Need a little bit of help

[Haydn-Juby]

So a while ago I started a thread about buying some equipment to do an all-grain batch. Since then I've got a recipe book, a how to book, and I also bought a small scale to weigh my ingredients. Still in search of a brew kettle ( 32 quart) but that's another story. Right now I need help understanding a recipe.

So I plan on doing an apricot-wheat beer , which should be nice for the summer since I plan on doing it in the spring. I'm just having a little difficulty understanding steeping the specialty grains. There's no info in the recipe regarding steeping but from what I understand its more of an estimate?(150 for 30mins being average?) How much water should I steep the grains in? Also do I put the LME in after the boil or before?

Heres the recipe

-Wheat LME 8.3lbs
-Crystal .5lbs
-Willamete AA
-Wheat beer yeast
- Apricot puree 3lbs

 

[brewkinger]

How to Brew (Palmer) recommends no more than 1 gallon of water per pound of grain.

Looking at your recipe, it seems that you have only 0.5# grain and I am thinking that your might have trouble submerging the bag into such a small amount of water.
Perhaps others can be more helpful, but my input would be to put just enough water in to cover the bag of grains.
The temp can be between 150 and 160 (the magic number that you want to stay away from is 170, as you can start to extract tannins.

 

[JonK331]

So brewing all grain means that you would be conducting a mash. It sounds like your recipe is for extract with steeping grains. A steep for 30 minutes at 150 works very well. You can steep in your full volume of water. It's best to put the LME in at the end of the boil. Just boil it for 5 minutes or so to sanitize.

 

[Haydn-Juby]

Thanks.

 

[JonK331]

How to Brew (Palmer) recommends no more than 1 gallon of water per pound of grain.

Looking at your recipe, it seems that you have only 0.5# grain and I am thinking that your might have trouble submerging the bag into such a small amount of water.
Perhaps others can be more helpful, but my input would be to put just enough water in to cover the bag of grains.
The temp can be between 150 and 160 (the magic number that you want to stay away from is 170, as you can start to extract tannins.

Yeah I hate to disagree with Palmer but I have found no difference in the final product when steeping in less water. In a mash, water volume is important because you need a good concentration of enzymes to convert the starch. If there's too much water, there won't be a good enough concentration of enzymes for a good conversion. When steeping, you are not going for any type of conversion so it really doesn't matter. You are simply rinsing sugars out of the grain and extracting a little color.