Licqour From Steepings

[Pennywise]

I was getting my steeping done the other day and fell short of time to actually get the brew done, so I strained the grains and kept the licquor in the fridge till the next day when I had the time to brew. I have often done this without problems, but it got me thinking of how long would it last in the fridge? Would it get stale? I don't intend to keep any grain licquor in the fridge for extended periods of time. Just pondering really.

Cheers, HB79

 

[drsmurto]

You can cold steep overnight without any issues. I use to do that a bit in my kits and bits days.

Strain the next day and boil the liquor as usual.

 

[raven19]

Not boiling the wort straight away will lead to an increased chance of infection, however with proper sanitation, etc, the chance would be reduced.

But airborn baddies are everywhere, hence there is always that chance...

My 2c.

 

[Batz]

Not boiling the wort straight away will lead to an increased chance of infection, however with proper sanitation, etc, the chance would be reduced.

But airborn baddies are everywhere, hence there is always that chance...

My 2c.

But when you do boil the wort the baddies will die


Batz

 

[Pennywise]

Yeah I know boiling has to be done just before brew time, but i'm wondering if say I steeped on Monday, left the licquor in the fridge till say, Friday, then boiled and added to wort. Would there be any ill effects?



Cheers, HB79

 

[reviled]

Oxidisation would be the only thing to make it "stale" wouldnt it? And doesnt boiling the wort drive off all the oxygen?

So I dont see there being a problem, may pay to have it sealed tho?

 

[raven19]

Can you steep on the Thursday instead?

Only one way to really find out! Chilling the wort would reduce speed of any possible infection, id say go for it and see what happens, in light of other comments herein also.

You shall learn from it either way, and beer shall be made... win/win in my book.

Cheers.

 

[brettprevans]

mate doing it the night before is fine. if im short on time i do my grain first then leave it out overnight (not even refridgerated) the the next night add fermentables do my boil and im away. no worries what so ever. in fact that is exactly what i did last night (the grain portion that is, rest is tonight's job).

the great thing about the grain liquor is because of the sugars etc in it it is way better for boiling/adding hops to as you get better utilisation than if you used plain water. and its great for desolving malt extract in.

 

[Pennywise]

Can you steep on the Thursday instead?

Only one way to really find out! Chilling the wort would reduce speed of any possible infection, id say go for it and see what happens, in light of other comments herein also.

You shall learn from it either way, and beer shall be made... win/win in my book.

Cheers.

mate doing it the night before is fine. if im short on time i do my grain first then leave it out overnight (not even refridgerated) the the next night add fermentables do my boil and im away. no worries what so ever. in fact that is exactly what i did last night (the grain portion that is, rest is tonight's job).

the great thing about the grain liquor is because of the sugars etc in it it is way better for boiling/adding hops to as you get better utilisation than if you used plain water. and its great for desolving malt extract in.

Steeping the day before or on the day is no prob. As said in my OP, I don't intend to keep the licquor for that long in the fridge, it was just something I was wondering and thought i'd ask the question. I may just do a test batch of 10 or so litres and see how it goes, all I need now is a spare fermenter. Any ideas as to which grain would be the most ideal to pick any floors if it does go pair shaped?

 

[raven19]

As I understand, a dark ale/porter with fuller complex falvours will 'hide' some unwanted tastes (if you have any - unlikely from posts herein thus far), hence I would say something at the other end of the scale if you were hoping to taste any ill-effects. Maybe a lager, or similar?

It certainly sonds like you shall be fine based on comments from DrS & CM2.

I look forward to eharing how it goes. I also also help taste samples if need be :lol:

Cheers.

 

[brettprevans]

so long as you give it a full boil, even a week should be ok. if you do a 30min boil then all the nasties will die.

As Raven said, go for lighter grains as they show up any faults more easily. carapils, light crystal, etc.

EDIT: Just note that I was menaing to strain the grain out of the liquor before you leave it for a week. less chance of things growing or the grain devleoping any off characteristics

 

[kevo]

The only issue with the baddies dying when they are boiled is that some of them may have already contributed some flavours to your liquor.

So no matter how many baddies you kill by boiling, the damage may already be done.

I wpuldn't be too concerned myself, the amount that these steepings contribute to a brew is often minimal and it's often colour you're extracting.

Kev

 

[mynameisrodney]

I went to brew a batch of beer last night, put my spec grains in some water to steep, then realised I didn't have the hops i needed. So i strained it into a container and left it until now (i now have the hops). Overnight it has separated a fair bit. Previously i have just poured all the liquid from my steepings into the pot, but in this case should i leave the sludgy looking stuff down the bottom behind?

Cheers
Chris

 

[mesa]

You might be interested in some sour mashing techniques described at at BYO. Basically I would count on there being bugs present after the steep. Depending on temperature I would expect them to modify the flavour of the liquor from a little to a lot. Depending on the variety of bug and your personal taste this may or may not be a good thing. The bugs will die during boil, its just a question of what flavours will you get from a week in the fridge and will you like them.

 

[mika]

I'm with Mesa.
Jamil has mentioned on one of his shows about mash spoilage bacteria and how it wasn't a good idea to mash overnight or for an extended period. No further clarification was offered and I know there are plenty of people on here who've over nigth mashed, but it's not something I'm comfortable with.

 

[raven19]

I went to brew a batch of beer last night, put my spec grains in some water to steep, then realised I didn't have the hops i needed. So i strained it into a container and left it until now (i now have the hops). Overnight it has separated a fair bit. Previously i have just poured all the liquid from my steepings into the pot, but in this case should i leave the sludgy looking stuff down the bottom behind?



Cheers
Chris

I would leave the sludge behind personally, the flavour and any sugars would be primarily in the wort liquid on top. But if its getting boiled up as pert of your brew, I would throw the lot in.

Or... You could stir it all up again, then allow to settle for say 30mins, then drain off the wort ontop and ditch the rest.

The above may also be dependant on if you rack when bottling or kegging, to help reduce sediment, etc.

Bottomline, if you boil it, whirpool, I would hope most of this would settle out and not make its way into your fermenter.

Hope ive been of help in my ramblings...

Edit: Normally the sediment in your sample would be filtered out by the grain bed in a full mash. Ramble end.

Cheers.

 

[brettprevans]

rodney id chuck yours as it looks blue!

dont know where you got that sludge from if you strained your grain liquor. I strain mine once and then it goes into the fermentor. as your is only grain liquor it cant be hot or cold break. so im not sure what the hell it is. I suppose it could be 'flour' from the finely cracked grains, in which case you dont need it and biff it. or to be on the safe side, heat it all back and and once boiled, strain it again. that way you know all the sugars are desolved in the hot wort.

 

[mynameisrodney]

haha yeah it's a dodgy phone pic.

Thanks for the advice guys. I ended up chucking the sludgy stuff out on the plants.

Cheers
Chris