Steeping Ratio

[danceswithbeer]

Is there a proper lbs. of grain to gal. of steeping water ratio? I've just been steeping in 6 gal regardless of how much grain is in the steeping bag then boiling down to 5 gal..

 

[Sungreen20]

Are you brewing extract beer with specialty grains? While the water to grain ratio in extract brewing is not as critical as in all grain brewing it is still important. Depending on the grain and temp you use you could be extracting a lot of harsh tannin flavors if you use too much water. I found this pdf to be helpful :
http://www.jovialmonk.com.au/brewManual/Steeping_grains.pdf

The author does a great run through on how to properly use steeping grains. Basically you want to use 3 times as much water as grain on a mass basis. SO if you use 1 lb of grain use 3lb of water. Steep for 15-30 minutes at 150-160 degrees F, strain don't squeeze and then add top up water to reach your desired boil volume.

 

[A4J]

As a rule of thumb, I use 1 gallon of water per pound of specialty grain, but I don't think it really matters all that much. Plenty of people on the forums will steep at the full volume. The most important part is keeping the temps between 150-170 and only steeping for 30 minutes. This doesn't apply for all grain brewing or partial mash.

 

[seriousbeef]

I found this pdf to be helpful :
http://www.jovialmonk.com.au/brewManual/Steeping_grains.pdf

Be-e-a-u-tiful

Thanks for this link, I've found this 10000x beneficial, don't know why I hadn't stumbled upon it before

 

[helibrewer]

Water weighs 2.2 pounds per liter so 3 pounds is about 1.4 liters. So 1.5 quarts per pound gets you very close to those numbers and is easy to measure...it also falls in line with mash ratios so you can easily move into partial mash and mini mash recipes once you get your steeping process down with that grain-water ratio.