Have I Been Doing It Wrong?!

[jauntyjoe]

Hi Everyone,

Fairly new extract + steeping grains stovetop brewer here (6 batches). I have a fear I may be brewing wrong! Or at least incorrectly (because at the end of the day [fermentation + bottling period], I still have beer). Here's how I brew:

1.) Heat up ~2.75 gallons to 155, put specialty grains in grain bag, put in pot for 30minutes
2) Remove grain bag
3) Once the water is boiling, I add my hops per the hop schedule
4.) At 15 minutes, add the LME
5.) At 60 minutes, turn off burner, remove from heat, and put in icewater bath to cool wort to pitching temp
6.) Put top off water in primary fermenter, add wort to it, shake it up
7) Once the mixture of top off water and wort hits pitching temp, pitch yeast, shake, cover with lid and airlock, and put in closet to ferment.


My question is, should I run water through my grain bed when I remove my grain bag? I started experimenting with that. I heat a second pot of water to ~170ish, and when I remove my grain bag, hold the bag open above the brewpot with wort in it, and run the water through it until the water looks kinda clear (is this a type of sparging??). Then I proceed as outlined above.

 

[benbradford]

sounds about right to me... All that you are doing is rinsing the grains which I would do to get the maximum out of them.

 

[BigFloyd]

I sparge my steeping grains with about a quart of 165*F water after they've finished. I hold the bag in a small strainer pot while doing it.

Make sure to add about a pound or two of your malt extract at the beginning of your boil to get proper hop utilization.

 

[unionrdr]

Yeah,with 2.5-3.5 gallons of water in my AE batches,i use 1.5lbs of plain DME out of a 3lb bag. Do all hop additions,then add remainning DME & all LME at flame out. Since the wort is still boiling hot at flame out,& pasteurization happens at 162F,I can cover & steep it for at least a few minutes & Bob's your uncle.

 

[histo320]

I sparge my steeping grains with about a quart of 165*F water after they've finished. I hold the bag in a small strainer pot while doing it.

Make sure to add about a pound or two of your malt extract at the beginning of your boil to get proper hop utilization.

This is what I did and it worked great.