Difference between mashing and steeping

I don't understand the difference other than amount of grain used and possible time............is there a difference other than that? I've really been trying to read up on it but theres a lot of useless junk on the net to filter through.

It also has to do with the temperatures and the type of grain you are using.

In a nutshell:
Some grains need to be mashed at a certain temperature in order to convert the starches into fermentable sugars.
These are you base malts, what would be converted to an extract.

Other grains are only used for flavor/color/body character, and only need to be steeped, but if you are mashing you include these with the mashing grains.
These are your specialty grains.

edit: if you have Papazians Homebrew book, the chapter on advanced homebrewing really helped me to get my head around the concept.

As I understand it, some malted grains contain an enzyme that acts upon the starches in the grains, and converts the starches into fermentable sugars.To activate the enzyme, the grains have to be raised to a certain temperature immersed in water, I believe between 150 and ~160 degrees. Steeping grains do not contain this enzyme, so do not actually add any fermentable sugar to the wort, only colors and flavors. However, if you mix in enough of the grain that does have the enzyme, the other grains will have their starches converted as well.

So those base malts are like 2 row and such? and steeping grains are crystal malt roasted barley etc?

d510addict said:

So those base malts are like 2 row and such? and steeping grains are crystal malt roasted barley etc?

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Correct ...

Also if I wanted to add say flaked barley or flaked wheat for body and head retention could I steep those? I want to make graff and want a drink with more body but I've seen conflicting arguments on using grain like that with out mashing.

Yes, those can be steeped. There's a link around with a list of malts that need to be mashed.
I'll see if I can find it...

Here's a pretty good list of grains and such that let's you know if it's okay to steep or not:

http://beersmith.com/grain-list/

Keep in mind that there can be exceptions.

Zombie thread!

gcdowd said:

Zombie thread!

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Wow, I'm glad you wrote that! I was about to reply and tell that dude not to steep flaked grains, but he's probably already brewed like 50 beers since then or quit homebrewing altogether.