Steeping base malts.

[mark_68]

Iwas reading an article in top 100 beer sites where they suggest steeping base malts for flavour in an extract brew.The malts they suggested were vienna,munich,victory,aromatic and biscuit.Is this possible and is it worth it?
wouldn't steeping these malts also add a lot of unfermentable sugars to the brew as well as flavour?

[Trough Lolly]

G'day mark_68,
Most brewers steep grains at between 60 to 70C for around 30 minutes.
A typical all grain mash, steeps grains at around 66C for at least 30 minutes but more typically 60 to 90 minutes, depending on recipe, beer style, malt profile / diastatic power etc...Much of the conversion is done in the first 30 minutes, for well modified malts nowadays.

So, if I steeped cracked base malt for 30 minutes at say, 66C, what's the difference between that an a mash? Yes, bugger all!

Where you need to be careful is in identifying which malts are actually base malts and whether those malts need to be mashed to convert their starches to fermentable sugars by alpha and beta amylase enzymes...

Vienna and Munich malts are base malts that need to be mashed. You can make a beer with 100% Vienna or Munich malt in your grainbill. That said, there are some types of Vienna and Munich malt that are low on diastatic power and often benefit from being mixed in with other base malts that have sufficient power to convert their own starches and the starches of the "weaker" vienna and munich malts. For example, Bairds Munich is a nice malt but I find it needs propping up with other base malts in order to ensure complete conversion. OTOH, Weyermann's munich is excellent base malt and readily converts without assistance making very good beer.

Victory, Aromatic and Biscuit malts are not base malts - they are usually used at 10 to 15% max additions to the grainbill and they are great colour, flavour and aroma additions - I love biscuit and aromatic malt in belgian dubbels and tripels! Biscuit malt is commonly used to add body to the beer - add dextrins to the beer which often results in a higher final gravity. As usual, debate rages over whether some of these grains need mashing.
I'll happily stand corrected... ...but I believe Victory, Biscuit and Belgian Aromatic malts need mashing especially since most varieties of Victory and Biscuit malt don't have sufficient enzymes to convert their own starches to sugars...and they're not crystal malts.
Hope this helps and not confuses you!

Cheers,
TL

[Pale_Ale]

This is an interesting topic...is there a resource which lists the different type of grains available, and which ones can be added as specialty grain with extract brews.

Torrified wheat has been an interesting one, where many people insist it has to be mashed but other have steeped it with success. It would be interesting to gain a better understanding of what can/can't be just steeped.

[gregb]

This is an interesting topic...is there a resource which lists the different type of grains available, and which ones can be added as specialty grain with extract brews.

Palmer. to the rescue again.

Cheers,
Greg

[Pale_Ale]

It's funny, no matter how many times I read through it I always forget about those really handy bits to refer to!

Great link, Cheers Greg

[Trough Lolly]

This is an interesting topic...is there a resource which lists the different type of grains available, and which ones can be added as specialty grain with extract brews.

Torrified wheat has been an interesting one, where many people insist it has to be mashed but other have steeped it with success. It would be interesting to gain a better understanding of what can/can't be just steeped.

Bodensatz Brewing has an interesting grains article: http://www.bodensatz.com/staticpages/index.php?page=Grains
As does this post by Al Korzonas: http://hbd.org/hbd/archive/1380.html#1380-4
Cheers,
TL

[mark_68]

Thanks for the enlightenment TL,that bit of info will help me understand some of the info i have been reading a lot better.I will forget the steeping business and upgrade to partial mashes once i have bought a new pot and a good thermometer,that should get me the flavour i'm after.