil) it produces the sharp, harsh bitterness that can sometimes be found in stouts. When the grains are cold steeped, the flavors don't get "burnt" and add the roasty, rich taste without the harsh bitterness.

To cold steep:
1. At least double the amount of dark grains that the recipe calls for (2.5x to 3x is even better).
2. Little more than 1 qt per lbs. of water.
3. Allow to steep in ambient temp water for 24 hours.
4. Add to the end of the boil. Either within the last 5 min. or at flame knockout.

This will add all the roasty flavor you want without the harsh bitterness you'll get with heating the dark grains and liquor from the dark grains.

Interesting... I'll have to try that out next time.

If you don't want the acrid flavors of roasted grains use Carafa Special. It is a huskless, roasted, German grain that does not impart any sort of harsh overtones that can come from using lots of roasted grains. The harsh flavors associated with roast barley usually come from the husks and tannins, but water chemistry is also important. You don't want the water to be too hard; otherwise the beer might have a harsh bitterness. Make sure not to sparge with water that is very hot because you don't want to extract tannins.
As for me, I prefer to mash my grains from beginning to end. I have not experienced any acrid off flavors, and I have brewed a dry stout with 12% roast barley.

Hmm, alright.
I'm thinking about mashing 6 oz of the roasted barley and cold steeping the other half, and mashing the entire coffee malt.
This sound good guys?