Steeping In Spirit

[DangerousDave]

some guy i was talking to today said he used to brew beer and mentioned something about steeping grains in spirits like vodka

has anyone heard of this if so, why? what benefit does it have?

 

[Dave70]

I know you can extract a tincture from herbs or plant material by soaking it in spirit, that Pure Polish stuff you can get at Dan Murphys (runs at about 79%ABV) does the job nicely.
Don't know why you'd want to steep grains in it though. Wasn't talking about coffee beans was he?

 

[bum]

Don't know why you'd want to steep grains in it though.

I expect it works better than turbo yeast...

 

[Dave70]

I expect it works better than turbo yeast...

Shhhh..

 

[Muggus]

some guy i was talking to today said he used to brew beer and mentioned something about steeping grains in spirits like vodka

has anyone heard of this if so, why? what benefit does it have?

Interesting theory...

Was it in regard to making beer, or making spirits?

People soak things like oak chips and delicate herbs (like basil), in spirit before adding them to beer to sterilise them to a degree.

And other folk, soak oak chips (and other stuff) in vodka to make flavoured vodka/imitation whiskey/etc. Which takes time.

You trying to make grain flavour vodka!? :blink:

 

[bum]

If the bloke does it for the reasons I suspect he'll either be boiling the extra alcohol off anyway when boiling the grain liquor or by not boiling he'll be increasing the risk of infections and pitching his yeast into alcohol which I'm guessing wouldn't be ideal for healthy growth (if only my mother had been told the same, well no one can say I didn't have a fun childhood!).

[EDIT: deleted mis-quote]

 

[MarkBastard]

mmm a bit of carafa special in some vodka you reckon

 

[stillscottish]

When I saw the thread title all I thought was, "Story of my life" <_<

 

[DangerousDave]

i was at a job and was talkin to this geaser and the subject got onto brewing beer, i told him im only at the steeping grain stage and he said 'yeah i used to do that in vodka is that what you do' i said no in water and before i could really grill him i got called off

i tried searching pretty extensively but all i could find were references to spirit making. as this is illegal in this state i promptly left the site

cheers fellas if the good people of AHB dont know about it im calling shenanigans