What temperature for wort?

[ncoutroulis]

Hi. Just picked up a kit and the instructions don't specify at what temperature the wort should be kept at for the hour boil. Stupid question, but should I just bring to a boil then let it slowly simmer for the hour? Do I need to monitor the temp? If so, what temp should i stay at?

Thanks

 

[Qhrumphf]

Boiling is boiling. You don't want a slow simmer, but a good rolling boil. You don't need it jumping out of the kettle at you, but it does need to have significant turnover in the kettle.

As far as what temp is boiling, that will depend on a few factors, but it should be approximately 212 no matter what (if you're at significantly high elevation it may be a bit cooler than that). Get it to a boil and leave it there.

 

[flars]

Water boils at 212°F at sea level. Boil temperature will be lower at higher altitudes due to less atmospheric pressure. Bring your wort to a boil and then reduce the applied heat to just keep most of the wort surface rolling. The amount of heat applied doesn't need to create small spitting volcanoes for hop utilization.

 

[photobru]

You just don't want to boil it too vigorously or you'll undershoot your target volume. Or if your simmer is too low you'll end up with the opposite problem. After a few brews you'll get a feel for what your system does.

 

[ncoutroulis]

Thanks. Thought it was a stupid question 😄

And for a partial mash, around 165? Then toss the grains in?

 

[photobru]

And for a partial mash, around 165? Then toss the grains in?

Possibly, it depends on a few factors: your strike water volume, amount of grain, and target mash temperature.

 

[ncoutroulis]

Well. The mash volume is 2 Gallons. The final will be 5. Not sure what the target temp is. The recipe doesn't say.

 

[ncoutroulis]

Oh and there's only about a pound of grain. The rest is malt extract

 

[Qhrumphf]

Thanks. Thought it was a stupid question 😄

And for a partial mash, around 165? Then toss the grains in?

That'll depend on the size of the partial mash and the temp you want. If you search the internet for mash temp calculators, they'll help you calculate the right water temp based on how much grain, how much water, and what temp you want.

As far as ideal temp, again depends on the size of your partial mash. If you're only mashing a pound or two, in a fairly large beer it's not going to significantly impact fermentability in either direction, so I'd go ~152-154 target temp (which would probably put your strike temp in the high 150s to low 160s) since that's good middle of the ground conversion, let it sit for an hour, and then remove grains and go. If you're doing a much bigger partial mash (say, half of your fermentables coming from the mashed grains), then it's much more important what temp you use since it will change fermentability (again 152-154 would be middle of the road).

 

[Qhrumphf]

What grains are you using? A lot of new brewers confuse steeping grains with partial mash (the difference is grains that require starch conversion/grains that provide enzymes). If you're only steeping grains, the temp isn't important as long as its 140-165ish (and as long as it doesn't exceed 170). If you're mashing the temp matters more.

 

[ncoutroulis]

Thanks. The grains are a pound, maybe a little over. Munich and caramel, I'm making a Brekles Brown. The rest is powdered malt and liquid malt. The guy told me to steep them for only 20 mins. Seems low to me though, but this is only my second brew. Any help would be great

Thanks

 

[Qhrumphf]

The caramel malt is a steeping grain, but the Munich malt does indeed need to be mashed. What I would do (if you haven't already done so) is buy some either distilled or reverse osmosis water (unless you happen to have your own RO filter), and do your partial mash in one gallon of that RO or distilled water. Heat it to 159, cut the heat, use a big grain bag so the grains are fairly loose, and stir well. Should bring it ~154. Let sit for 1 hour off the heat (or occasionally on fairly low heat with constant stirring warm it to keep it at 154), and then remove the grains. With RO water and assuming 8 oz Munich and 8 oz mid-range crystal malt, the chemistry should be fine for conversion.

