AHS Vs. Morebeer two different grain steeping instructions

[Firstnten]

AHS says put grain bag in water when it hits 155F and keep it there for 45 mins.

Morebeer says put grain bag in water and take it out when the water temp hits 170F.

Which method is better and why? I have tried both methods for each flip flopped the method and I can't tell a difference maybe I don't have the discerning pallet needed to tell the difference.

 

[Shooter]

I don't think there's a whole lot of difference between the two.

 

[DKershner]

Not that big of a deal, but I would go with the AHS instructions.

 

[Malticulous]

AHS is trying to mash it. It's not necessary unless there is some base malt in there. At least now you know how to mash. If there was some base malt in it it would make a very big difference.

 

[Rundownhouse]

With the MoreBeer instructions, you'll notice a difference when your dog pukes everywhere or your wife gets in a fender bender or you're watching college ball and you realize you've boiled your steeping grains for half an hour.

If you bring the grains to 155 and turn off the burner, no worries. If you've got your burner on, you've got to pay attention. Other than that, no big deal either way I guess.

 

[Firstnten]

With the MoreBeer instructions, you'll notice a difference when your dog pukes everywhere or your wife gets in a fender bender or you're watching college ball and you realize you've boiled your steeping grains for half an hour.

If you bring the grains to 155 and turn off the burner, no worries. If you've got your burner on, you've got to pay attention. Other than that, no big deal either way I guess.

not a fan of morebeer i see.

 

[HSM]

Mash as per AHS instructions.

 

[Firstnten]

Mash as per AHS instructions.

Any rationale to this?

 

[Shooter]

Any rationale to this?

If you're mashing then the Austin instructions are a little closer to what you'd want to do, but, if you're only steeping, then either one works. Sounds to me like you're steeping.

 

[Dave258]

Alot of times, Austin Homebrew inludes base grain in with their specialty grain. When I was buying extract recipes from them, many came with a bit of 2 row, or pilsner malt with the specialty grains. But still were considered extract with specialty grains, not mini mash.

 

[dotnetdotcom]

Extraction of tannins from the grain husk is dependent on temperature. Although it probably won't make a noticeable difference, the 155° temperature would be better.

 

[Shooter]

I'd just go ahead and use whichever method sounds simpler to you. I steep for 30 minutes at 155. Why? Because that's how I first learned and I've never bothered to change. If you're removing the grains at 170 degrees, then you should also be fine. You can get tannin extraction above that range, but as long as you pull the grains out in a timely manner you'll be okay.

 

[Krelja]

I've done it both ways as well and didn't notice any difference better or worse either way. But my old setup it took about 35 mins to get to 165-170 at half flame so I did it that way beacuse it was easy to time out my brewday. I didn't do it to many times because now I'm all grain and thats a thing of the past.

 

[Firstnten]

Alot of times, Austin Homebrew inludes base grain in with their specialty grain. When I was buying extract recipes from them, many came with a bit of 2 row, or pilsner malt with the specialty grains. But still were considered extract with specialty grains, not mini mash.

They are selling it as a mini mash. So seeping the grains in an extract kit is never considered a mini mash?

I've seen two "methods" for a mini mash.

PARTIAL MASH METHOD #1

This method is specific to recipes with 2.5 lbs of grains or less.

1. Place grains in grain bag.
2. Put into pot with 3 gallons of water and turn on the heat, raise the temperature to between 151° and 158° depending on the recipe.
3. Turn off the heat and place a lid on the pot. Place a heavy towel over the pot and let stand for 40 minutes. DO NOT CHECK CONTENTS FOR FULL 40 MINUTES to avoid releasing heat from the pot.
4. After 40 minutes, open pot and slowly dip grain bag in and out of pot 7 to 10 times slowly. Throw grains away.

TIP: DO NOT squeeze juice out of bag as this would release tannin, causing an astringent characteristic to the beer.

PARTIAL MASH METHOD #2

This method is for when the recipe calls for 2.5 to 5 lbs of grain and requires a metal (NOT PLASTIC) spaghetti colander.

