Did I "steep" or did I "mash"?

[gwapogorilla]

Hey guys, I did my 2nd batch ever this weekend.( Needless to say it went much better than the first.) It is an IPA, using LME full volume boil. I had 2 lb. of grain I "steeped" in a pot of 3 quarts of H2O(155*F) for 40 minutes. I did the tea bag thing and also pushed it around with my brew paddle constantly as to no scorch the grain bag.
Then, when the 40 minutes was done, I placed the bag in 3 qts. of water set at 170*F. Tea bagged for 1 minute, set a colander on the original pot, placed the bag in it, then used the 2nd pot(170*) to "rinse" the bag off...draining into the first pot.
Once I had all of the water squeezed out, I added 1/3 of my LME(as I read late additions of LME can aid in lighter color and less caramel flavors) to the hot water, stirred well, then dumped into my 5 gallon batch for boiling.

The next day, while having coffee, I read somewhere in this forum someone did the same thing...but they called it "mashing".
Did I mash or steep?

 

[masskrug]

Sounds like steeped to me.

BYO's Mr. Wizard on the subject

Mashing is a technique in which malted grains are soaked and amylase enzymes from the grains convert their starch to fermentable sugars.

Steeping, on the other hand, is a method used to extract colors and flavors from certain types of specialty grains. Although the grains are soaked in hot water, the idea is not to have enzymes acting upon starch.

 

[GilSwillBasementBrews]

Depends on the grains. If you used base malts, they need their starches converted to sugars in a "mash". If using specialty grains they're already converted so your just extracting the sugars from the grains steeping like a tea.

 

[temple240]

Mashing vs steeping has more to do with the type of grain than the process. You likely were steeping with a specialty grain like crystal 60 which adds stuff like color, body, and head retention to the beer. If you had used a base malt like 2 row you would be mashing it to add fermentables to the beer (to do the same job as the lme). Mashing and steeping get confused because the process is very similar. In fact, most all grain brewers just put their specialty grains in with the mash.

This is an over simplification of course.

 

[cluckk]

Depends on the grains. If you used base malts, they need their starches converted to sugars in a "mash". If using specialty grains they're already converted so your just extracting the sugars from the grains steeping like a tea.

^ this.

 

[unionrdr]

Yup. Many specialty & crystal grains are already processed to convert their starches to sugars. steeping just soaks the sugars out. Water volume with steeping isn't as crytical as with mashing. With mashing,the grains must be soaked for an hour at temps between,say,146-160F. And the water is more crytical,1-1.5 quarts per pound of grain.
Since you steeped 2lbs in 3 quarts of water,it was good practice for mashing when you move up to that,imo.

 

[gwapogorilla]

Okay guys, thanks for the info. I am "kindov' " looking into partial mashes, so this helps.

 

[freisste]

Okay guys, thanks for the info. I am "kindov' " looking into partial mashes, so this helps.

I looked for a while, thinking it would be difficult and easy to ruin. I wish I had started earlier. It's actually pretty easy to do (and pretty hard not to make beer).

I wouldn't say any of my beers are award winners, but they have been good and they are getting better.

If you are happy with what you are doing, by all means keep it up. But if you are interested in having more control over your final product, definitely look closer at partial mash and AG. Ask questions on here, too. This forum is a wealth of information. Happy brewing.

 

[chicken]

Okay guys, thanks for the info. I am "kindov' " looking into partial mashes, so this helps.

Have a look at this thread, if you haven't already: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/easy-partial-mash-brewing-pics-75231/

If you can steep specialty grains, you can just as easily do a partial mash.

 

[strambo]

I love partial mashes. All you do is get a bigger grain bag (5 gal paint strainer bags work great from Lowes or HD), use the same recipe specialty grains and just add 2-3 lbs of base malt (and reduce your LME/DME enough to hit the same target OG). Then "mash" for 45 mins to an hour which is the same as "steeping" only you pay more attention to the exact temp you want an hold it there.

Someday I will move to AG, but for now I can stovetop BIAB 5 gal partial mashes w/o any additional equipment. Saves some time over AG and $ over all extract, and I can use whatever base malt I want, or convert oats etc.

 

[gwapogorilla]

I'm really not sure if I am happy with what I am doing...or not. I just started 3 weeks ago and have brewed 2 batches. I plan on starting a 3rd in 3 weeks, but I won't have a taste of "final " product for another 5-6 weeks.
Jump right in with both feet...that's my style!:rockin: