Steeping grains

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I am using Zainasheff and Palmer's book entitled 80 Winning Recipes Anyone Can Brew. The authors indicated the book started out to be about extract brewing but morphed into brewing in general. The recipes are both for extract and full grain brewing. The extract brewing recipes includes the addition of steeping grains. The "All Grain Option" does not mention the use of steeping grains. The question I have is "are steeping grains used in an all grain brew"? BTW the book is an excellent source of recipes for a variety of beers. Jim R.
 
In all grain brewing, there is no steeping process, you mash all your grains. I am new to brewing, so you may receive additional replies that are different from mine. If I'm incorrect I apologize for any misleading information
 
yes think of steeping like making tea, you steep the tea bag for so long then take it out, brewing is very similar but in extract you only steep for flavor so you doing the same as tea, now all grain you really are steeping but not just the specialty grain your steeping all the grain for the whole time, we call it mashing but steeping and mashing are really the same thing,

but in definition mashing is done with all the grain and for an exact temperature for an exact time to extract both sugar and flavor
steeping is done just for a short time for flavor extracts mostly
 
With BIAB brewing it even looks like a big barley filled tea bag:p. Im a leave the bag in tea drinker BTW as with beer im a bag out drinker:D.
 
I am using Zainasheff and Palmer's book entitled 80 Winning Recipes Anyone Can Brew. The authors indicated the book started out to be about extract brewing but morphed into brewing in general. The recipes are both for extract and full grain brewing. The extract brewing recipes includes the addition of steeping grains. The "All Grain Option" does not mention the use of steeping grains. The question I have is "are steeping grains used in an all grain brew"? BTW the book is an excellent source of recipes for a variety of beers. Jim R.
There's also a process called mash capping where character and black malts are added to the sparge. It's similar to steeping.
 
When I converted my favorite extract recipes to all grain, I started by adding all of the steeping grains. Then I added all of the grains I guessed to be in the extract. Sometimes you'll use a grain to convert the extract, say Crystal 60 or black malt, but it's also a steeping grain in the recipe. Then I just bumped up that steeping grain, say from a quarter pound to a half pound.
 
Steeping grains are more for flavor then sugar conversion.
 
Steeping grains are more for flavor then sugar conversion.
That's a bit of an oversimplification - crystal malts usually contribute about 22-24 ppg of gravity (points per pound per gallon) of gravity. But it is a way to approach recipe formulation. I find the more I brew, the fewer steeping-type grains like crystal I use, better to get the flavors out of Munich or one of the roasted malts. But they can make a contribution to a recipe, both in terms of flavor and gravity. Best way I can think of to start approaching them is to brew SMASH plus one, adding a steeping grain to a blonde ale and seeing what happens.
 
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