Steeping/Partial Mash

I'm going to make a pale ale that includes some steeped Munich malt in addition to the extract. In about three hours, I have to leave my house for a couple of hours. Can I go ahead and steep and sparge the grains before I leave and then leave the wort in a covered pot on the stove for two hours?

Wouldn't any nasties that get in be killed when I come back and boil the whole mixture (there will be a 60 plus minute boil after I get back)?

Thanks. I am planning to get the temp to 165ish (about 2 quarts per pound of grains), add the grains, cover, and remove from heat. I was going to leave the grain in there for about an hour and bring some water to a boil in another pot. Then I was going to put the grain bag in my strainer and run some of the boiling water through them. I know this is not a perfect mash but was hoping this would be close enough to a mash to convert some of the starches to fermentable sugars. Let me know if this sounds like a decent plan.

Munich malt can be mashed. It looks like you have a solid partial mash idea going and I don't think you should worry about microbes. You might try to bring it up to 170 though to stop enzyme activity before you leave.

kaconga said:

Munich malt can be mashed. It looks like you have a solid partial mash idea going and I don't think you should worry about microbes. You might try to bring it up to 170 though to stop enzyme activity before you leave.

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Good point. The way to do that would be to pour 170 degree water (NOT boiling water!) over the grains after the mash. That would be a great way to sparge your partial mash.

unionrdr said:

Munich is a crystal malt. All the enzyme converting starches to sugars has alreasdy been done. with no base malts,he is not mashing,he's steeping. Especially at 165F. Too high a temp for mashing without making a ton of unfermentable long chain sugars. Plus,2 qts water per pound is a bit much for mashing but ok for steeping.

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Actually, that's incorrect. Munich is a base malt, a German two-row base malt. It can easily self convert, and convert other grains as well.

By adding the grain to 165 degree water, a mash is made.

This recipe is a partial mash.

I would wait and do it all in one go.

It will only save you about 30 minutes, tops, if you steep early.

To me that isn't worth the headache if something messes up.

unionrdr said:

I couldn't find it under brewer's malts on midwest site. Thought maybe he had caramunich. found a munich 10L under color malts. Would that be it? But it still seams that 165F would be high for a mash temp...

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Yes, Munich 10L is the "dark" version by Weyermann (a German malting company). They have a lighter version also. Briess (US company) makes a Munich malt as well. I think theirs is about 9L. That's usually just called "Munich malt" in lists.

And yes, 165 is too high for a mash temp. But that should be the water temp. Once the grains are added, it'll settle somewhere around 153-155, which is perfect.

Yooper said:

Yes, Munich 10L is the "dark" version by Weyermann (a German malting company). They have a lighter version also. Briess (US company) makes a Munich malt as well. I think theirs is about 9L. That's usually just called "Munich malt" in lists.

And yes, 165 is too high for a mash temp. But that should be the water temp. Once the grains are added, it'll settle somewhere around 153-155, which is perfect.

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The 10L I mentioned was Breisse. they list a light munich from weyermann. & a dark one from global malt,& lastly a A bolander munich from Breisse. I need to play around with BS2 to see how it accounts for water temp to mash tun conversion (mash temp). I basically stand corrected. I "assumed"...

unionrdr said:

The 10L I mentioned was Breisse. they list a light munich from weyermann. & a dark one from global malt,& lastly a A bolander munich from Breisse. I need to play around with BS2 to see how it accounts for water temp to mash tun conversion (mash temp). I basically stand corrected. I "assumed"...

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If you haven't used Munich malt yet in a PM, I highly recommend it. There isn't a great description of the character of Munich malt, except that it's like a "maltier maris otter" to me if that makes sense. I think you'd really love it in many beer styles, not just German lagers. I use Munich malt in IPAs, APAs, ESBs, etc. It really enhances the perception of malt backbone, plus gives the beer a orange-y hue. I think you'd love it!