frankvw
Well-Known Member
After having had several bad results (strong tannin flavors and harsh bitterness) with steeping grains in our local tap water, I've tried to steep in wort instead. While I'm now not getting any tannin flavors and nasty bitter notes anymore, I'm also not getting a decent extraction efficiency. I've steeped 500 grams (a pound and a bit for those who use Church-of-England measurements) of specialty grains in 6 liters of wort at normal mashing temperatures (around 65C / 150F). According to Palmer's grain steeping table I should have gotten up to 10 gravity points of it, but I've gotten 2 at best.
For a variety of reasons I am using uncorrected tap water and the gravity of my steeping wort is about 1.027. Palmer recommends 1.020 and states that steeping in wort means a small reduction in extraction but not enough to matter.
So I'm curious what other brewers' experiences are with steeping grains in wort rather than water. Does it significantly improve the flavor of the beer and how does it affect your steeping extraction efficiency?
For a variety of reasons I am using uncorrected tap water and the gravity of my steeping wort is about 1.027. Palmer recommends 1.020 and states that steeping in wort means a small reduction in extraction but not enough to matter.
So I'm curious what other brewers' experiences are with steeping grains in wort rather than water. Does it significantly improve the flavor of the beer and how does it affect your steeping extraction efficiency?