Steeping

[brew4allMI]

Hey everyone I am s a new homebrewer with a little over a year of experience. What can ppl tell me about types of grains that can be steeped for extract brewing and other grains that are a waste to steep and must be mashed? I have brewed some batches a of beer using 2 row pale as well as oatmeal (blue moon type beer) and from what I am reading these seems to be a waste to even steep? Do you still get any characteristics from the 2-row or oatmeal from steeping or is it just a waste?

 

[tjpfeister]

I just found a chart on this... Here it is:http://www.howtobrew.com/section2/chapter12-4-1.html

Basically, you can steep anything for flavor or color, but some malts will actually give you sugars (as they have already been converted during the malting process).

 

[helibrewer]

Base malts need mashing (2-row, 6-row, pale, munich, aromatic, bisquit, pils or pilsner, acidulated, and a few more).

Specialty grains are steeped (crystal/caramel, any "cara-", roasted, black, brown, special B, and more).

If you practice steeping your grains in about 1.5-2 quarts of water per pound of grain, at about 150-155F you are covering all bases. This will properly steep your grains but will also work to mini mash any base grains.

I heat the water to 160, lower the grain bag in, stir the grain around well, cover the pot and place it in an oven pre-heated to 150F then leave it for 30 minutes. The temp is held very well and this technique works for both steeping and mini mashing....and this way you don't have to worry about which grains have enzymes and which ones don't, it works for both!

 

[Andrew5329]

What I would do, is go to my local homebrew store, and literally taste a each of the different grains and actually get a feel for what they will add to your brew. Then, pick your favorite grain and use a pound of it in your next extract brew and enjoy the flavor it adds.

 

[brew4allMI]

Thanks for all of the info guys! I will be using this toward my next batch. I understand the specialty malts, but I guess it's the base malts I am hindered in understanding for some reason...i do understand a little of the difference in steeping and mashing...but I will
Use the information provided and go from there

 

[ploppythesausage]

My approach is basically that specialty malts are ready to impart their goodness without any conversion needed. For example, crystal malts have been heated to the point that sugar is already converted within them - it has crystalised. Thus, when you steep them the sugar simply is dissolved in the water. Unlike mashable-malts where the mashing does the converting. Other malts contribute colour and flavours but limited sugar so there is no point in mashing when steeping will suffice (although it is often easier to toss in all of your grains at once if mashing). Some brewers even cold-steep things like roasted barley seperately to get colour and limited roastiness.