Mash or steep this grain?

[ChemicalBrew]

Greetings everyone, new brewer here, and I'm getting ready to start my second batch soon. First was a pre-hopped amber ale from True Brew that was purchased for me and that I bottled a week ago. I wanted to start to expand my skills a bit with my next batch and I ordered a kit with some specialty grains.

What I have is this Fat Tire clone that I ordered from Brewmaster's Warehouse, as an extract kit. I'm wondering whether to try a partial mash with these grains or just steep them. Mostly I wonder because of the Munich and the Biscuit and see it said over and over that they need to be mashed. But is that only when you are trying to extract fermentables or does that also hold true for flavor and color. If not mashed, is it a waste to even have these in there?

Obviously the majority of the fermentables come from the LME and DME in this recipe and since it was sold as an extract kit, I wonder whether I should even try to get more fermentables out of these grains or not. Are there any flavor, color or mouthfeel reasons to have Munich and Biscuit malt in there if I'm only going to steep them? What say you, seasoned brewers?

Crisp Chocolate Malt 0.0625 lb
Crisp Crystal Malt 60L 0.5 lb
Briess 2 Row Carapils 0.5 lb
Caramel Munich. 0.5 lb
Biscuit 0.375 lb

Briess Golden Light Liquid Extract 3.3125 lb
Briess Golden Light Dry Extract 2.1875 lb

Willamette Pellets - 4.6% AA 1 oz
Fuggles Pellets, UK - 3.6% AA 1 oz

Wyeast Labs American Ale II - 1272 1 ea

 

[unionrdr]

First off,carapils isn't a 2-row,it can be steeped. Dito with the chocolate & crystal malts. If the caramunich is Weyerman's (as I see I,II,& III listed),it's a crystal/caramel malt & can also be steeped. I've never used it,but midwest says that Biscuit malt has no enzymes,& must be mashed with grains having a surplus of diastatic power.
The crystal malt & chocolate malt are for color & flavor,& not much is needed where color & a little flavor complexity is concerned. Use more,& you get more color & roasty/biscuity flavors from them. a little chocolate-like flavor from the chocolate malt.

 

[ChemicalBrew]

Thanks Unionrdr, appreciate the feedback. I copied the recipe directly from the order, so I'm not sure why it says Briess 2 row carapils. I think I'll just steep these instead of trying a partial mash.

I guess I didn't realize caramel Munich and Munich were something different. So much to learn. All the grains are already mixed, so it's not as if I was going to pick out all the Biscuit anyway. I just wanted to learn more about what I was doing rather than throw it all in and see what happens. I guess that comes from being a professional chemist for the past 20 years. I tend to like to know what to expect before I start mixing things together. It's allowed me to keep all ten fingers and most of my eyebrows all these years.

 

[Cyclman]

Steep them.

 

[Yooper]

"caramel munich" isn't Munich malt- it's a caramel/crystal malt.

all of those grains are steeping grains, and not base malt. They can be steeped.

 

[Demus]

Steep away. Crystal/caramel malts have been "mashed" in the kernel. Their starches are already converted to sugar so they make great steep additions to extract batches. Biscuit is not, but it is highly kilned so you'll still get some of that snappy cracker character even without mashing, plus it's a pretty small amount. If you turn your sights to all grain it's fine to mash with crystal malts too; you can't really "over mash" them. They'll just add their character and sugars to your base malt.
Enjoy!

 

[unionrdr]

I made that distinction between caramunich & reg munich so it could be differentiated between the kind that can be steeped & which must be mashed earlier. These sorts of things must be clearly understood if any sucess is to be hoped for.
Wasn't 100% sure about the biscuit,having never used it. But from what was read in the description,it seemed that it did have to be mashed for full effect.

 

[Demus]

Biscuit has to be mashed to get any fermentables from it, but if steeped it will still lend its flavor and character. I just wouldn't use too much as I'm not sure at what point the unfermentable starches would become a flavor issue...

 

[ChemicalBrew]

Thanks everyone. I didn't realize caramel Munich and Munich were different at first, but I have been educated by Unionrdr. I also didn't know if there was anything to be gained from steeping the Biscuit, but as Demus points out, it is about more than just fermentables with this grain. Steeping it is. Now I will relax and have a beer.