Wort Rally Help

[Bcarlton74]

Doing a wort rally competition again this year. Wort is going to be a pilsner. Want to darken it up some, thinking dark lager. Is it possible to steep some specialty grains at 170 and only re-boil for 5 mins or so? If so, how long should I steep those grains?

 

[Bcarlton74]

Anyone have any input?

 

[CascadesBrewer]

Anyone have any input?

What is a "wort rally competition"? I have been in some events where we all got a base wort that was made by a brewery. In that case, people were free to steep whatever specialty grains, and add sugars/spices/whatever. Since the wort was unhopped, you pretty much had to boil it and add hops. If your wort is already pre-hopped, then it might be a bit more of a challenge.

 

[Bcarlton74]

Wort has been hopped and boiled. Doing 2 5 gallon batches. I am going to reboil 5 gallons and do a hopstand. Really just curious if I can heat the other 5 gallons up to steep some specialty grains.

 

[Kickass]

curious if I can heat the other 5 gallons up to steep some specialty grains.

I don’t see why you wouldn’t want to do that. A 15-30 minute steep might be sufficient.

 

[RM-MN]

Wort has been hopped and boiled. Doing 2 5 gallon batches. I am going to reboil 5 gallons and do a hopstand. Really just curious if I can heat the other 5 gallons up to steep some specialty grains.

It's wort. In fact as you mentioned, it's hopped wort. Sure you can steep some grains to change its character. You probably don't need to heat it real high either. I'd suggest 150 for 30 minutes. That will steep the color and flavor from the steeping grains and pasteurize the grains at the same time. There should not be a reason to boil it after that.

 

[Bcarlton74]

Thanks for the info, much appreciated.

 

[Kickass]

@Bcarlton74 I’m still curious what a wort rally competition is.

 

[Bcarlton74]

Local brewery brews 10 barrels of wort. Participants pay $55 per 5 gallons which goes to a local charity. Participants can make whatever type of beer they want with the wort. All entries are judged by the brewery and LHBS store.