Steeping Question

Hi There,

First post on here...

I've been brewing off and on for over 10 years now, but off and on only means that I've got about 7 brews under me. 5 of which were fantastic!

I've been steeping grains for the latter few batches I've made. My question... which has to come somtime is this.

After I've steeped for about 1/2 hour at 155ish, I take the grain bag out, and it seems that there is all the flavor goodness locked inside. Should I bother with trying to 'squeeze' out the water like I would a tea bag to get even more flavor? Does this matter? Would I be ruining things if I did? Am I missing something.

Any advice appreciated!

Squeezing out the water can release unwanted tannins which produce an astringent taste, so no, don't squeeze. What you could do is pour hot water (similar to "sparging") over the grain bag.

yep, get a colander that fits over your pot and pour 175°F water over the top of the grains.

you also may want to check out the bag method i use. check out the link to partial mashing in my sig.

DeathBrewer said:

yep, get a colander that fits over your pot and pour 175°F water over the top of the grains.

Click to expand...

agreed......did the same thing during my last boil using a strainer. just make sure it's big enough....overflowing 175 degree water flowing onto your hand doesn't feel too good

yep, another reason not to brew in the nude.