a little advice please

[jstringer1983]

So im very new to the brewing world and so far all my experience is with extract "kits" , as in coopers or black rock from a can. Im on batch 7, and for my 8th I would like to step up to a partial mash in preperation for all grain brewing. My confusion starts here: all the kits ive done are no boil kits. My understanding (which is none) is for partial mash you steep your grains during some sort of boiling process. Can I do partial mash with a canned kit?

 

[normonster]

Palmers How To Brew. Read it dude.

 

[jstringer1983]

I think most of what i am confused about is how to incorporate steeping into the process i already know so well (add the extract and fermentables to some warm water to dissolve, top up to 23 liters and pitch, yada yada). What I am trying to figure out is when and how to add the "wort" that i get from steeping into the mix. Do I just subtract the amount of water that im going to replace with my steeped solution and simply add it to the primary?

 

[Cyclman]

You can steep at 170, for 20-30 minutes, then boil it for 15-20 minutes, cool and add to your can as before. Grain is loaded with stuff you need to kill off in a boil, this has already been done for the extract in a can.

You could add hops for the boil time as well.

 

[jstringer1983]

Ok awesome, thats what i needed. I just didnt know how it fit in with brewing from a can and was over complicating things

 

[standpoint]

I wouldn't steep at 170, I recommend something a bit lower like 160-168. 20 to 30 minutes, then boil for 15-20. Whatever amount of liquid you have you would then add to the rest of the kit, and subtract that amount from the original recipe.

Read How to brew, though. It's free and online, too.

 

[jstringer1983]

I also realize now after further reading that partial mash was not the right term for describing what I was asking about lol. Youll have to excuse my noobness, my head is still spinning with all this new info that ive tried to cram into it in the last month

 

[flars]

Take a look at this recipe for an amber ale with steeping grains. This American amber ale is one of my, always on hand, year round favorites.

I remove the grain bag at 165°F, after one-half hour, just in case my thermometer is a little slow on recording the actual temperature. Tannins can be extracted from the grain husks at about 170° with water pH over approximately 6.6.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/documentation/beerkits/AmericanAmber.pdf

 

[jstringer1983]

How to brew is free online? Im all over it in that case. That recipe sounds good, im trying to stick to ales for now as I dont have temp control for lagers, so maybe ill try that one. Coincidentally, I just ordered 5oz of cascade hops and a few packs of yeast, US 05 being one of them. How do you think that would turn out with honey malt as the steeping grain and a coopers real ale can as the syrup?

 

[flars]

How to brew is free online? Im all over it in that case. That recipe sounds good, im trying to stick to ales for now as I dont have temp control for lagers, so maybe ill try that one. Coincidentally, I just ordered 5oz of cascade hops and a few packs of yeast, US 05 being one of them. How do you think that would turn out with honey malt as the steeping grain and a coopers real ale can as the syrup?

This is Palmers' old edition online. I think in this one he recommends the use of the secondary to get the beer off the yeast. Book was written when yeasts were not that good and could impart bad flavors.

Never used honey malt so I can't comment from experience. You might find these links interesting.
http://www.beertools.com/html/ingredients.php?view=grains
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Malts_Chart

 

[Col_klink]

+1 how to brew!

http://howtobrew.com/intro.html

 

[Col_klink]

My 100th post!!! Sorry had to do it

 

[ghohn]

What happens after 100 posts?

 

[ghohn]

Says the guy with now 90 posts?

 

[ong]

If you're going to be boiling and adding hops, I'd stop using the pre-hopped kits -- I don't think you're getting anything out of them, and you'll have a lot more control doing extract batches from recipes on HBT you like or ones you make up yourself.

 

[joshesmusica]

+1 to the above. find a beer you like. find an extract with steeping grains recipe that you like. brew that. be patient. enjoy! hopefully in that order.
i myself just got into the partial mash game. since i had been brewing i always did some kind of steeping grains (all the already designed kits my LHBS was putting together had them). i did a few of those kits, and after that decided to venture out into making my own recipes. you feel quite a sense of accomplishment, and you get better control over what you like to be in your beer! why not do it?
move on to something better than those "chef boyardee" kits!
of course i'm still in the half from scratch, half chef boyardee brewing method, so if you're an all-grainer and reading this, please don't half judge me! it just takes time to get the equipment, but eventually i'll be an all-grainer myself.

 

[jstringer1983]

Haha thanks for all the advice people, I am going to slowly wean myself off of the canned kits. But id rather just make the step to all grain so until I develop some more equipment and know how, canned it is. Im not really hopping the canned stuff other than some mild dry hop and the grain steeping is more just to hopefully add a slight improvement to the extract.