Full Boil

I am going to upgrade to a 10 gallon pot and making my own recipies, and eventually get into Brew In a Bag. In the meantime, when I do extract with steeping grains, how much water should I steep them in? I would like to do 90 min boils and I think I will need about 6.5 gallons of water (depending on the evaporation rate of the pot). I was thinking steep in 4 gallons and "sparge" with the other 2.5.

 

Depends on how much grain you are steeping but I think the general rule is to steep low and boil big. I usually steep in about 1-1.5 gallons per lb of grain I steep and it has worked out well for me.

Are you doing a mini-mash or just steeping some crystal/specialty grains? If you aren't mashing then you don't need to sparge.

 

No, it is just steeping, but I read that you were supposed to drain the bag into the wort and run water through it as if you were sparging, even though it is just crystals malts and you aren't extracting any sugar.

 

If you are just steeping specialty grains, all you are basically doing is washing the sugar (and flavor) out. I don't think the amount of water is as important as making sure the water can flow around the grain fairly easily. If they are packed really tightly in a muslin bag then they wont contribute as much. And rinsing them is fine, but it wont take all that much to get the job done.

 

What he said. The volume is not crucial as long as there is enough for the grain to get good flow.

Also, I don't see a benefit to a 90 min boil for extract brewing. You should be able to get everything you need in a 60 min boil. Or even shorter. The extra 30 mins is probably just a waste of time and fuel.

 

I was doing 90 min because I learned most of what I know from a guy doing all grain and really into lagers. Thought I would keep the process the same for when I transition to all grain/BIB, but I see the point.

 

If you need to do 90 minute boils because of a hop schedule, just make sure you don't add your malt extract until the last 10 or 15 minutes. Extract has already been cooked once, so another 90 minutes would cook the snot out of it...

 

And if you are new to doing full boils, a chiller is a worthy investment...

 

I find there is very little gain in IBUs from a 90 min boil compared to 60 min. Also, the longer the hops boil the harsher the bitterness.

I do boil 90 min when doing an AG beer with pilsner malt. The longer boil helps drive off the precursors for DMS. But with extract there is much lower risk of DMS. So 60 min is plenty.

 

Yeah a chiller is a must have item for anybody doing full boils.

 

Ah. My beer went through it's biggest improvements right when switching to full boils; totally a must. Late extract additions are the way to go too for extract brewing.

 

Glad to know about the steeping. I would think that the more water you steep in the better a job it does (more efficient) extracting sugar/flavors from the grains. Sort of osmotic forces if you will.

I always steep my grains in about 4 gallons, pour about 1 gallon 170F "ghetto sparge" water over the specialty grains through a collander. For the steep, I also agitate the muslin with teh grains in it here and there to maximize the sugar/flavor extraction.

I too second the full boil/ late additions. It also helps with boil overs, less DME in on the front end, less boil over potential