1. In a separate pot from your regular brewing pot (2 to 3 gallon capacity), place 1.5 gallons of water and raise the temperature to 158° to 160°.
2. Place LOOSE grains in the water (no bag).
3. Place lid on pot and cover with towel and leave for 45 minutes.
4. Place colander in regular brewing pot. Colander should catch on the handles and be suspended on the pot. Dump loose grains from first pot into colander.

Note: Grains will be left in colander and sweet wort will fall into pot.

5. Rinse out 1st pot and place 1.5 gallons of water in pot and raise temperature to 180°.

Tip: Start out with hot water from the tap in the interest of saving time.

6. With pyrex measuring cup or ladle, slowly drizzle this water over grains in colander.

Note: This is the lautering process, commonly called sparging, which rinses the remaining sugars from the grain bed.

7. Remove colander with grains and feed to the pigs or place on a compost pile.

As you can see this process is ridiculously simple, so resist the temptation to make it complicated.

Note: What you have just done is exactly the same process as an all grain brew except that you do not need larger vessels to contain the grains..

8. From this point on continue as in any regular extract batch, bringing your wort up to a boil and adding your grains. IT IS IMPORTANT TO TURN OFF FIRE WHEN ADDING EXTRACT.

The reason I posed the question is because the second method seems more so to be in the realm of AG, BUT and it's a big but, the first method is the one AHS is suggesting, that being said it's allot easier to (go the morebeer route) put the grain bag in there let the water get up to 170 and pull that bag "sparge" that bag and move on. I've done both and have had the same results with the same kit right down to the SG and OG.

So now the question arises I would assume you think that method 2 would be a true Mini Mash.

My question to you is it going to raise the OG? Make the beer taste different or just make the whole thing more complicated.

 

[Shooter]

Steeping and mashing are two different things. What types of grains do you have in the kit? If you have base grain then you will want to do a partial mash to pull out fermentables. If not, then you just need to steep them. With a partial you need to pay a little more attention to temps and water volumes.

There are MANY ways to do a partial mash. I have done a stove top partial using a method similar to DB's partial mash thread with great success. In that method I "sparge" the grains for 10 minutes in a second pot of water after the mash is done. When I'm steeping I never bother to sparge and just let the grain bag drain into the kettle when the steep is done.

 

[Rundownhouse]

not a fan of morebeer i see.

Actually, I buy a ton of stuff from morebeer. My point was simply that it's easy for things to go wrong, and the less you have to worry about, the better. Turn the burner off at 155F, and no worries about forgetting or getting distracted and realizing you've just made tannin tea.

 

[weirdboy]

For just specialty grains like crystal and carafa II I will heat to about 160 and then stir the grains in and let it sit for 30 minutes.

170 seems a bit high IMO.

 

[Malticulous]

170F is kind of a magic number thought to yield maximum extraction without getting tannins. It's supposedly the ideal temp to keep the mash when lautering. It's not high, it's the limit.

If AHS put 2-row, Pilsner, Munich or Vienna ect. in the kit it's not an extract kit, it's a PM. I know Forest has mentioned steeping some of those malts. If you do you will get starch and likely a permanent haze.

 

[Jipper]

If you have done both and tasted them both and can't tell, then it's not a super big deal. All steeping is doing is getting color and flavor, and as long as it's in hot water for 20 min or so, I think you are achieving that. Thanks for buying our kits, though!

 

[Firstnten]

Steeping and mashing are two different things. What types of grains do you have in the kit? If you have base grain then you will want to do a partial mash to pull out fermentables. If not, then you just need to steep them. With a partial you need to pay a little more attention to temps and water volumes.

There are MANY ways to do a partial mash. I have done a stove top partial using a method similar to DB's partial mash thread with great success. In that method I "sparge" the grains for 10 minutes in a second pot of water after the mash is done. When I'm steeping I never bother to sparge and just let the grain bag drain into the kettle when the steep is done.

1 1/4 lb German Pilsner malt, 1/2 lb Cara Vienne Malt, 1/2 lb Cara Munich Malt, and 1 1/4 lb Munich Malt.

 

[Malticulous]

2.5 lbs of base mat it a full on partial mash.

 

[Shooter]

1 1/4 lb German Pilsner malt, 1/2 lb Cara Vienne Malt, 1/2 lb Cara Munich Malt, and 1 1/4 lb Munich Malt.

Mash it.