Skip to main content

Which Grains Can Be Steeped? Which Need Mashing?

For beginning brewers, it can sometimes be hard to tell whether a given grain requires mashing or whether it can be simply steeped in water of the appropriate temperature.  Mashing is necessary when the grain doesn't contain sufficient enzymes to convert its starch into sugars yeast can consume.  Steeping those grains without exposing them to the necessary enzymes will contribute starchy flavors to the finished beer and will reduce the alcohol content.

The lists below have been compiled from sources believed to be reliable, and tell you which grains must be mashed in order to convert their starches, and which can be steeped or mashed.  Long steeping periods (45-60 minutes) can often achieve the effect of a mash provided that grains included in the steeping contain the necessary enzymes.

Corrections and additions are welcomed.  Please note them in the comments.

Base Malts and Other Grains (must be mashed):

  • American two-row
  • American six-row
  • British Pale Ale
  • Continental Pilsener
  • Fawcett Pearl
  • Flaked Barley
  • Flaked Corn
  • Flaked Rice
  • Flaked Rye
  • Flaked Wheat
  • Golden Promise
  • Kolsch
  • Lager
  • Maris Otter
  • Midnight Wheat
  • Oat Hulls (don't require mashing but are used in mashing to prevent a stuck mash)
  • Oatmeal (cook according to the package but with extra water, then mash)
  • Optic
  • Pale Ale
  • Pilsener
  • Rice Hulls (don't require mashing but are used in mashing to prevent a stuck mash)
  • Rye
  • Torrified Wheat
  • Wheat

Kilned Malts (should be mashed, but may be steeped):

  • Aromatic
  • Biscuit
  • Brown
  • CaraPils (Dextrin malt)
  • Dark Munich
  • German Beechwood Smoked
  • Light Munich

  • Melanoidin
  • Munich
  • Special Roast
  • Victory
  • Vienna
Roasted Malts (can be steeped or mashed):

  • Black
  • Black Barley
  • Black Patent
  • Carafa Special
  • Caramel
  • CaraMunich
  • CaraVienne
  • Chocolate
  • Coffee Malt
  • Crystal
  • Honey
  • Light Roasted Barley
  • Meussdoerffer Rost

  • Pale chocolate
  • Roasted Barley
  • Special B

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Note that comments to this blog are moderated in order to minimize spam comments and things that might be offensive to readers.

Popular posts from this blog

Yellow Label Angel Yeast vs. Typical Brewing Yeast

I currently have my second batch of rice wine fermenting with the "magical" yellow-label Angel Yeast from China, and wanted to share some of the more unusual aspects of using it.  If you've never seen or used this yeast, I suspect you're not alone.  It ships in a 500 gram package that looks like this: What makes it "yellow label" is that yellow box you see in the upper left corner of the package.  This implies that it's yeast for distilling (though you do not need to have a still or distill the output to use it).  As I understand it, inside the package is a mix of yeast and other materials which will convert starch into sugar and directly ferment it, without the need for a traditional mash step.  This can radically shorten your brewing time.  For my most-recent batch of rice wine, I heated 3 gallons of water to 155F, poured it over 13+ pounds of uncooked rice straight out of the bag, let that soak for an hour, rehydrated some of this yeast in warm water,
Post a Comment
Read more

2021 Batch 1 - Rice Wine made with Yellow Label Angel Yeast

I've become a big fan of the Still It channel on YouTube.  About a month ago, Jesse posted a video about how he made rice wine using nothing more than water, rice, and a purported "magic" yeast from China called Yellow Label Angel Yeast. Perhaps even more amazing was the fact that he was able to make the rice wine without gelatinizing or mashing the rice.  He shows three batches in the video.  One was made by cooking the rice before adding the yeast mixture. Another was made by adding uncooked rice to boiling water.  The last was made by adding uncooked rice to room temperature water.  All three fermented out to roughly the same amount of alcohol in about two weeks. He was amazed by this, as was I. I resolved to buy some of this magical yeast from Aliexpress.com and try it out. In the Still It video, the rice is ground up in the grain mill into smaller chunks to make it easier for the enzymes in the yellow label yeast to convert and ferment.  I'm changing this up s
Post a Comment
Read more

Grainfather Specifications for BeerSmith, Beer Tools Pro, and Other Software

Recently, I've been trying to "dial in" settings in BeerSmith and Beer Tools Pro so that I can do a better job getting my actual brewing results to match up to the figures in the software. Below are some of the figures I've worked out with my US Grainfather. Given manufacturing variances and possible measuring errors on my part, these might not match exactly to yours, but hopefully they're close enough that it will help you. BeerSmith Equipment Profile: Brewhouse Efficiency: 83% (based on my experience, yours may vary) Mash Tun Volume: 8 gallons Mash Tun Weight: 8.82 pounds Mash Tun Specific Heat: 0.12 Cal/gram-deg C Mash Tun Addition: 0 gallons Lauter Tun Losses: 0 gallons Top Up Water for Kettle: 0 gallons Boil Volume: 6.25 gallons Boil Time: 60 minutes Boil Off: 0.40 gallons per hour Cooling Shrinkage: 6% Loss to Trub and Chiller: 0.53 gallons Batch Volume: 5 gallons Fermenter Loss: 0.40 gallons (yours may vary) Whirlpool time: 0 minutes B
1 comment
Read more