TOPIC:

I'm a little confused as to the process of Extract compared to All Grain brewing.

In this guide you're steeping grains, is that not All Grain brewing? Or some type of hybrid brewing between the two?

I thought Extract Brewing was just Brewing using DME or LME?

Steeping grains gives you an extra dimension of flavour. So if you want a caramelly strong ale or a roasty stout, steeping grains is how you achieve it.

It's not all grain because you're not really getting much fermentable sugar out of the grains, it's mostly just for flavour.

Ah so it doesn't add anything fermentable?

So is this used that much with the All Grain Method? And if you're looking on line for recipes how do you know which grains are for steeping?

"Atticus":pfmbzu94 wrote: Ah so it's doesn't add anything fermentable?[/quote:pfmbzu94]A bit, I think, depending on what you're steeping. Roast barley, for instance, is unfermentable.

&amp;quot;Atticus&amp;quot;:pfmbzu94 wrote: if you're looking on line for recipes how do you know which grains are for steeping?[/quote:pfmbzu94]Any grains in an extract recipe will be for steeping or mini-mashing. As to which is which, I don't know. I plan to ask here on a grain-by-grain basis <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_smile.gif" alt="" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) -->

As a general rule of thumb, anything that has been malted and then roasted or kilned in such a way to produce caramel/cara/crystal malt of some sort has the sugars ready to go, so only require steeping to release them. These are the types that are generally used as speciality grains in an extract brew, adding character and fermentables to the beer.

For base malts, like pilsener, pale ale, whet etc, these require mashing and are usually what is used in all-grain brewing instead of DME, for example. They can be used in primarily extact brewing, but would require a mini-mash to convert them.

In all grain, everything gets mashed, regardless.

If you use any brewing software, the details of grains will often indicate whether mashing is required, but the rule of thumb I mentioned above is a good general guide.

That's my simple explanation <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_smile.gif" alt="" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) -->

Palmer includes a guide on what can steeped, mashed or both.

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