Anyone try the ASBC “hot steep” method for tasting grain?

[Horseflesh]

This is supposed to give you a better idea of how a grain will taste in a beer than just chewing kernels. Essentially, you make a mini-mash grain tea, and strain it through a coffee filter.

http://beersmith.com/blog/2017/06/23/sensory-evaluation-of-grains-for-brewing-the-new-asbc-method/

I’ve tried this with a couple of 2-row base malts and was able to determine that I liked one better than the other. It was a very different experience than just chewing, but it is also more work.

If anyone else has tried this I’d love to know your thoughts on how the taste of the samples mapped to what you got in beer.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

I noticed that the Beersmith article link to the original Briess article was broke. Here are links to the instructions (and the original article which offers some other ideas for tasting grains):

http://blog.brewingwithbriess.com/the-hot-steep-method-step-by-step-instructions/

http://blog.brewingwithbriess.com/malt-sensory-methods-you-can-perform-in-your-own-home-or-brewery/

 

[Horseflesh]

Thanks for fixing that.

I noticed that many of the links on this topic are broken ... they point back to an ASBC page which is now under lock and key. Fortunately the information is still out there.

I think this image may be a copy of the missing PDF.



When I did this, I admit I cut some corners.

• I didn't use a thermos. I have a sous vide cooker, so I steeped my mini-mashes in plastic bags held in the temperature-stable water bath. This made it much easier to do more than one at a time.
• You're supposed to use some of the first filtered wort to rinse out the steeping vessel, so you get ALL of the grain bits into the filter. Ya know what, I didn't bother. I scraped the grain mush out of the bag. A little was left behind. Eh.
• Filtering is SO slow that I gave up when I had about 100 mL. That was enough for a couple of people to taste, but it's wasteful.
• I didn't bother with deionized water. My tap water is very soft and has little flavor, it's a good brewing base. I figured that was good enough.

I checked the gravity of each sample. One was 1.033, one was 1.036. We did feel that the stronger sample tasted richer and better. Did that make the comparison unfair? When tasting similar malts would it be a good idea to make the SGs match?

But my results were positive enough that I actually bought some cheap-o vacuum filtration gear, so the next time I do this, it will take about 2 minutes to filter instead of 30-45 minutes. Any excuse to get new gadgets... I think the next time I do this I will try comparing Biscuit to Victory, or maybe Caramel 40 to Caramel Steam 40.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Thanks for fixing that.

I noticed that many of the links on this topic are broken ... they point back to an ASBC page which is now under lock and key. Fortunately the information is still out there.

I think this image may be a copy of the missing PDF.

Thanks for the PDF. Normally I don't make a big deal out of missing links - but in this case, Briess has been able to repost their instructions for the process. The original (February 8, 2016) article is still available via the "way-back machine" - but it looks like the PDF is essentially the same process.

And thanks for posting your process and your thoughts on how to improve your process!

 

[SpeedYellow]

Since it's unfermented, it's almost as silly as sipping unfermented wort on brew day. Always just tastes like hoppy malty sugar water lol.

This is like tasting flour as some kind of indicator of how good a cake will turn out.

 

[Horseflesh]

Breweries and maltsters are endorsing the method so I intend to try it out, but you do you.