What happens when grains are steeped at above 170?

[FiddleTilDeath]

For my recipe Black Hole Ale which I created, (6 lbs Munich LME, 1 lb belgian debittered black malt steeped, 4 oz chinook, unibroue yeast) I oversteeped the belgian debittered black malt. I know people have discussed extracting unwanted tannens, does this relate at all to the debittering of the roasted malt? Am I accidentally partially partial mashing? Before anyone says not to worry, I'm not worried... just curious!

 

[JNye]

well to partial mash you need to hold at mash temps which would be 150-158, since you steeped hot you would be in danger of the tannins that you already know about. I'm not sure that really an issue. I mean, people decoction mash a couple pounds of grain all the time and boil the grains, no one talks about tannins then.

 

[nebben]

In a decoction mash, thick portions of the grainbed are fished out and put into a container to boil. They are also heavily laden with sugars. From the way I understand it, these sugars help keep tannin extraction from happening during the boil. If you expose the grainbed to > 170F when the sugars aren't present (when sparging or such as with your case with your steeping grains), you may be more susceptible.