rinsing steeping grains

[patrick66]

My brew pot holds about 3 gallons. So far I have only done extract brewing kits. After steeping the grains in a bag I let them drip for a while, then added the extract and started boiling. I found a lot of additional "goodness" dripping from the bag later. (I read somewhere not to squeeze the grainbag so I resisted that). On my next batch I steeped the grains in only 2.5 gallons, and then rinsed the grainbag with .5 gallons of hot water into the brewing pot before continuing. Is there anything wrong with doing this?

Thanks, Patrick

 

[JugDog]

Nothing wrong with that at all. When brewing all grain it’s called sparging.
People have differing opinions on squeezing the bag, when I was doing extract I was a bag squeezer. Not ashamed to admit it.

 

[Golddiggie]

If you don't have any base malt in that bag, you're not getting anything out of it.

For clarity, you'll get some flavors from the grains, but you won't get any gravity additions without base malt to provide the enzymes for converting starches to sugars. Which means rinsing won't give you anything more than simply using a reasonable amount of water to get the flavors out.

 

[patrick66]

Thanks JugDog and Golddiggie.
Yeah, I add the DME after the grains have steeped. It just seemed that the grains still had more to "give" after I removed the bag from the boiling kettle.
I just wanted to make sure I was not doing something "wrong", like squeezing..........
Patrick

 

[sibelman]

Brewing is a lot like cooking. Squeezing, sparging - - there's no right or wrong. @patrick66, go with your feelings and see (taste!) what happens.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

For clarity, you'll get some flavors from the grains, but you won't get any gravity additions without base malt to provide the enzymes for converting starches to sugars. Which means rinsing won't give you anything more than simply using a reasonable amount of water to get the flavors out.

Steeping crystal / roasted malts will contribute fermentable sugars. Steep a pound of crystal 60 in a gallon of water at 150F for 30 minutes. Measure with a hydrometer. A fast ferment test can be used to determine how fermentable the wort is.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

I read somewhere not to squeeze the grainbag so I resisted that.

There is a general consensus that "squeezing is bad" is a myth. I would note that recently when brewing a kit and using the muslin bags with the kit, those bags let a lot of grain particles out when I tried to squeeze them. The "grain in your boil = tannins" might also be a myth though.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

tannins

The BeerSmith blog has a couple of articles on tannins/astringency (search link).

The steeping step (p 12) in How to Brew, 4e, chapter 1, offers a technique that "reduces the risk of bitter tannin extraction from grain husks".

Brewers Friend appears to provide a good estimate of the wort pH of when steeping just "steeping grains". I haven't measured the wort produced by steeping grains in a low OG wort.