steeping grains like sun tea?

[iambeer]

Hey Decibelz,

Grains have to be converted into sugars, that's why the specific 150-160 F temp is needed.

I think you could sun-steep adjunts like orange rinds or something like that (not sure how well it would work though) but the base malts are basically either grains that need to be converted or a mix that is ready to go that won't really change from sitting in water all day.

Sometimes only half the answer is given, and you are totally coming from a new direction so that's probably the miscommunication here. This is a newbie zone so it's easier to get your creative thinking. Unfortunately this particular idea with malt probably won't work.

 

[gr8shandini]

I think what you're looking for is called "cold steeping."

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/cold-steeping-specialty-grains-334341/

It's generally used to extract color, but not astringency, from highly kilned malts. According to some of the "toast your own" threads, even something as light as 20L spends about 1/2 an hour at 300 degrees, so I would think most of the molds and bacteria would get cooked. Of course, grains aren't usually kept in sterile conditions, so they may get re-contaminated, but I don't think specialty grains are the bacteria bomb people are making them out to be.

I say give it a try. If you're able, I'd try brewing two batches back-to-back with the same grain bill. One would be with specialty grains steeped in the traditional manner and the other with the "sun tea" method. I'd check on the "tea" every evening and if it starts to get funky, either start over with a shorter time period, or boil it right there to keep it at an acceptable level of sourness until you can brew.

One other potential drawback I could see is that the sun might tend to bleach the "tea" such that you may not get the color you're looking for. But that might be a potential benefit, depending on how you look at it.

 

[dwarven_stout]

I love how your all so rude. Like come on give me a break for being opened minded . I'm not new at this it was just curiosity . I've brewed some sick high gravity ales and not once have I had a compliant on any of them and its a wide spread of ages that have tried them so please don't Hodge. Especially when you don't even know me or gave tried any of my brews . .... This is just sad

Classic.

 

[bleme]

Watch these videos to understand why specific temps are required

 

[Dan]

My guess would be that it will get funky sour growth of sorts, depending on how long you sun it for. Grain, plus moisture, plus warmth equals compost...stinky compost!

It is God awful stinky compost. The nauseating odors from the pig farm near where I grew up plus the putrid smell of the dairies where I live now combined can't compete with the stench of rotting spent grain. .

But in the end it does make fantastic soil!

 

[iambeer]

It is God awful stinky compost. The nauseating odors from the pig farm near where I grew up plus the putrid smell of the dairies where I live now combined can't compete with the stench of rotting spent grain. .

But in the end it does make fantastic soil!

I am totally convinced.

 

[bleme]

I remember when I was little my parents had some pigs and they would dump grain and water in a trough in the summer. When it started foaming they knew it was ready to feed the hogs. When I started brewing I realized that they were actually making beer! Just not anything I would want to drink....

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

It is God awful stinky compost. The nauseating odors from the pig farm near where I grew up plus the putrid smell of the dairies where I live now combined can't compete with the stench of rotting spent grain. .

But in the end it does make fantastic soil!

Oh for sure, it's great for the garden, but man does it reek if you let it sit and compost first.... the lacto makes it smell like a mutated pile of nuclear baby vomit. Great for my wife's flowers, though, although I'm thinking our Columbine plant may be a bit sensitive to lactobacillus, a couple of the leaves had colonies that looked like they were on a petri dish.

 

[motobrewer]

Oh I'm not new at this

with all due respect, if you knew what you were doing this wouldn't have even entered your mind because it doesn't make one bit of sense.

 

[billl]

Several posts seem to be confusing mashing with steeping. Grains that need to be mashed certainly need to be held in a certain temp range for a certain period of time. Some grains have already gone through another process that converts the sugars - like holding them at hot, dry temps. For those, you are just dissolving the existing pre-converted sugar in water.

So, theoretically, you could steep at suntea temps for an extended period. As others have eloquently pointed out though, there is a high chance of there being a bunch of bacteria creating a nasty funk instead of tasty brew.

If you want to try, a pound of crystal is pretty cheap, so go ahead. The worst thing that happens if that you have to throw it out. If it ends up smelling and tasting fine, a 60 minute boil is gonna kill any bacteria in it.

 

[jbaysurfer]

Oh for sure, it's great for the garden, but man does it reek if you let it sit and compost first.... the lacto makes it smell like a mutated pile of nuclear baby vomit. Great for my wife's flowers, though, although I'm thinking our Columbine plant may be a bit sensitive to lactobacillus, a couple of the leaves had colonies that looked like they were on a petri dish.