 

[ncoutroulis]

The caramel malt is a steeping grain, but the Munich malt does indeed need to be mashed. What I would do (if you haven't already done so) is buy some either distilled or reverse osmosis water (unless you happen to have your own RO filter), and do your partial mash in one gallon of that RO or distilled water. Heat it to 159, cut the heat, use a big grain bag so the grains are fairly loose, and stir well. Should bring it ~154. Let sit for 1 hour off the heat (or occasionally on fairly low heat with constant stirring warm it to keep it at 154), and then remove the grains. With RO water and assuming 8 oz Munich and 8 oz mid-range crystal malt, the chemistry should be fine for conversion.

Thanks.

Now I'm thoroughly confused 😄

The grains I have are all mixed together in one bag. Instructions say to steep on a simmer, and he told me for 20 minutes. Does that sound right?

Then proceed with addition of malts, bring to boil, then hop additions

 

[ncoutroulis]

Thanks.

Now I'm thoroughly confused 😄

The grains I have are all mixed together in one bag. Instructions say to steep on a simmer, and he told me for 20 minutes. Does that sound right?

Then proceed with addition of malts, bring to boil, then hop additions

 

[Qhrumphf]

Thanks.

Now I'm thoroughly confused 😄

The grains I have are all mixed together in one bag. Instructions say to steep on a simmer, and he told me for 20 minutes. Does that sound right?

Then proceed with addition of malts, bring to boil, then hop additions

Mixed together is fine.

If by simmer you/they mean that period right before boiling, no, that is not correct. That will introduce astringent tannins into the beer. Again, the temperature with the grains should not exceed 170.

20 minutes will likely not be enough time for Munich malt (with low diastatic power) to convert itself.

It sounds like they're treating the Munich malt as a steeping grain, which you can extract color and some flavor from steeping, but if a proper length mash in conversion temperature ranges isn't performed, a) you'll lose out on the sugars from those grains and b) even worse, you'll have starch present in the final beer. Which can contribute a slight off-flavor (not a major one though), but add substantial, permanent haze (ie cloudy beer that will never clear), and starch provides ready food for spoilage organisms (infection) meaning if your cleaning and sanitation is not flawless you're more likely to infect your beer.

People steep grains that must be mashed all the time (Victory malt and Biscuit malt are prime examples), but it's not a good general practice. If you want to follow their instructions, it'll probably be ok, but I'd do what I suggested.

 

[Yooper]

Thanks.

Now I'm thoroughly confused 😄

The grains I have are all mixed together in one bag. Instructions say to steep on a simmer, and he told me for 20 minutes. Does that sound right?

Then proceed with addition of malts, bring to boil, then hop additions

Yes, that's fine, but I'd change it just a tad.

Put one to two gallons of water in the pot, and bring it to 160-165 or so. Turn off the heat, and add your grains. Stir well, to thoroughly wet the grains in the bag, and cover and turn off the heat. I'd go 30 minutes, and then pick up the grain bag and either squeeze it a little, or pour water over the grainbag into your pot to rinse it, and then discard the grains. Then, bring that up to a boil.

Add 1/2 of the extract (take the pot off the heat while you do that, so it doesn't burn to the bottom!), and bring it to a boil again. Add your hops when the wort is at a boil, and set your timer for 60 minutes. Add any other hops (if any) at the times designated, and then when the timer hits 0, turn off the flame and add the rest of the extract and stir well. Let sit for a minute or two, then cool the wort in an ice bath in your sink. When that gets under 80 degrees, put into your fermenter, top up with water (chlorine free water!) and check to make sure it's about 60-70 degrees, and then add your yeast. Then just put on the airlock, and you're all set!

 

[ncoutroulis]

Is this gonna give me the Brekles Brown I'm looking for? Now I have my doubts.

Thanks to you both for the great insight.

I think they're telling me to steep this bag in water that's around 160-165 for about 20 minutes. I was going to go longer, then sparse with water to bring it to 5 gallons, then add the malt and hop additions.

I feel like I've been given the incorrect grain bill though.

Thanks again

 

[Yooper]

Is this gonna give me the Brekles Brown I'm looking for? Now I have my doubts.

