cold steeping

I have plans to brew a porter next weekend with roasted barley, crystal 40&80L, and chocolate malts.
Would it be better to cold steep the dark grains, or is this not really necessary? Anything else I should do? I think my bicarbonate is pretty high.

My water profile:

Sodium, Na 33
Calcium, Ca 63
Magnesium, Mg 7.1
Sulfate, SO4 52
Chloride, Cl 46
Bicarbonate, HCO3 181
pH 8

I’d just put them in with the other grains.

If your doing a porter I don’t think there is a need for cold steeping. Personally, I would use that method for something with a subdued roasted character.

Well, porter, it’s actually an Everett “porter” clone with about 6.5% roasted barley. Still no cold steeping then? How about adding at the end of the boil?

Um, start by asking yourself what you;re trying to accomplish.  What’s the reason for cold steeping or adding late?

Because Gordon says so? ? ? [emoji14]

I’d need a better reason than that myself…

+1. It all starts with what your intentions are. I prefer adding them at the end of the mash during the vaurlof. I’ve also cold steeped. BUT, I like my stouts/porters a little smoother and with less roasted bitterness. If you are looking for that full roast flavor/character, then yeah…you’ll probably want to add them in the beginning.

You can also take the harsh edge off of the darker grains by mashing everything together and raising your mash pH to 5.5-5.6.

+1 i recently dropped sulfate and chloride to black balanced levels or under, and PH 5.5ish on my porter.

cant tell you how much better it turned out vs any cold steep i did or otherwise.

Yeah, that’s the other key too -  keeping the sulfate in moderation and balanced.

Just thinking of the relatively high alkalinity of my water.

That’s my preferred method.  The only reason I see to steep or mash separately is if you can’t control pH through another method.

That’s what Gordon says: if you don’t want to mess with the alkalinity, cold steep. Or at least that’s what I seem to recall from the book. But now that I have a good quality pH meter…

There was a Basic Brewing podcast that dealt with hot steeping vs mashing vs cold steeping the grains.  Cold steeping was the least favorite in the taste test, too subdued I think.  Hot steeping and mashing were close but I think hot steeping actually won the taste test.  That said I think it was a whopping total of 3 or so testers. 
I just throw everything in the mash and adjust pH as needed.  My last porter I was able to use my high bicarbonate tapwater. Brunwater gets me very close, if not dead on.

and depending on your water alkalinity, the acidic from roast may get you pretty close to target PH. from there, just adjust with lactic or other.

I guess I’ll have to conquer my fear of Bru’n Water then  :stuck_out_tongue:

With a question on the “bru’n water alkalinity” thread.