Boiled Grains Too Long???

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BrewFrisco

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Ok...noob mistake I realize. I boiled the grains on my Fat Tire clone for the entire hour. (boiled them!!!)

Should I dump this bucket or keep it and see what happens?
 
Why would you dump it???? It may not be the same beer you made, but I bet it is still beer.

Boiling grains do not extract tannins, many of us who do all grain boil our grains to do a decoction mash for 20 or 30 minutes, squeezing the grain bag doesn't cause tannins (in BIAB squeezing the grain bag is recommended.) Despite all those things we've "heard" the only thing that cause tannins to be produced is you PH AND high temps together.

From Aussie Homebrewer.com

Tannins And Astringency

If you are worried about squeezing your bag too much or crushing too fine, relax! Astringent beers do not come from finely crushed or squeezed husks but come rather from a combination of high temperatures and high pH. These conditions pull the polyhenols out of the husk. The higher your pH and the higher temperature you expose your grain to, the worse the problem becomes. Any brewer, traditional or BIAB, should never let these conditions arrive. If you do allow these conditions to arrive, then you will find yourself in exactly the same position as a traditional brewer. Many commercial breweries actually hammer mill their grain to powder for use in mash filter systems because they have control of their pH and temperatures. This control (and obviously expensive complex equipment) allows them non-astringent beers and “into kettle,” efficiencies of over 100%.
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From BYO, MR Wizard;

The two most influential factors affecting the extraction of tannins from malt into wort are pH and temperature. All-grain brewers are very careful not to allow wort pH to reach more than about pH 6 during sparging because tannin extraction increases with pH. In all-grain brewing wort pH typically rises during the last stages of wort collection and is one of the factors letting the brewer know that wort collection should be stopped.....

Temperature also affects tannin extraction. This relationship is pretty simple. If you don’t want to run the risk of getting too much tannin in your wort, keep the temperature just below 170° F.

This is where the answer to your last question begins. You ask whether steeping and sparging released "unwanted tannins" in your beer. For starters, all beer contains tannins. Some tannins are implicated in haze and some lend astringent flavors to beer.

The type most homebrewers are concerned about are those affecting flavor. In any case, it is up to the brewer to decide if the level of tannins in their beer is too high. The (in)famous decoction mash is frequently recommended when a brewer is in search of more malt flavor. Decoction mashes boil malt and — among analytical brewers who are not afraid of rocking the boat with unpopular ideas — are known to increase the astringent character associated with tannins. In general I wouldn’t consider 170° F dangerously high with respect to tannin extraction. However, if you believe your beers may suffer because of too much astringency, consider adjusting your steep pH and lowering the temperature a few degrees.
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There's no reason to dump for something that many allgrain brewers do all the time.

I subscribe to the idea that sometimes our MISTAKES make the best beer.
 
Because when I or anyone else enjoys a beer at my place it is a very good beer. Lots of competition out here for good beer and I don't serve screw ups at my house.

Maybe other people are different. That's fine.

But if I ever offer you a beer out of my keezer, you can rest assured that it was made properly.
 
BendBrewer said:
Because when I or anyone else enjoys a beer at my place it is a very good beer. Lots of competition out here for good beer and I don't serve screw ups at my house.

Maybe other people are different. That's fine.

But if I ever offer you a beer out of my keezer, you can rest assured that it was made properly.
Click to expand...

And to you boiling your grains instantly equals a bad beer?

I usually don't judge a beer bad or good, until I actually taste it, like when it's finished. Not because some part of the process didn't work out the way I planned. My experience has been than beer is pretty forgiving, and excellant beer can be made DESPITE ourselves.

But hey different strokes for different brewer's I guess.

*shrug*
 
And to you boiling your grains instantly equals a bad beer?
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Not if you had planned to no.

I understand you being willing to wait and taste it but when I brew, I have a plan and a desired outcome and would have had to start over out of sense of pride alone. It's just some grains hops and water.

No, I wouldn't have pitched the yeast. I would have kicked myself in the ass all the way to the LHBS and I would have started again.

But I will also say, that thanks to you and others around here along with the books I have read, I never got around to making that kind of mistake. What do people pay attention to when they are brewing?
 
Personally, I don't throw anything away until after it has aged for a year to make sure it is truly bad. Revvy gave great advice in his post, after all, you may find that you made a better beer than you had intended. Experimentation is the essence of this hobby, so be sure to let us know how this comes out.
 
I recall a post by Kai explaining the difference between boiling a decoction and boiling the entire mash. Why it's different and why one is ok but not the other. Something to do with the concentration or thickness or something.

But I'd keep it. I mean, the work is done, it doesn't take any effort to just wait and see how it turns out in a month.
 
Keep the beer. You already spent the time and money. Brew day cost you at least $25 plus several hours. All you have to do is bottle (1 hour) and wait. No reason not to follow through and see. If nothing else, you will learn what your 'mistake' caused as far as off flavors. At best, you end of with a great beer. Mostly likely, you will end up with a product you will be happy to drink and share with friends. I have never dumped a beer, and I think I will only dump one due to infection.
 
Thanks for the advice. The mistake comes from me being in this "beginner" forum thus still in the learning phase of the hobby. If I sit around on the sidelines and read until I am the expert - I will never have the opportunity to brew...

That being said - I will keep the beer and see how this rolls.
 
BrewFrisco said:
That being said - I will keep the beer and see how this rolls.
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Good choice. No matter what happens you will learn from this experience and I'm sure it won't happen again. The first few times you brew are going to be nerve racking. I know mine were :) But eventually, with practice, you will get to the point where the process becomes second nature. Then you will make stupid mistakes like I did yesterday and forget whirlfloc and yeast nutrient. Mistakes happen to the best of us!
 
Unfortunately I have actually done this - first ever batch....

My grains actually got burnt and destroyed the whole thing. If it were me, I would taste the wort, if it tastes like normal wort keep it. But if it tastes like burnt grain, chuck it. Mine tasted like burnt grain and I kept it in hopes it subsided, but it didn't.

Also, if you have the room to keep it, why not, it could turn out alright, you just don't know...
 
Keep the beer...

That being said, from now on don't boil your grains, and have jedi focus on your beer from here on out. I'm usually so wrapped up in my brewing process, that I don't have time to take my mind off of it. Hope it turns out well!
 

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