Ummm, I guess this is a mini-mash question...

[ejf063]

Ok,
So I am short on beer and want to take this father’s day weekend and brew 2 - five gallon batches. To save a little time, I opted to use extract in an American IPA I plan on brewing. There are specialty grains (2 lbs Vienna, 8 oz Cara-Pils, and 1 lb Caramel 10l) that I plan on steeping. I was wondering if I could throw a pound of Maris Otter into my steeping bag, get about 3.5 gals to 150 degrees, hold for an hour, raise temp to about 170, hold for 10 minutes, then remove grain bag and move on to the boil.
Can I do this without getting off flavors on tannins? Are there any other problems which could present themselves?
I figured the steeping is kinda like mashing……… Right?
Thanks for your help

 

[charliehorse]

You shouldn't have any problem doing this. The only thing different I'd do is rise the grains with 170 degree water (sparge). At the worst, you'd have beer.

 

[tootal]

It depends on what you want out of the Marris Otter. A 150 degree rest will get you a little more sugar for alcohol and a little flavor but a pound is not going to do much for flavor. If you want a little more mouth feel then I'd mash it at 158 for a half hour and then just pull all the grain and boil. You're still not going to get much out of just a pound.

If you're willing to spend an hour for one pound then why not spend a half hour with 5 lbs. or just go ahead and do an all grain mash? If you're trying to save time just skip the Marris Otter and do your regular mini mash.

I'm not saying what you want to do won't work, just saying it's a waste of time which seems you don't have a lot of.

 

[peterj]

Yeah that sounds like a basic mini mash to me. But just to let you know, Vienna is a base malt and must be mashed not just steeped. It sounds like you're doing all of the grains together in the mini mash though, correct?

 

[ejf063]

Yeah that sounds like a basic mini mash to me. But just to let you know, Vienna is a base malt and must be mashed not just steeped. It sounds like you're doing all of the grains together in the mini mash though, correct?

I plan on pouring all the grains into the bag and letting the steep. I know Vienna is a base malt, but I know that some extract kits include Vienna in their lagers.
So, everything in the bag together, I can pour water 170 degree water over it instead of slowing raising the temp, if that changes anything. i dont know if it will though.


I am hoping for a little fuller body and sweetness…. More complexity with the MO, which is why I want to include it. So my rest temp could be a bit higher. I just didnt want to go crazy. I have a big enough bag and kettle, so i figured this would work. Do far, sounds like it should work.....
Thanks.

 

[ejf063]

You shouldn't have any problem doing this. The only thing different I'd do is rise the grains with 170 degree water (sparge). At the worst, you'd have beer.

Hey thanks for the response, and idea Charlie. How much water would you do this rinse with

 

[charliehorse]

As much water as it takes to give you the volume that you need.