steeping grain water volume

[irishrover32]

im doin my first partial mash extract brew later. i got a stout kit. on the instructions it says steep the grains in 0.5 gallons of water then sparge with a further 0.5 gallons of water but iv got a wide 8.7 gallon pot so 0.5 gallons barely wets the bottom of the pot, if i adjust the volume of steeping water to say 1 gallon and sparge with 0.5 gallons will this effect my OG and if so what effect would this have on the final product or does it matter?

cheers

 

[srice]

How about using a smaller part to steep the grains and then transferring to your boil kettle after your sparge?

 

[irishrover32]

How about using a smaller part to steep the grains and then transferring to your boil kettle after your sparge?

i dont really have a pot suitable, so id like to keep it all in the same pot, is the volume of water you steep your grains in important?

 

[unionrdr]

Partial mash & steeping grains with extract are totally different. Which one do you have? Mashing is more critical of water volume,at 1.25 to 1.5 quarts of water per pound of grain. This is done at a particular temp for an hour to convert the starches in the grains to simple sugars. Steeping grains can be done in a couple gallons of water,as they're already converted & you're just soaking the sugars out of them.
Pale malts & 2 or 6 row malts are examples of grains that must be mashed. Crystal/caramel grains Are ones that can be steeped.

 

[irishrover32]

iv just got steeping grains so it wont matter how much water i steep them in? in that case il just use my large pot

thanks

 

[progmac]

don't sweat it. just steep them in a comfortable volume of water.

 

[david_42]

I steep in 2-3 gallons of water. Like the OP, I have a large kettle and a half or full gallon doesn't work. Been doing it for years without a problem.

 

[LogicBomb]

Does temperature really matter with steeping as long as it's between 150-170? Or is there some temp in there that is "ideal"?

And for time, is there some steeping time that gets the best results?

 

[kh54s10]

When I did extract with steeping grains I put hot tap water in the pot turned on the heat on my glass top stove. I then waited just a few minutes until the water was "hot?" I would then continue to heat and did time (20 minutes) and temperature max of 170 degrees. They usually pretty much coincided. If I got 170 early I would turn off the heat.

20 minutes came from the directions in Northern Brewer kits. I think it is not critical with either time or temperature. 20 - 30 minutes seems standard and between 150 - 170.

If you are actually doing a partial mash or mini mash, which would use some base grains as a portion of the grainbill then you need to mash near a particular temperature for, usually, 60 minutes.

What you are describing is generally referred to as Extract with Specialty Grains.

 

[RIC0]

If your simply steeping grains let the water temp get to about 165, add grains, put a lid on, turn off heat and leter go for 20 mins. Turn heat back on, remove grains and carry on.

 

[ballsy]

Do yourself a favor and get a 5 gal Coleman cooler from Walmart (19$). It holds temp for long periods of time, and if/when you switch to partial mashes you will have much more success.