Steeping vs. Mashing

This is something I've also wondered. Can I just steep for a longer time at a controlled temperature and that is mashing?

 

Mashing and steeping are very similar processes at first glance. Both involve soaking crushed grains in hot water. However, if you look more closely, there are some sharp contrasts between the two methods.
Mashing is a technique in which malted grains are soaked and amylase enzymes from the grains convert their starch to fermentable sugars. Some mashing methods combine malts that are very high in enzymes with starchy grains lacking enzymes. Other mashing methods only use malted grains. Mashing methods using adjuncts, such as rice or corn, work because enzymes from malt are able to move freely about in the mash once the malt has been crushed and wetted. The amylase enzymes cannot differentiate starch from malt or rice, and they go about their merry way breaking down (hydrolyzing) starch into fermentable sugars. The key to mashing is that the starch is broken down into fermentable sugars and special attention is given to controlling the mash environment — I’ll get to that later.
Grains that are mashed include any pale malt, lightly toasted or kilned special malts (such as Munich malt) and raw cereal grains.
Steeping, on the other hand, is a method used to extract colors and flavors from certain types of specialty grains. Although the grains are soaked in hot water, the idea is not to have enzymes acting upon starch. Rather, steeping merely extracts compounds contained in the malt. The types of specialty malts ideal for steeping already have the starch converted to sugars during the malting process. These include the family of crystal or caramel malts — grain or malt that is roasted to such a high level that the starch molecules have been modified by heat to the point where malt enzymes don’t do much to them. Roasted grains and malts include chocolate and black malt, roasted wheat, roasted wheat malt, roasted rye and roasted barley. Special malts such as Munich malts, pale wheat malt, pale rye malt and flaked cereal grains like barley, oats, corn and rice are not well-suited for steeping because these ingredients all contain a lot of starch.
The key differences in the actual processes of steeping and mashing lie mainly in the thickness, temperature, duration and method used to separate the grain from the liquid. Mash thickness, or the ratio of malt to water, is important in mashing because enzymes are affected by the concentration of starch. If it’s too high, the amylase enzymes lack the water needed to hydrolyze starch (hydrolysis is a term used to refer to breaking chemical bonds by the addition of water). If the mash is too thin, the enzymes are less heat-stable and are more susceptible to denaturation (enzyme destruction). Most mashes use between one and two quarts of water per pound of malt (~2 to 4 liters/kg). When it comes to steeping, thin is good and it is common to use ratios as high as six quarts per pound (~12 liters/kg). The thin steep not only improves the efficiency of steeping, it is also convenient since the steep water is usually used to dissolve malt extracts after the steeped grains are removed.
When it comes to mashing, the most critical variable to control is temperature. Different enzymes have peak activities at different temperatures, and some enzymes denature at just a few degrees higher than their activity peak. Brewers have named the various mash temperature rests for enzymes or their substrates because of this critical connection. We have the acid or phosphatase rest, protein rest, beta-glucanase rest, beta-amylase or fermentability rest, the alpha-amylase or conversion rest and the mash-off step. Few brewers include all of these temperature rests in their mash profiles, but mash temperature is always associated with enzymatic activity. These terms are moot when it comes to steeping. This is not to say that temperature is not an important consideration when steeping. Most agree that grain-steeping temperatures should be kept below about 170 °F (~77 °C) to avoid the extraction of astringent tannins from the malt husk.
Enzymatic reactions take time and most mashes last at least 60 minutes. Steeping does not require such a long time because the only thing happening is the dissolution of the malt solids. Fifteen minutes is more than enough time for steeping. The final step is separating the grains from the liquid. Most steepers use a nylon bag that is easily removed from the steep like a tea bag. Depending on the amount of grain steeped and the amount of water used, the bag is rinsed with hot water. Mashing requires the more involved method of separating the wort from the grains. This process is called lautering. Wort is separated from the solids in some sort of straining device — for example, a lauter tun — and is thoroughly rinsed with hot sparge water to extract as much wort as possible. This step is required in mashing because of the mash thickness. If the sparging were not used the specific gravity of the wort would be around 1.080, as compared to sparged gravities ranging from 1.040 and higher.
In summary, these are the key difference between mashing and steeping. To the extract brewer who uses steeping for specialty malts, mashing probably sounds very involved compared to steeping. However, the method of mashing is really not much more involved than steeping. It’s just that there is a lot more going on, and more variations on brewing to explore, when mashing is entered into the homebrewing equation!

 

That was an awesome reply!

