I've made an Irish Red from a recipe I found somewhere on the net and it came out quite a bit darker than I had expected. I'm guessing it has to do with how I steeped the grains. I stirred the grain bag quite a bit trying to prevent it from scorching to the hot surfaces of the brew pot, I'm afraid this may have allowed too much of the grain stuff into the wort. Before I start my next batch, I need to know if stirring the grain bag in the water is a good or bad thing. If it's something that I should avoid, I'll prolly build a device to suspend the bag in the water with out touching the sides and bottom. That way I can avoid releasing extra stuff from the grain bag. Also, I didn't use a thermometer, so it's possible that I had steeped it too hot. Just by sticking my finger in it on several occasions, I don't think it got hot enough to worry about, it never boiled with the grain bag.
As a side note, I think the flavor is great so I'm really not too concerned about this batch I've already made. I'm mostly concerned about future brews.
Any thoughts? Avoid stirring the bag in the wort? I definitely plan to use a thermometer next batch, but does the temperature affect the grains very drastically?
As a side note, I think the flavor is great so I'm really not too concerned about this batch I've already made. I'm mostly concerned about future brews.
Any thoughts? Avoid stirring the bag in the wort? I definitely plan to use a thermometer next batch, but does the temperature affect the grains very drastically?