Roasted grains and cold steeping

[Dadux]

So i am planning a Schwarzbier recipe and im gonna use 7% roast malt. Initially i was gonna use dark chocolate malt (900 EBC) but then i dont want as much astringency and bitterness from the roast so i thought about cold steeping. I then saw that my store also carries black pearled malt (dehusked Black Patent, 1000 EBC) and thought about giving it a try. A few considerations:

1- is there any point in cold steeping huskless grains?
2- my mash pH works good adding all the roasted grains directly to mash (lowers mash pH from 5.67 to 5.33). I thought of adding the cold steeped water to the mash water (but not the grains) and so get the acidity without the harsh flavours but i dont know if this works. Does mashing the liquid defeat the purpose of steeping? Is the same amount of acidity extracted through steeping?

Any tips, info or recomendations are welcomed

 

[pigroaster]

I add my rolled (milled) specialty roasted malts at the end of the mash session at the top 3 inches in my cooler and I have an aluminum tray on top with knife slits in it so I do not get chanaling when I sparge. Works fine. I used to put them in a hop bag but it is a pain to clean, wash and sanitize bags after you tie them with butcher cord. I have a killer recipe if you need one!

 

[Dadux]

Im basing the recipe in the brulosophy one, seems straightforward enough, with some water chem adjusted to fit my tap water profile.
I will be fermenting with M54 california lager.

In my stouts i brewed recently i added 60% of the grains over 300 EBC at the end of the mash and the result is good. The thing here is there is not that much malt and i want the acidified pH. I can add acids but seems counter productive to do that and then add roasted malts...plus a low pH here is good since it should be light as a schwarzbier

 

[cactusgarrett]

Per the BJCP, the flavor profile should be: "light to moderate roasted malt flavors can give a bitter-chocolate palate that lasts into the finish, but which are never burnt."

In my opinion, I would opt for adding acid to get the mash pH in line, then add the cold steeped liquid/grain during the sparge (or the roasted grains at the end of the mash). You said it's counter productive, but I disagree, since it seems like you have to sacrifice one variable for the other (acid vs roast profile). If you really want that subdued roast/bitterness, mash acid and a late grain addition would avoid the roasted/bitter flavors, while achieving the target pH.

If you wanted, you could do a little of both: add some acid and a little of the chocolate for the entire mash (to achieve target pH), then the remainder of your chocolate at the end of the mash. To me, though, this is too much effort, and I, myself, would do the acid and late addition.

 

[Dadux]

This is why i wonderes if i can just cold steep and then add to the mash. No tannins or anything from grains, all the acid