Speaking of steeping

[God Emporer BillyBrew]

I visited a home brew shop down in Arlington a few weeks back and the guy there told me that I had been doing my specialty grains all wrong. I had been putting them in a cheesecloth bag and soaking in the preboiled wort. He told me I needed to do the whole steeping thing. Because otherwise I was missing out on all kinds flavor.

What's you guys' experience with that? I steeped my last batch, but not having an unsteeped version of the same recipe, I can't really tell if it helped or not.

 

[Toilet Rocker]

When I began, I waited til the water reached a certain level then threw the grain bag in for 30-45 mins. I subsequently read elsewhere that you should put it in the preheated water and when you hit that temp 155 or so, hold steady for 30-45 mins then. So the grain bag is actually soaking longer than 30-45 mins. I've noticed a much different flavor by doing things this way. Latest beers are much better than the early ones. Not sure if different flavors are released at different temps or is the longer steeping releasing them.

 

[Walker]

what exactly is the shop owners definition of "the whole steeping thing"?

There are generally two methods I have seen described for steeping your grains.

(1) put the grain bag in the water and slowly heat to boiling. just before boiling, remove the grains.

(2) put the grain bag into 150-160 degree water and let it stand at this temp for 30 to 60 minutes

I usually do #2 because of the bounty of sources that claim that putting your grains at temps above 180 will leach harsh tasting tannins from the grain husks and leave an anstringant (puckering bitter) taste in the beer.

-walker

 

[Darth Konvel]

I agree on #2. Too hot and you start cooking harsh stuff like tannins out of the grain. I've just soaked them around 155º for 45 mins, aggitating the bag every so often so avoid hot/cold spots and get the water to move around a bit.

 

[God Emporer BillyBrew]

what exactly is the shop owners definition of "the whole steeping thing"?

There are generally two methods I have seen described for steeping your grains.

(1) put the grain bag in the water and slowly heat to boiling. just before boiling, remove the grains.

(2) put the grain bag into 150-160 degree water and let it stand at this temp for 30 to 60 minutes

I usually do #2 because of the bounty of sources that claim that putting your grains at temps above 180 will leach harsh tasting tannins from the grain husks and leave an anstringant (puckering bitter) taste in the beer.

-walker

He said to do method 2 except not use a bag and strain it while pouring it into the primary.

 

[Walker]

wait.... he said that the grain should stay in the bag WHILE you boil and then are removed via a strainer as you pour into the fermenter?!

-walker

 

[Darth Konvel]

I think he means no bag at all ... maybe.

 

[Walker]

bag is irrelevsnt at this point. if he's telling you to BOIL your grains, I don't think I would listen to a lot of his advice, honestly.

-walker

 

[ScottT]

If you were in Dr Jeckel's beer lab, I'm pretty sure he didn't tell you to boil the grains. Unless of course he knew that you were an Okie and was just jerking your chain.

He may have said to steep your grains without a grain bag and strain them out when moving to the brew kettle but you do not want to boil your steeping grains at all.

 

[david_42]

I bag mine and put them in the cold water. When I hit 165F, I shut the heat off, set the timer to 30 minutes & start stirring in the extract. When the timer tings, I turn the heat back on and pull the bag, letting it drain.

 

[Catfish]

I bag mine and put them in the cold water. When I hit 165F, I shut the heat off, set the timer to 30 minutes & start stirring in the extract. When the timer tings, I turn the heat back on and pull the bag, letting it drain.

That is similar to my understanding of the advice. Neither method 1 (cold until boil) or method 2 (only 160-170) but a 3rd method: Cold Until 160-170:

Toss your grain bag in cold; bring the temp up to 160-170; kill the heat; let it rest and relax; pull the grains; bring to a boil and then do your extract etal. as normal.

I think I'll try it tomorrow. Tell ya'll how it goes.

 

[God Emporer BillyBrew]

If you were in Dr Jeckel's beer lab, I'm pretty sure he didn't tell you to boil the grains. Unless of course he knew that you were an Okie and was just jerking your chain.

He may have said to steep your grains without a grain bag and strain them out when moving to the brew kettle but you do not want to boil your steeping grains at all.

that's exactly what he said. 160 degree water, steep for 30 min, no bag at all and strain into the primary. And yes it was Dr. Jeckel's. That's a cool brew shop. First time I've ever seen the styrofoam fermenter coolers.

Have you noticed much difference doing it either way?