 

A shorter version of what Golden Child posted is to say that mashing is an enzymatic process, while steeping is simply soaking the grains in water. Steeping is fine for things like crystal malts where the conversion to sugars has already taken place. You're just soaking out the sugar in there, in a manner of speaking. When you mash, you must have base malts with the diastatic power to convert the starches to sugars. The need to hold the water at certain temperatures is so that you create an environment conducive to that enzymatic conversion taking place. Certain grains cannot do that on their own, so steeping them without the diastatic malts will soak out only starches with no conversion to sugar.That's typically not good for your end product.

Ergo, when someone says a grain must be mashed, what they mean is in has starches that need to be converted and lacks the diastatic power to do that on its own (or has the power but hasn't gone through the process yet). A mini-mash of a pound or so of base malt along with the malt that has to be mashed, in a measured volume of water at a specific temperature, will take care of that for you.

So yes, they're similar, but not the same. It's what is happening that you can't see that is the major difference.

 

Methinks you might want to thank Ashton Lewis first. :-) Credit where credit is due and all that. Unless, of course, GoldenChild is Ashton Lewis!

 

Yes. If the grains already have the starches converted, as with crystal malts, then you're getting the color and sugars from them by steeping. There's no conversion that needs to take place there. In effect, even all grain brewers are essentially steeping crystal grains, since there's no enzyme action going on with them. Only grains with unconverted starches need to be mashed, so the enzymatic reaction will take place.

 

With crystal malts? No. All the starch to sugar conversion has taken place as part of the malting process, so there's nothing left to convert.

 

That's a little more complex. You're getting some good things out of those malts, and some that aren't so good. The bad thing about the bad things is that they might not always be immediately noticeable. They can cause haze, decrease stability and shelf life, etc.

So in short, yes and no. :-)

 

If steeped, honey, bisquit, and melanoidin will all contribute unconverted starches (generally considered bad), and well as some color and flavor (good). This is why you'll see endless discussions about whether or not they 'must' be mashed. One man's 'must be mashed' is another man's 'should be mashed' is another man's 'can be steeped.' (For me, it's must mash for these grains.)

 

Thanks to GoldenChild for posting the information from Mr. Wizard (Ashton Lewis): http://byo.com/stories/wizard/article/section/121-mr-wizard/1132-mashing-or-steeping-a-dme-mr-wizard

I am by no means a wizard (or even a student at Hogwarts) but I thought it might be helpful to expound on a few topics.

On the topic of “When it comes to mashing, the most critical variable to control is temperature.”: a common method of conducting a mash is via an infusion mash. The vast majority of base grains are well modified. A result of using well modified malts is that there is no real need to conduct a step mash; mashing at a single set temperature will properly convert the grains. The range of temperatures that are used for infusion mashing is 148-158°F. Mashing lower in that range will result in a wort that is very fermentable (i.e., fewer dextrins) while mashing in the upper part of that range will result in a wort that is less ferementable (i.e., more dextrins; the beer will have more body). When I mash I typically mash at a temperature of 150°F for one hour. So, as regards temperature and time there is a distinction between mashing and steeping:

· Mashing requires the ability to maintain a set temperature (e.g., 150°F) for a longer period of time (e.g.. 1 hour)

· Steeping is a more ‘forgiving’ process: just keep the grains ‘warm’ (e.g., anywhere between 150 - 170°F) for a shorter period of time

Mr. Wizard makes mention of: “Fifteen minutes is more than enough time for steeping.” A number of homebrew book authors (Al Korzonas, John Palmer, etc.) recommend a steeping duration of 30 minutes. I personally steep my crystal grains for 30 minutes.

Cheers!

 

GoldenChild, quoting without crediting your source will get you kicked out of school.

 

He asked for the information so I gave it to him. I could of typed it up and explained it to him but didnt have time I was in a hurry so I did a quick search through my favorites file on my PC Which By the way does not have who wrote this on it since it was in MY computer. I just recalled reading it a while back and knew that I had a copy in my homebrewing files some where on my PC. So shut up! Like no one could figure it out and I was trying to be sneaky.

 

TL;DR

Steeping - adds color, texture, flavor, minimal sugars, hence why you always need to add extract
Mashing - does all of the above, plus converts starch in the grain to sugars, that's why you don't need to add extract in all-grain. Also requires sparging (rinsing of grains to release sugars), steeping does not.

Basic chart on what grains need to be mashed vs. steeped:
http://brewbeeranddrinkit.com/a-home-brewing-malts-guide/

 

I believe jmw was trying to help you (in the future). It's probably copyright infringement, regardless of the nobility of your intentions. I don't think I would want to be copied verbatim without accreditation.