Naked_Eskimo
Well-Known Member
I just wanted to ask for clarification regarding steeping grains and their volume.
In a lot of places (on the net, recipe kits etc), I've read that specialty grains "should" be steeped at 155F for 30mins. Usually, said grains are steeped in a 2 gallon volume which is then transfered to the kettle, and subsequent water+DME/LME added to get to target pre-boil volume and SG.
My question is this: is there any particular reason why this magical number of 2 gallons?
If I am aiming for a pre-boil volume of 3.5gallons, is there anything stopping me from doing my steep in a larger (e.g. 4) volume rather than 2 gallon, thus negating me having to add water to the kettle at a later stage? Is there some kind of theoretical ideal ratio of specialty grains to water? I know with AG there's a working range to do the mash in, but does this apply to steeping too?
In a lot of places (on the net, recipe kits etc), I've read that specialty grains "should" be steeped at 155F for 30mins. Usually, said grains are steeped in a 2 gallon volume which is then transfered to the kettle, and subsequent water+DME/LME added to get to target pre-boil volume and SG.
My question is this: is there any particular reason why this magical number of 2 gallons?
If I am aiming for a pre-boil volume of 3.5gallons, is there anything stopping me from doing my steep in a larger (e.g. 4) volume rather than 2 gallon, thus negating me having to add water to the kettle at a later stage? Is there some kind of theoretical ideal ratio of specialty grains to water? I know with AG there's a working range to do the mash in, but does this apply to steeping too?