difference between steeping and mashing????
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Mashing is a specific form of steeping, but steeping does not necessarily imply mashing.
Certain types of malts have undergone a sort of "pre-mashing" during their production, so their starches have already been converted to sugars by the maltster. You only need soak the grains in some hot water to release the sugars. Think all of the caramel (crystal) malts, chocolate malt, and so on.
Mashing is where you steep grains at a certain temperature (or series of temperatures) for a specified amount of time. This allows enzymes present in the malts to break down starches into the sugars that the yeast will ultimately ferment into alcohol and CO2. You have to do this with all of the "base" malts like pilsner, munich, and pale malt.
When you steep, you're generally looking to get color, flavor, and some unfermentable sugars from the grain. When you mash, you're aiming to get yeast food.
Certain types of malts have undergone a sort of "pre-mashing" during their production, so their starches have already been converted to sugars by the maltster. You only need soak the grains in some hot water to release the sugars. Think all of the caramel (crystal) malts, chocolate malt, and so on.
Mashing is where you steep grains at a certain temperature (or series of temperatures) for a specified amount of time. This allows enzymes present in the malts to break down starches into the sugars that the yeast will ultimately ferment into alcohol and CO2. You have to do this with all of the "base" malts like pilsner, munich, and pale malt.
When you steep, you're generally looking to get color, flavor, and some unfermentable sugars from the grain. When you mash, you're aiming to get yeast food.
Mashing is the conversion of starches to sugars. Base malt(s) containing enzymes are required. Base malts (pale, pilsner, Munich) are mashed and will also convert sugars from added starchy adjuncts like flaked un-malted grains. Both processes involve the mixing of grain with hot water although steeping is just soaking, no biochemical conversion of starch is taking place. Grains which have had their starches converted like crystal malts, or roasted like chocolate, black patent, etc can be steeped to extract sugars previously converted and/or color. More complete information is contained in books, for instance Palmer's "How to Brew". If you are a homebrewer you should own and read such a book.
HomebrewMTB
Well-Known Member
It is really all about expectations. With steeping, you are just looking for color and flavor. With mashing, it's much more critical because you want the extraction of sugar from enzymatic activity which takes place at very specific temperatures. Steeping is easy and very difficult to mess up. Mashing takes much more careful control over the variables.
