How much water to steep in?

[PilotBMP]

I am using the recipe in the following link:
http://www.basicbrewing.com/databas...unction=details&where_field=id&where_value=36

My question is how much water to steep the grains in? Also, would I be alright to steep for an hour rather than just bringing it up to temperature? Thanks in advance!!!

 

[Desert_Sky]

Id say one gallon at 155 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour

 

[user 4295]

I have an article that was written for BYO magazine on this subject. For reasons of keeping the pH in the right range to avoid the extraction of excess tannins, it is recommended to steep in 1-3 qts of water per pound of specialty grains. The temperature of the steep is not critical because there is no conversion taking place, you are only looking at extracting the color and flavors of the specialty grains. Steeping for 30 minutes at a temperature of between 140-165˚F will suffice. Just don't let the temperature exceed 170˚F.

John

 

[Orpheus]

Okay, now I'm confused.

When you steep your specialty grains, is there NO conversion taking place, or VERY LITTLE conversion taking place?

 

[user 4295]

Specialty grains like crystal, caramel, roasted, chocolate malt etc... have already had all the starches converted to sugars during the roasting process. There is no enzymatic starch conversion taking place. All that is occurring during the steeping of specialty grains is the extraction of the sugars, flavors and colors.

John

 

[Orpheus]

Specialty grains like crystal, caramel, roasted, chocolate malt etc... have already had all the starches converted to sugars during the roasting process. There is no enzymatic starch conversion taking place. All that is occurring during the steeping of specialty grains is the extraction of the sugars, flavors and colors.

John

Thanks John,

So I'm now assuming that if sugars are extracted, they will add to the OG of the beer and be fermentable by the yeast?

 

[user 4295]

Specialty grains will increase the OG, but not by a significant amount. Not everything that is extracted is fermentable and the steeping process is not terribly efficient. 2 lbs of steeped crystal 60 for example, will only yield about a 7 (.007) point increase in OG in a five gallon batch.

John

 

[Orpheus]

Thanks John,

Even though I've been doing this for a while, it's amazing how much more there is to learn. The good thing is, I'm asking questions I never even knew needed asking before. Homebrewing truly is an art, something that one strives to perfect and knows will never be perfected. Luckily, I've come to learn that it's the journey that must be enjoyed (even when I'm cursing over spilt wort and bungs pushed into carboys! )

 

[Walker]

Specialty grains like crystal, caramel, roasted, chocolate malt etc... have already had all the starches converted to sugars during the roasting process. There is no enzymatic starch conversion taking place. All that is occurring during the steeping of specialty grains is the extraction of the sugars, flavors and colors.

John

Minor clarification...

IIRC, dark roasted grains (chocolate, patent, etc) have actually had the starches burned away. They never had sugar in them. They were malted and then basically burned.

Caramel/Crystal have been malted and have then had the starches converted to sugar by the maltster. Finally, those sugars are caramalized via a light roasting before you buy them. The Caramelized sugars that they add to the brew are not fermentable. They just gravity and residual sweetness.

-walker