Thanks to you both for the great insight.

I think they're telling me to steep this bag in water that's around 160-165 for about 20 minutes. I was going to go longer, then sparse with water to bring it to 5 gallons, then add the malt and hop additions.

I feel like I've been given the incorrect grain bill though.

Thanks again

What's the whole recipe? If you let us know that, we can tell you if it's a brown ale (I don't know what Brekles is, though).

You want to hold the grains and water at 150-155 or so. If you add room temperature grains to 165 degree water, that should get you right in the ballpark, and keep it there by putting the lid on the pot. If you want to sparge with water to go up to 5 gallons, that's great. Just make sure your pot and stove can boil 5 gallons of wort- most people's stovetops can't. (Mine can).

 

[jason1973]

at sea level 100c, 110c if there any salt, im in toronto way below sea level mine boils at 110c 120c if i add salt.
i beleave its 90c in Denver.

 

[ncoutroulis]

What I have in the kit

About a pound of the mixed grains
munich and caramel
Can of CBW munich pure malt extract

4# of powdered malt DME LT??

Cites hops

Thoughts?

Thanks

 

[jason1973]

Thanks. The grains are a pound, maybe a little over. Munich and caramel, I'm making a Brekles Brown. The rest is powdered malt and liquid malt. The guy told me to steep them for only 20 mins. Seems low to me though, but this is only my second brew. Any help would be great

Thanks

my self i'm still a newb not even a year and about 40gallons of brew.
when doing partials, i use to follow instructions, untill i did a lhbs kit that was a clone of another kit, original said 20 minute steep, lhbs said 55min steep, now i do 55min steep when ever i do a partial.

 

[ncoutroulis]

my self i'm still a newb not even a year and about 40gallons of brew.

when doing partials, i use to follow instructions, untill i did a lhbs kit that was a clone of another kit, original said 20 minute steep, lhbs said 55min steep, now i do 55min steep when ever i do a partial.

Thanks. That's what I was thinking. And at what temp do you steep this?

 

[jason1973]

Thanks. That's what I was thinking. And at what temp do you steep this?

150-160f

 

[Yooper]

What I have in the kit

About a pound of the mixed grains
munich and caramel
Can of CBW munich pure malt extract

4# of powdered malt DME LT??

Cites hops

Thoughts?

Thanks

It sounds good- citra hops are good hops for an American brown. As far as the color, "caramel" doesn't tell us much. It could be anywhere from 10L to 150L in color, but I'd have to guess that it's a dark one for a brown ale.

 

[ncoutroulis]

It sounds good- citra hops are good hops for an American brown. As far as the color, "caramel" doesn't tell us much. It could be anywhere from 10L to 150L in color, but I'd have to guess that it's a dark one for a brown ale.

Thanks

It just seemed like a tiny amount of grain but maybe because of all the extract?

Some good advice on here. Thanks to all of you!

 

[ncoutroulis]

Thanks

It just seemed like a tiny amount of grain but maybe because of all the extract?

Some good advice on here. Thanks to all of you!

 

[Qhrumphf]

I'm wondering why they gave you munich to steep when you've already got munich extract...

Sounds tasty though. Haven't had the beer (homebrew or commercial) but Anchor's website lists a blend of 2 row, Munich, and Crystal as the grain bill, so it sounds like it's probably on the right track.

 

[ncoutroulis]

Good to hear. I just saw other recipes that stated 4-6 lbs of grain. Perhaps because it was an all grain? Without extract?

I'll give it a go and post updates

Cheers

 

[oakbarn]

I would go with the 150 to 154 range for Partial Mash.

 

[ncoutroulis]

Thanks. And regarding the use of distiller water. Couldn't I just boil water and then it cool to the target temp?

 

[Yooper]

Sure, but it depends on what's already in your water. Chloramines (a chlorine used by many municipalities) doesn't boil off, nor do things like iron or sulfate, etc. So if your water is great for brewing, you don't need RO or distilled water at all, but some people have water not particularly great for brewing.