Steeping question

Alot of kit instructions say to bring water to 160 or there abouts, add grain bag, remove from heat and steep for 30 minutes. Are those directions sufficient or should I try to maintain a constant 160 degrees? My concern is scorching the grains in the bag where the kettle is right over the flame.

If you can put a lid over your steeping pot you should be okay. I usually left my steeping pot on the turned off burner for thirty minutes when i was doing extract brews with a lid and started at 155 and only lost 3 or 4 degrees. I never had to turn my heat back on.

I've been using Papazian's suggested method of putting the grains in the cold water, turning on the heat, and letting them steep while it is heating up. I also have been setting a timer to 30 minutes when I start this, and then taking it off the heat when it gets to 160 degrees. Then at 30 min I remove the grains and bring to a boil. I've been getting good beer, so I think you're doing just fine.

You don't need to maintain 160, but you probably do not want to let it get under 150. The steeping is not as effective if your water gets too cold.

If you are very concerned about scorching your grains, and the water starts getting too cool, you can always remove the grains, heat the water, and add the grains back. Just stop your timer while the grains are out.


TL

You also don't want it to get over 170 or you will start pulling tannins from the husks.

If you are relying on keeping the pot covered to maintain a constant temperature, then do you swirl the grain bag around or just let it sit for 30 min? Do you think opening the lid several times will lower the temp below 150?

chrishart7 said:

If you are relying on keeping the pot covered to maintain a constant temperature, then do you swirl the grain bag around or just let it sit for 30 min? Do you think opening the lid several times will lower the temp below 150?

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Just sit the bag(s) in there and give them a stir ever once in awhile to keep the liquid moving through them. If you start to see your temp dropping set a low flame to it and you should have enough to maintain the temp for the remainder of the steeping time.

I check the temp and stir every 10-15 minutes. The stirring helps even out the temp. so I can get an accurate reading. I will hit it with some heat if it drops low, stirring while the flame is on to evenly heat.

When I did extract I let them soak for 30 minutes after making sure all the grain was wet and then sparged with water at 168. I put the bag of grain in a colander and placed on the top of the pot. I then used a ladle to pour 2 qts of water through the grain. I moved the bag of grain around to make sure I got all of it during the sparge. When I was out of sparge water I then pressed down on the bag with the ladle to get some more of the sugar water out. I know people say you can extract tannins by doing this but I tell you from doing 15 extracts kits with this exact same method I didn't once get any tannins.

Sounds like they are adjusting the temp drop from adding the grains from 160 to 150-155 which is the temp you want the grains+water. You don't neccessarily want 160F but after you add the grains the temp will drop. This is called the strike water temp, usually about 10-12 degrees higher than the actual mash temp you are shooting for.