Boiling Grain

[hazz20]

Hey all, do you need to boil your grain first then boil your hops or can you chuck the hops in at the start of the grain boil? I'm just doing kits with bits at the moment, about 200g of crystal, 20 min hop boil.
Cheers,

Hazz

 

[Adamt]

Don't boil your grain; steep it in hot water, strain it and boil the liquid!

 

[Bribie G]

Boiling grains such as crystal malt is like boiling tea leaves to make tea, you end up with bitter tannin tastes from the husk that you don't really want. Grains such as crystal have actually been 'mashed in the husk' to produce soluble sugars that can be washed out by simply steeping in hot, not boiling, water.

If you are boiling hops in the steepings, use plenty of water when steeping, for example a litre, and when adding the hops to the boil many brewers suggest adding some extra sugars as well (for example a couple of dessert spoons of the goop from the kit) because apparently this can improve the extraction of the flavours and aromas of the hops.

 

[brilinjo]

My Brewcraft LHBS "expert" advised me to boil crystal for 20 mins. It didn't sound right to me, so I used the same principal as the TCB wetpack I brewed a few weeks ago, and steeped in 65C water, rinsed and added 5 mins before end of boil.

 

[bradsbrew]

My Brewcraft LHBS "expert" advised me to boil crystal for 20 mins. It didn't sound right to me, so I used the same principal as the TCB wetpack I brewed a few weeks ago, and steeped in 65C water, rinsed and added 5 mins before end of boil.

I would give your steeping extract at least 20min boil. Not the grain.

 

[Adamt]

Yep, he's an expert, listen to him!

 

[brilinjo]

too late

 

[buttersd70]

My Brewcraft LHBS "expert" advised me to boil crystal for 20 mins. It didn't sound right to me, so I used the same principal as the TCB wetpack I brewed a few weeks ago, and steeped in 65C water, rinsed and added 5 mins before end of boil.

whilst it could have had a longer boil as has been stated, IMHO what you did was better than what you were advised. So don't stress it, its fine. Swap 5 minutes for 15 minutes, and what you did is perfic.

 

[King Brown]

Something I've read about (and will try in for one of my planned brews coming up which will use specialty grains) is to put the grains in a mesh bag (a stocking will do, providing it is dye free) put them in the saucepan with the water and remove them just before the water reaches boiling point. Haven't tried it yet, but sounds worth a go

 

[buttersd70]

Something I've read about (and will try in for one of my planned brews coming up which will use specialty grains) is to put the grains in a mesh bag (a stocking will do, providing it is dye free) put them in the saucepan with the water and remove them just before the water reaches boiling point. Haven't tried it yet, but sounds worth a go

There are several ways to do the grain steep, and this is one of them. I find it works particularly well, and a lot of people like it cos it's no mess, no fuss. James from basicbrewing is a fan of doing it this way. Start from cold, put on the heat, and remove the grain when the temp hits mid 70's, then just bring to the boil and go from there.

 

[katzke]

There are several ways to do the grain steep, and this is one of them. I find it works particularly well, and a lot of people like it cos it's no mess, no fuss. James from basicbrewing is a fan of doing it this way. Start from cold, put on the heat, and remove the grain when the temp hits mid 70's, then just bring to the boil and go from there.

Just a note.

Make sure the bag is big enough to let the grain swim around. You do not want a tight ball of grain or it will be hard to get the goodness you want out of the mess.

 

[Pollux]

I used one of those mini drink coolers....

i.e this

I have a 2L one that never gets used anyways...So I prewarmed it with 70deg water, then chucked in roughly 1L of 68-70deg water, cut the leg off a stocking and lower that in, leaving some over the top to hold it in place. Then I just chucked the grains in, dunked the stocking like a teabag, put the lid on and left it for 30mins, although I did spend the last 10 giving the whole thing a swirl on the bench, just to ensure everything got wet....

Then I lifted the stocking, tied it off and sat it on a sieve over the boilpot, poured the first runnings around it and then gave it a rinse which some hot water (mine is 55deg from the tap) while I was filling the pot to boil volume.

Worked for me.

 

[Gavo]

I Steep my specialty grain in a saucepan and then strain and sparge though a strainer from the two dollar shop. Works a treat. I can do up to 500 grams with this strainer.

 

[raven19]

I Steep my specialty grain in a saucepan and then strain and sparge though a strainer from the two dollar shop. Works a treat. I can do up to 500 grams with this strainer.

+1 for Strainer. I have one purchased from Woolies that fits nicely into the fermenter opening without dropping in, plus it straddles my larger pot nicely too...

I have recently used a smaller pot for steeping then liquid via strainer into larger pot to boil with other ingredients (nut brown ale).

Cant wait till bottle conditioning is done as it tasted very nice when I bottled it a few weeks ago...

 

[staggalee]

18-24 hour cold steep for me.
Works good.

staggalee.

 

[dbod]

18-24 hour cold steep for me.
Works good.

staggalee.

Wish I'd read this one before I boiled my Crystal Grain for 20 minutes along with some Goldings Hops. Whoops. Hopefully the bitterness will drown out any tannin flavours.

Next time will just steep in hot water, everything I'd read told me to boil them but I trust you lot more. :icon_cheers:

 

[buttersd70]

but I trust you lot more. :icon_cheers:

Trusting Stagga? Theres a worry! :lol: :lol:
(sorry mate, couldn't resist.)

Seriously though, there must be at least half a dozen different techniques for (correctly) doing a steep. I reckon I've probably tried most of them, and I really can't pick any one method over another as being superior. It's one of those marvelous things about brewing....many roads, same destination.

 

[hazz20]

Ok, so to clarify, bring water to 65-70 degrees, add grain, take off heat, cover for 20-25 minutes, strain grain or remove bag, then boil hops as per the schedule.
Sound alright?

Hazz

 

[buttersd70]

Ok, so to clarify, bring water to 65-70 degrees, add grain, take off heat, cover for 20-25 minutes, strain grain or remove bag, then boil hops as per the schedule.
Sound alright?

Hazz

Yep. You could add 'rinse grain with 70ish C water' before the boil if you wanted to, or change the time, or whatever. Steeping grain is actually a very forgiving process. As long as a/the grain is not brought over 78C whilst the husks are present; and b/the resulting liquor is boiled to kill the bugs that are inevitably on the grain; the rest of it is really a matter of courses for horses.

 

[BOG]

Everyone else seems to be getting an answer in ... so...

Get a saucepan and fill with a few litres of water and bring to boil on the stove. Turn off the stove and wait 5 - 10 minutes.
pour grains into the saucepan and wait , do something else for a while about 30 minutes or so.

Pour warm grains into a boil pot, if you doing a partial, or fermentor, if your doing a Kit , via a large vegetable strainer. As earlier in the thread.

Done.

Oh. put spent grains in the compost bin..

Now done.



BOG