Any ideas on what to do about this? I'm going to have to stop composting my spent grain because my composter is getting too rancid smelling and my back yard isn't all that big. This weekend my daughter and friend were swinging on the backyard hammock and her friend was like "what's that stinky smell?". My wife hasn't noticed yet, but before she does I'd like to address it, and/or just stop putting my spent grains in the composter.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

Any ideas on what to do about this? I'm going to have to stop composting my spent grain because my composter is getting too rancid smelling and my back yard isn't all that big. This weekend my daughter and friend were swinging on the backyard hammock and her friend was like "what's that stinky smell?". My wife hasn't noticed yet, but before she does I'd like to address it, and/or just stop putting my spent grains in the composter.

I use 'em right away, before they start going foul. I do BIAB, so I just give my wife the grains after the mash and she sprinkles them in the garden. No stink, just pretty flowers... and the occasional pellicle flower, but no stink. I tried the composting grains idea, and for those few months our backyard stunk, no more, they either go into the garden or to the outside trash cans on the alley driveway.

 

[tre9er]

I use 'em right away, before they start going foul. I do BIAB, so I just give my wife the grains after the mash and she sprinkles them in the garden. No stink, just pretty flowers... and the occasional pellicle flower, but no stink. I tried the composting grains idea, and for those few months our backyard stunk, no more, they either go into the garden or to the outside trash cans on the alley driveway.

I may have to double-bag the grains I discard, too. That or buy better bags. Those rancid things can't leak out of a hole in the bag or else I have to clean a putrid trash can with Lord knows what else my kids threw in it, ie. dog-poop and food they were done with

 

[ahaley]

So I'm fairly new to this, but for sun tea don't you let it sit in the sun for a few hours, or until it taste good, then you chill it and drink it fairly quickly correct?

If you did this with beer I think you'd have to do a very small batch? Also when you make sun tea isn't that a good temperature for bacteria, so unless you boiled the sun tea after to "clean" it, you have a risk for bacteria right? It sounds interesting though if you do decide on it good luck!

 

[wgonfan]

Ok, im going to play along here and give you an opinion unlike the others... I think you can most definitely STEEP your specialty grains in a sun tea method. When steeping specialty grains All you are really trying to do is extract color and some flavor from the grains, as opposed to mashing the grain where you are actually pulling sugars and such. In my opinion on a hot day in direct sunlite it would take maybe 2.5 to 3hrs to be the equivelent of the 45 min steep that the recipe calls for. Here in texas during the summer, i have no doubt that you could get some water & grains up to 150 in direct sunlite depeding on what kind of container you used. After steeping your specialty grains, you'll still need to follow the boiling instructions to to break down the protiens and such, for sanitizing, and for hop utilization.

Honestly though, while "sun infused", or "ultra violet steeped" may sound cool you aren't going to get any different flavors just because the sun is your heat source instead of your stove top. I guess there is a chance that UV could do something interesting, but I doubt it. Steep your SPECIALTY Grains in the sun if you want to, it will be fine, just make sure to follow the rest of the recipe in regards to BOIL and fermentation.


I say all this assuming that you are brewing extract kits with steeping grains. You could not & should not do a mini mahs or all grain recipe with the sun, it wont work.

 

[iambeer]

Can't this thread just get deleted? I feel bad for the original poster for not knowing everything and having pride.

 

[jbaysurfer]

Can't this thread just get deleted? I feel bad for the original poster for not knowing everything and having pride.

You know, I've reread this entire thread, and I fail to see how anybody was rude or disrespectful or anything else. He asked a question and it got answered by lots of folks.

Obviously something offended OP, but my suggestion to him would be that being thin skinned makes the internet a dangerous place to chit chat.

And no. That wasn't a knock either. It just means posting questions to strangers on the net opens you up to answers you may not have hoped for. No reason to delete the thread, and in fact I learned something about cold steeping (although after rereading the OP and the entire thread I still think the OP was asking about sun steeping as a substitution for mashing, and talking about dryhopping as a substitute for boil additions), and I also think posters exchanged ideas about how to deal with spent grains...all good.

JMHO.

 

[unionrdr]

So I'm fairly new to this, but for sun tea don't you let it sit in the sun for a few hours, or until it taste good, then you chill it and drink it fairly quickly correct?

If you did this with beer I think you'd have to do a very small batch? Also when you make sun tea isn't that a good temperature for bacteria, so unless you boiled the sun tea after to "clean" it, you have a risk for bacteria right? It sounds interesting though if you do decide on it good luck!

As far as sun tea is concerned,no,you won't need the CDC to save you after drinking uncooked sun tea. It's in a sealed container That's left to get hot in the sun all day to brew the tea. 2-3 hours isn't long enough. I'd put out a jug or two of water & tea bags tightly sealed on the roof of the extra car,or other surface that gets hot in the sun. By the time I got home in mid-afternoon,it was dark & ready. Mix in your favorite sweetener,& fridge it till dinner time.
As far as beer goes,I agree that this method should only be done with specialty grains so as to illiminate the threat of it going rancid by the time you use it. Might be ok to save time while you're at work or something. But only about 30 minutes would be saved on brew day.