Why Would Steeping Grains Include 2 Row?

I just bought a BIPA extract kit and the steeping grains include a pound of pale malt. I've been doing my homework and found many a thread with conflicting information. Some say steep as usual and just get a small amount of flavor from the pale malt. This seems to fly in the face of everything I've learned about steeping/mashing. Others say it needs to be mashed. I have pretty good temperature control, so I could do a partial mash for 60 minutes rather than steeping for 30, but how will doing one or the other affect my gravity numbers? Because clearly they would change if I pull fermentables from mashing, but not from steeping. So, am i missing some basic piece of information here, or is the store just nuts?

 

if you steep for 30, you pull most of the fermentables. mashing for 60 is better. they're doing the instructions for convenience, not efficiency

 

What are all the grains involved?

 

Extract:
6 lb. Briess Gold Light LME
1 lb. Light DME

Steeping Grains:
1 lb. Maris Otter
1 lb. 2 Row
8 oz. Crystal 60L
8 oz. Crystal 120L
8 oz. Carafa III

And I was just reading a thread a little further down where Yooper was emphatically stating that they MUST be mashed for 60, when lumpher comes back and says you can get fermentables from steeping. But doesn't the starch conversion need 60 minutes?

 

Just about all the starches can convert in under 20 minutes. They'll just get progressively more fermentable if you let it go longer. Steeping is usually done around 160-165, partial mash the low 150s. At 160, you'll get starch conversion, but not too many fermentables, as beta-amylase is destroyed pretty rapidly at those temps. Alpha-amylase actually works fastest a little over 160.

 

The ingredients list looks more like a partial mash. Mash 1 hour at 150-155F to get conversion. This will get decent fermentables vs non-fermentables that provide color & body to my current understanding. Lower temp,more fermentables. Higher temp,less. I've done 2 partial mashes,& this worked pretty well.

 

I agree that they probably flubbed somehting and gave you the PM version of the recipe. Either way it should be fun right! Something a little different than the usual makes for an exciting brew day.

 

The Maris Otter is also a base malt that requires mashing. I have a feeling the store accidently packaged a Partial Mash as a Steeping grain and extract kit. As everyone mentioned you'll benefit more by mashing these grains on this batch.

 

Good to know I'm not nuts. And I've learned a bit about the gray area between steeping and mashing.

Well, partial mash it is! Far be it from me to object to what fate clearly wants me to be brewing.

 

Who knows? You might be good at it. Just keep mash temps between 150-159F or so,& it'll be ok. 153-155F even better.

 

For a drier IPA style partial mash beer, I would advise mashing your MO and 2-row at 147 or 148 F for 60 minutes (1.5 liters of water per lb. of grain). Reason being, extract is not as fermentable so you kind of have some control over 20% of the fermentables here by mashing them lower to balance things out a bit. Also, subbing a portion of the extract with dextrose or sucrose (sugar) will help with dryness. 8-10% sugar in this recipe should do.

I would completely cut out the C120 here. You're already at 11% crystal with both; 16% total cara malts with the carafa. The C120 in this particular recipe may add a very detracting, unwanted sweetness.

 

Isn't extra sweetness needed to balance out the IPA level hops? Or is this even beyond that? This will be my first hop heavy brew.

 

You shouldn't have an issue with the hop bitterness given the high expected OG/FG, but it is impossible to tell unless you list the hop schedule, target OG/FG, and boil/batch size.

Desired level of sweetness is based on personal preference. But you'll find that most people who love AIPAs prefer them drier with low amounts of crystal malt. It's up to you. If you have a sweet tooth, then proceed as planned and see how it works out for your taste buds.

Lastly, IPAs are all about the beauty of "Unbalance". They are innately hop forward, bitter beers. Balance is a horrible word to describe them. If you want balance, brew an ESB.

 

Partial mashing is a piece of cake and not much different from steeping. Figure maybe 1.5 quarts per pound of grain in the mash and mash at 152F for 60 minutes. I always put my kettle and grain bag in a warm oven for the mash to keep the temp from dropping below 150F.

 

Not disagreeing with you about the nature of IPA's, but this is a Black IPA, which adds a maltier weight and body, going big on both sides of the palate.

That said, as an extract brewer, I've had my share of leftover sugars in a couple batches that ended at 1.020. I'm seriously considering your suggestion.

 

For a mini mash like this do you mash with the specialty grains mixed in with the base malts at the same time?

 

Some of the best dry Black IPAs out there are as dry as a bone. Even Founders KBS Stout, which is hefty as ever and not a Black IPA yet still high on the IBU count at 73-ish, finishes lower than 1.020 FG.