Country Brewer Cracked Munich Grain

[RobH]

A few weeks ago I bought a few cracked grains from CB. At the time I had the newb assumption that as they where all cracked that they where ready for steeping, after all the pack does say something along the lines of "... for use in conjunction with your favourite kits..." - however after reading a bit about the difference between grains for steeping and ones for mashing, and the types of grains that are typically steeping grains and ones that are typically mashing grains I am now wondering if the cracked Munich grain that I bought is going to require mashing in order to extract any sugars from it.

Is there somebody here who is familiar with the Country Brewer grains & knows how this particular grain has been prepared & if it requires mashing?

Thanks.

 

[Flash_DG]

I'd say they need to be Mashed.
But to check I'd give them a call and ask.

 

[Gout]

I have no idea about what the grain is you have however there is

munich malt (needs mash) and cara-munich etc etc being crystal and hence doesnt need to be mashed

you could eat some, if its sweet its cara, or put a small amount in water, cara will be much darker than munich malt. one being sweet and the other being cloudy.

I havnt done this before so i am not sure how easy it will be to tell whats what.

However i think the best option is give them a quick call and they will set your mind at rest rather quickly

 

[manticle]

A few weeks ago I bought a few cracked grains from CB. At the time I had the newb assumption that as they where all cracked that they where ready for steeping, after all the pack does say something along the lines of "... for use in conjunction with your favourite kits..." - however after reading a bit about the difference between grains for steeping and ones for mashing, and the types of grains that are typically steeping grains and ones that are typically mashing grains I am now wondering if the cracked Munich grain that I bought is going to require mashing in order to extract any sugars from it.

Is there somebody here who is familiar with the Country Brewer grains & knows how this particular grain has been prepared & if it requires mashing?

Thanks.

Munich is a base malt and needs to be mashed. If this is cara-munich, it's been badly labelled

If it's just a small amount you're adding in (few hundred grams) and you can hold your water temp between 60 and 70 for at least 20 minutes it will probably be ok either way. Try and maintain an even temp upwards of 62 if you can but I wouldn't stress too much.

 

[RobH]

Thanks manticle - I'll give that a shot and see what result I get ... sort of like a mini-mash then I suppose

 

[manticle]

I think it's best to try and steep like that anyway as it's just good practice for later.

If you have to make your whole beer from base malt then temp is pretty crucial (potentially down to the degree mark) but when it's an addition, as long as you're not just throwing a whole lot of starch in there, you have a bit more leeway.

 

[Flash_DG]

I think it's best to try and steep like that anyway as it's just good practice for later.

If you have to make your whole beer from base malt then temp is pretty crucial (potentially down to the degree mark) but when it's an addition, as long as you're not just thoring a whole lot of starch in there, you have a bit more leeway.

yes it is good practice and a great way to see what the equipment you have is capable of.

I learnt alot steeping the grains for my Porter, that also had Biscuit malt that needed to be mashed.

 

[Beer&Kebab]

What you have there is a base malt. It needs to be mashed. I have been critical of TCB's instructions on their grains whether they should be steeped or mashed. The instructions tell you to steep all grains in boiling water for 10-20 mins and then rinse with water and dump straight into the fermenter. That is wrong on so many levels.

 

[Barry]

Mashing is just steeping in the 60's degree range for 20 mins or longer. If it is Munich it will convert. If it is caramunich you will get the sugars out of it. A full mash often has crystal malts as well as the base malts in it and they are treated the same way. Hope this helps.