Beer Forum

Have a quick question regarding steeping specialty grains.

A recipe I'm using is expecting me to be steeping specialty grains in 1 gallon of water. Can I steep those same grains in a greater volume of water, or will that completely screw things up? I only ask because I know that hops utilization is greater in a full boil than a partial boil, and I was wondering if this would also apply to the grains. I would think that things would be a bigger issue with hops, due to a large gravity difference between a partial boil and a full boil with wort concentrations being different, as compared to the steeping case that happens in just water, regardless of volume. In any case, I'm not sure how this all pans out in real life, hence me asking.

If it is the case that steeping in a large volume will mess things up, I'll just do the steeping part inside the house with the 1 gallon volume and carry the pot outside later to dump into my boil kettle (where I am planning to do full boils). Basically I just wanted to steep in my boil kettle to save me from having to do another step indoors.

Oh yes, and the reason I would start with a greater volume in my boil kettle is mostly because the diameter is so large. A gallon would take up a little less than an inch of height in my kettle, so steeping wouldn't seem at all practical in that case. So either I have to steep indoors with a smaller pot, or else increase the volume of water and steep outside in my boil kettle.

Thanks for any input on the subject.


- joe

Here is a good read... http://www.howtobrew.com/section2/chapter13-2.html

I don't think it matters how much water you steep your grains in. You are just getting the sugar into soultion. You don't have any enzyme activity to worry about. You only have to start worrying about amounts of water if you are doing a mini-mash. When I was doing extract with grain and full boils I would steep in 6 gallons. I didn't have any problems that I could tell.

Travis

Travis,

Thanks for the reply.

I'll probably just steep in my kettle then tomorrow. This is all assuming the rain doesn't ruin my plans of completing my first brew. Hopefully all goes to plan.


- joe

If you have a garage brew in there. That's what I do. Just leave the door open to vent.

Travis

Lufah wrote:If you have a garage brew in there. That's what I do. Just leave the door open to vent.

I don't have a garage, unfortunately. I could brew in my barn or in an old, abandoned horse paddock, but I don't think either would be very safe with all of the wood and hay around. For now I have set up a platform near the paddock for my kettle. It is made out of concrete blocks and large paver stones and should be more than fire-proof. With this, I can gravity feed straight from my kettle to the fermenter after the immersion cooler does its thing. The good thing about this location is that I'm under a 4 foot overhang and protected from the weather, especially with the leeward nature present.

I have thought of constructing a garage and making it into a brewery, but just starting out, that may not be the best idea ever. I'm going to take things one day at a time for now.


- joe

Lufah wrote:Here is a good read... http://www.howtobrew.com/section2/chapter13-2.html

I don't think it matters how much water you steep your grains in. You are just getting the sugar into soultion. You don't have any enzyme activity to worry about. You only have to start worrying about amounts of water if you are doing a mini-mash. When I was doing extract with grain and full boils I would steep in 6 gallons. I didn't have any problems that I could tell.

Travis

I'm not trying to step on toes, but I don't what new brewers to be confused on terms. Steeping is a process to get color and a bit of character (flavor) in a brew. I'm not saying there is no starch conversion though, its just minute. Mashing is where the real starch conversion happens, thus making fermentable sugars.

ow ow ow my toes...

Travis