Steeping Confusion

[adam]

i have been brewing for 3 years now and have used this site and the grumpsters probably 1000 times - but i rarely post because usually i am just happy to read about the how's and why's
but last weekend i bought a chest freezer and rigged up a thermostat (wiring info from this site of course!) and am now brewing an esb 3kg german lager with 34/70 yeast.
on sunday i will be putting down an esb 3kg pilsner but this time i wanted to add some grain for some "freshness" (as palmer puts it) to the brew.
i use a home brew shop on the south side of brisbane and even though the owner is a great bloke who always poors me a beer when i walk into the shop! - he generally makes k&k style beers.
today i told him i wanted to add some grain flavour to my brew and he sold me about 150g of pilsner malt that he cracked in front of me (smells beautiful!) and said to bring some water to the boil and remove the heat and put the grain in for about 20 minutes then strain, add the malted water to the brew and continue as usual.

well, i am a bit confused as he did call it pilsner malt and from what i can gather from various searches is that you can only steep crystal malts.

so my questions are; would it be a waste of time steeping this malt and are his steeping directions OK.

thanks

adam

 

[Guest Lurker]

well, i am a bit confused as he did call it pilsner malt and from what i can gather from various searches is that you can only steep crystal malts.

so my questions are; would it be a waste of time steeping this malt and are his steeping directions OK.

thanks

adam

[post="49688"][/post]​

Your searching skills are right and your HBS guy is wrong.

Pilsner malt needs to be mashed not steeped, so it would only work if held at 66 degrees or so, rather than brought to boiling temp.

It also doesnt have much flavour, so 150 g mashed would make no difference to the taste.

For a light coloured beer like pilsner there isnt much scope to add extra flavour using grains that can be steeped. But you could add extra hops if you like hoppy flavours.

 

[Weizguy]

my tuppenny worth...

Maybe the HBS dude is hoping to extract some grain flavour (and prob some tannins) from the pale grain at that temp, rather than malt and malt flavour. Certainly ain't gonna extract much sugar and could get starch haze too.

Seth :beer:

 

[GMK]

150gms of pilsner willnot doo much at all.

Try this...
use the pilsner malt (my pref is 500 at least)
200 Munich
100 vienna
50 Carahell
25 Malanoidan

Mash at 66 in 3 ltrs of water for 30-45 mins
pour into a stock pot 20ltr and wash the grains with anaother 7 ltrs of water = 10 ltrs for the boil - boil for 30mins.
will need to add some hops -
Northern brewer for bittering around 25gms
then 15gms of Hallertae with 8mins to go and then 15gms with 3 mins to go.

Then pitch the yeast - but rehydrate the yeast first in luke warm water - but add teh dry yeast to the water.

Hope this helps u out...

 

[Ross]

Adam,

Which store on the Southside??

 

[Mothballs]

Adam,
is it possible that the grain you got from the hbs was carapils? There are differing opinions as to whether this can be just steeped or needs to be mashed. I beleive that John Palmer states that it needs to be mashed but I have also read on the net that aussie malts are more modified and that steeping is ok. FWIW I steep about 150-200g of this with kit beers to aid head retention and I find it adds a certain malty sweetness to the beer.

:beer:
Mothballs

 

[Jovial_Monk]

I think Mothballs has the right of it.

As to the steepability of carapils, some is some isn't!

And I suggest never heating steeping grains beyond 65C. I tasted a beer made with grains steeped in 80C water and it definitely was astringent. I suggest not sparging the steeping grains either.

Jovial Monk

 

[adam]

thanks guys for your quick and informative replies!