Extract steeping grains question

[GeorgiaTiger]

I have a recipe with this kit I bought that says steep grains for 20 minutes at 155 in 3-3.5 gallons of water. My question is, can I steep in 3 gallons and sparge with .5 of hot water from tap after the 20 minutes? Recipe says nothing about sparging. Will that raise my OG too high?

 

[Sammy86]

You don't need to sparge when steeping grains because you aren't mashing them.

Mashing is taking the crushed grains and extracting sugar...steeping is taking crushed grains and extracting flavor and color.

Source: http://byo.com/hops/item/1582-what-...basically-involve-soaking-grain-in-hot-water?

 

[GeorgiaTiger]

I'm still a noob. Learned something! Thanks!!

 

[RM-MN]

You don't need to sparge but it won't hurt and you might appreciate the extra flavor and color you get from doing one.

 

[ChelisHubby]

If you want to try to extract the sugars from the steeping grains try steeping them at 155 degrees with 1 and a half quart of water per pound of steeping grain. This should give you a small part of their sugars. This is the start of what is called a Mini mash. To do a mini mash you would have a lb of base malt such as 2 row to provide more enzymes to help pull the sugars out and make the convertable. What I described should provide 10% to 30% of the sugars from the steeping grains. you can taste the sweetness of the steeping grains water. Go ahead and sparge the steeping grains with a quart of water to the lb to help extranct as much as possible.

 

[chickypad]

If you want to try to extract the sugars from the steeping grains try steeping them at 155 degrees with 1 and a half quart of water per pound of steeping grain. This should give you a small part of their sugars. This is the start of what is called a Mini mash. To do a mini mash you would have a lb of base malt such as 2 row to provide more enzymes to help pull the sugars out and make the convertable. What I described should provide 10% to 30% of the sugars from the steeping grains. you can taste the sweetness of the steeping grains water. Go ahead and sparge the steeping grains with a quart of water to the lb to help extranct as much as possible.

I think you might confuse the OP. The defining factor that determines whether it's a mash or not is the presence of base malt, not so much the amount of water per grain. Many BIAB'ers do a very thin mash with 3 qts of water per grain or more. The bottom line is it doesn't really matter how much water you steep in, you will be getting some of the sugars which have already been converted plus color and flavor. To get the maximum I'd say you either want to steep in a large amount of water or do a little sparge.

 

[RM-MN]

Both Chickypad and ChelisHubby are right to some extent. Most "steeping grains" will not convert, either because their starches have already been converted such as in the cara or Crystal malts or because the enzymes necessary for conversion of starch to sugar have been destroyed in the kilning process. However, some recipes will call for Munich Malt or Vienna Malt and these do retain enough enzymes to convert their starches. If your recipe has either of these grains in them you will benefit from "steeping" at 155 because that steep then is a mash. It's also good practice to try to hit that 155 degree mark as if you are able to consistently do that you can easily do a partial mash or all grain.

 

[chickypad]

Absolutely, thanks for clarifying. I was assuming the steeping grains had no diastatic power but RM-MN is right some recipes call for steeping alternative base grains like munich and vienna (which still doesn't really make sense to me but I guess you can get flavor?).