Which grains don’t need to be mashed?
Would an all grain brewer ever steep such grains or just mash them instead?
When I mash, I mash all the grain I’m using. Some have proposed and tested only steeping the darker grains in stouts and porters, but it seems that is unnecessary if you maintain proper pH in your mash
I know brewers who do not include some specialty malts in the main mash, but I have always included everything in the main mash unless I a doing a double mash with a cereal cooker.
I mash all my grains together and adjust pH accordingly using Bru’nwater. Easy peasy.
sometimes- you can remove a portion of your roast grains and cold steep them (requires more of the roast grain vs mashed…1.5-2 times more). sometimes for a really dark beer with a bunch of roast in there, cold steep of the roast grains is preferred by some brewers. it produces a milder roast contribution that can be less harsh. try it both ways sometime on a recipe and see which you prefer…there are differences and its a matter of preference.
The only grain you should be careful about mashing is acid malt. Some people use acid malt for the purposes of adding acid to the wort. Too much acid malt can negatively affect mash conversion. If you are using acid malt for mash ph adjustment then that’s fine but if you are adding a large amount to make a sour beer then I would consider adding it during sparging or even steep it separately and add it in the kettle.
Of course, I think that whole process would be a lot easier by just using lactic acid and skipping paying the premium for acid malt…
When I’m making a low gravity stout I want a lot of color, and a nice roast character without the ashy acridness I get when I mash the dark grains. Even when I carefully control pH in the mash I still get that burnt dark roast coffee character that is just not nice to me. By cold steeping and only adding the steep liquor to the boil kettle I avoid that.
in every other case I mash all the grains together. Why run two separate processes side by side when you can do it all together.
I can only think of two times that I didn’t mash all grains together.
The first was a German ale where I needed to use a bit more roasted malt than I wanted in order to achieve a certain color. In this case I held back on adding the roasted malt until Vorlauf.
The second was acidulated malt for a hefeweizen – In order to maintain a higher mash pH for a ferulic acid rest I held back on the acid malt until the next temp infusion.
In all other cases, stouts, porters, etc., I tend to add all grains to the mash.
Depends on recipe but most roasted malts don’t technically need to be mashed but should be added at some point to impart their flavor, color, and aroma. To answer your second question those malts could use a short steep 20-30 min around 150 then add that liquid to the rest of your wort.
For simplicity we usually just mash everything together or as suggested just add some specialty grains at the vorlof stage.