Pages: 1
Steeping & partial boil question
I have a clone recipe I'm doing tomorrow and there are 2 minor concerns I was wondering about.
It basically asks to steep the grains in 1 gallon (at 155º for 30mins) and then to top up to 2.5 gallons of water for the partial boil.
This is my first non-kit recipe, and the kits and other recipes I've read always seem to call for a 3 gallon boil and to steep in that entire amount.
Does it sound ok to follow those instructions?
Thanks!
MGP wrote:
I have a clone recipe I'm doing tomorrow and there are 2 minor concerns I was wondering about.
It basically asks to steep the grains in 1 gallon (at 155º for 30mins) and then to top up to 2.5 gallons of water for the partial boil.
This is my first non-kit recipe, and the kits and other recipes I've read always seem to call for a 3 gallon boil and to steep in that entire amount.
Does it sound ok to follow those instructions?
Thanks!
it's fine to do as they say. if the recipe is for 5 gallons you'll just top it off with more water in the fermenter.
DC
Most of the partial boils I do are two gallon boils. The reason a lot of kits call for 3 gal boils is because the more concentrated the wort you are boiling, the less bitterness you get out of the hops, which you can compensate for by adding more hops, or adding half the extract late in the boil (say, with 20 min left). But this recipe that you are doing is meant for a 2.5 gallon boil, so just go with it.
I've never heard of steeping the specialty grains right through the boil, that sounds like it would cause the grains to take more of the extract out with them than add when you steep initailly. I'd, even with the kits, steep the grains, then pull them out and start the boil with extract...but that's just me...
Good luck today.
sewer_urchen wrote:
Most of the partial boils I do are two gallon boils. The reason a lot of kits call for 3 gal boils is because the more concentrated the wort you are boiling, the less bitterness you get out of the hops, which you can compensate for by adding more hops, or adding half the extract late in the boil (say, with 20 min left). But this recipe that you are doing is meant for a 2.5 gallon boil, so just go with it.
I've never heard of steeping the specialty grains right through the boil, that sounds like it would cause the grains to take more of the extract out with them than add when you steep initailly. I'd, even with the kits, steep the grains, then pull them out and start the boil with extract...but that's just me...
Good luck today.
I think he meant the kits called for steeping in the full 3 gallons, while the recipe he has now calls for steeping in one gallon, then adding more before boiling and adding the extract. so the grains were always getting pulled out before boiling.
when I did extract, I always steeped the grains in the entire amount of water I was going to boil, but I have heard people claim it is better to steep in a smaller amount of water, about 1 gallon. I can't remember the reason for this, but I would have to think it would be ok to do if the recipe calls for it.
i think he meant the boil is for 2 gallons while he had always done 3 gallon boils. that's the way i read it anyway.
Steeping should not be done during the boil at all. steep at temp advised for 30 to 60 minutes or put grains in cold water and when water reaches near boiling temp take the grains out. the small amount of grains used in kits won't make that big a difference done either way.
DC
Hogarthe wrote:
I think he meant the kits called for steeping in the full 3 gallons, while the recipe he has now calls for steeping in one gallon, then adding more before boiling and adding the extract. so the grains were always getting pulled out before boiling.
when I did extract, I always steeped the grains in the entire amount of water I was going to boil, but I have heard people claim it is better to steep in a smaller amount of water, about 1 gallon. I can't remember the reason for this, but I would have to think it would be ok to do if the recipe calls for it.
That's exactly it - you still remove the grains after 30 mins of steeping...it's just that you do it in 1 gallon, then add water to 2.5G and boil and add extract, etc.
Thanks everyone for looking out for the new guys! I guess I'll follow the recipe and see what happens... 
Curious - after steeping, we added to get to 3G (for more hop action, as you guys noted) and brought to a boil.
Killed it and added the extract.
At this point, we turned the heat back on and started the countdown of 60 minutes for the boil, but the wort wasn't actually back to a rolling boil until about 10 minutes after the heat was kicked back on.
Should I add those 10 minutes back on to my time to get to 60 total minutes of boiling, or is it ok?
You don't start the time until you actually get to a boil. Hence why its a 60 minute boil. Turn the heat on, when the boil starts you start your 60 minutes. It might take 20 minutes to get to the boil, hence the pot and heat are on for 80 minutes.
^ Thank you - I did end up adding the time back on to get the full 60. I guess you have to go through all these little trials before you can really start kicking ass without having to think about it.
Pages: 1
Search Home Brewing Knowledge Base
Custom Search
|