sparging my steeping grains

[stevecaaster]

Few quick questions for anyone around tonight... I decided to sort of loosely follow a couple of recipes i found which claim to clone newcastle brown ale...
http://www.brew365.com/beer_newcastle_brown.php
Well Ive got problems up the wazoo! I have got to stop doing things last minute with such limited understanding of what I am actually doing, lol

I am going to steep about a pound of assorted specialty grains (crystal, black patent, chocolate, carapils) in a large grain bag. I figure I would benefit from a quick sparge of this pound of grains before I continue to add my 6 Lbs of DME, would this be a good idea, maybe get some more sugars/flavors out? i am able to separate the steeping grains into different muslin bags if only some grains should be sparged and some should not. (I planned on putting them in a strainer after steeping in 1 gallon for 30 minutes then sparging with 1/2 gallon of 160-ish degree water, a quick rinse).

Also I bought some of these grains uncrushed, a quick roll over with a rolling pin should crush these enough I assume. Is the technique to just crack them open into very coarse pieces? just open them up i am told, do not pulverise them?

one more... Would I be able to get away with a quick substitution of hops: recipe calls for X amount of target for bittering at 9 AAus, i have X amount each of fuggles and hallerteau, which when combined add up to around 9 AAus. is it a fair trade?
Thanks everyone for all the help, it is greatly appreciated! damnit i dont know what my beer would taste without you guys... have a nice night

 

[TheJadedDog]

1) You could sparge if you wanted to but it doesn't really do much for steeping grains since you are not extracting any sugars from them regardless of the amount of grains steeped.

2) Sounds like you have a fair idea of what a crush should look like.

3) Fuggles for Target would be a fair trade, not the Hallertau though. Plus you don't add the AAs from different hops to get a total AA (like you appear to be doing). You need to post more specifics about how much target at what AA is called for and how much fuggles at what AA you have before a determination can be made on the substitution.

 

[kasky99]

I know this is an old post, but just to bring it back up: I noticed that when you tell beersmith that you are doing a partial mash when adding specialty grains it significantly raises your OG. If you put the setting back in extract, it will lower your OG without changing a single ingredient. Does this mean that sparging your specialty grains actually does raise your OG by a significant amount?

 

[pilafdm]

I know this is an old post, but just to bring it back up: I noticed that when you tell beersmith that you are doing a partial mash when adding specialty grains it significantly raises your OG. If you put the setting back in extract, it will lower your OG without changing a single ingredient. Does this mean that sparging your specialty grains actually does raise your OG by a significant amount?

I have the same question in mind when using Hopville's BC tool.
I mean, the software will clearly categorize a brew as "extract with specialty grains," but these grains which would ordinarily be steeped seem to, in the software's mind, contribute notably to OG/FG/ABV as if they were efficiently mashed.

When this happens, it leads me to believe that unless I actually mash the specialty grains I'll be getting a product with a smaller ABV than indicated.

Thoughts?

 

[kasky99]

When this happens, it leads me to believe that unless I actually mash the specialty grains I'll be getting a product with a smaller ABV than indicated.

Thoughts?

I just recently ordered ingredience to make an Imperial IPA. I noticed that when I followed the other guys recipe, I could not get an ideal OG or ABV without adding another # of LME when it was punched into beersmith. I then realized that it would match up perfectly if you set it to partial mash instead of extract. Since it is expensive and it takes such a long time for me to get supplys (due to me being stationed in Tokyo) I am going to try mashing 1# of caramel/crystal and see what happens. I will make sure and let you know how it goes.

From what I have been reading though a lot of people seem to think that you don't get that much out of sparging caramel/crystal. Beersmith seems to think otherwise, guess I will find out the hard way. Either way I should know right off the bat by what my OG is.

 

[kasky99]

Ok so I tried sparging 60L caramel/crystal and the og ended up exactly the same.

 

[Yooper]

Ok so I tried sparging 60L caramel/crystal and the og ended up exactly the same.

Yes, you would. Beersmith isn't "smart" enough to know that even if you tell it it's a partial mash that it really isn't if there isn't any grain that will convert.

"Sparging" the grains can rinse them a bit, so you might get a minute amount of extra color or flavor. But rinsing something off doesn't give sugar.

A partial mash uses some base grain (Munich malt, two-row, Vienna malt) which can convert and can give you fermentable sugars, even if you don't sparge.

 

[kasky99]

A partial mash uses some base grain (Munich malt, two-row, Vienna malt) which can convert and can give you fermentable sugars, even if you don't sparge.

I see! This is what I always thought due to the characteristics of caramel/crystal, but if beersmith said it I had to at least give it a try.