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Steep/Mashing time for Extract Recipe

mactommy

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I am new to Beersmith but I have been making beer now for about 18 months. I imported a recipe that I have made before, White House Honey Porter.  This recipe calls for a steep/mashing time of 45 minutes. Yet it appears that the program defaults to 30 minutes for steeping if the recipe is a Extract type. How does one get the correct steeping time for a extract recipe? I have asked the question twice on the contact page but no answer. I sometimes remake a recipe from Brewers Best which has a steep/mash time of 20 minutes yet I do no see how to get that set. Is the program broken? Am I doing something wrong?
 
You can leave the steeping time at the default of 30 minutes.  20 minutes is sufficient time to extract the sugars, color, and flavor from the steeping grains.  A steeping time of 45 minutes will not gain anything extra.

This is for steeping grains not a partial mash of grains which require conversion.  It would be helpful to post the recipe if this may be a partial mash.
 
The recipe is from the White House, Withe House Honey Porter. Here it is.

White House Honey Porter
Ingredients
• 2 (3.3 lb) cans light unhopped malt extract
• 3/4 lb Munich Malt (cracked)
• 1 lb crystal 20 malt (cracked)
• 6 oz black malt (cracked)
• 3 oz chocolate malt (cracked)
• 1 lb White House Honey
• 10 HBUs bittering hops
• 1/2 oz Hallertaur Aroma hops
• 1 pkg Nottingham dry yeast
• 3/4 cup corn sugar for bottling
Directions
1 In a 6 qt pot, add grains to 2.25 qts of 168˚ water. Mix well to bring temp down to 155˚. Steep on stovetop at 155˚ for 45 minutes. Meanwhile, bring 2 gallons of water to 165˚ in a 12 qt pot. Place strainer over, then pour and spoon all the grains and liquid in. Rinse with 2 gallons of 165˚ water. Let liquid drain through. Discard the grains and bring the liquid to a boil. Set aside.
2 Add the 2 cans of malt extract and honey into the pot. Stir well.
3 Boil for an hour. Add half of the bittering hops at the 15 minute mark, the other half at 30 minute mark, then the aroma hops at the 60 minute mark.
4 Set aside and let stand for 15 minutes.
5 Place 2 gallons of chilled water into the primary fermenter and add the hot wort into it. Top with more water to total 5 gallons if necessary. Place into an ice bath to cool down to 70-80˚.
6 Activate dry yeast in 1 cup of sterilized water at 75-90˚ for fifteen minutes. Pitch yeast into the fermenter. Fill airlock halfway with water. Ferment at room temp (64-68˚) for 3-4 days.
7 Siphon over to a secondary glass fermenter for another 4-7 days.
8 To bottle, make a priming syrup on the stove with 1 cup sterile water and 3/4 cup priming sugar, bring to a boil for five minutes. Pour the mixture into an empty bottling bucket. Siphon the beer from the fermenter over it. Distribute priming sugar evenly. Siphon into bottles and cap. Let sit for 1-2 weeks at 75˚.
 
Part of the problem is with the instructions.  Munich malt is unconverted and needs to be mashed.  Try putting the recipe in as a partial mash and build a mash profile to mash all the specialty grains at 155F with a water to grist ratio of about 1.25 qts/lb of grain (note: this will be greater than the volume cited in the recipe).  Since this water volume BeerSmith calculates is greater than the recipe, unclick the option for 'adjust temp for equip' on the mash tab and BeerSmith will calculate the water temperature you need to hit to reach 155F when you add the grains.  Getting within a couple of degrees of 155F is fine.  Set  your mash time for 45 minutes within the mash profile.

Subtract the water volume you used to mash the grains from the water volume for the boil from the recipe (i. e. 2 gal + 2.25 qts) and this amount will be your sparge water to heat and pour over your strained grains.

From there you should be able to follow the rest of the directions they gave you for the kit.
 
Munich malt needs to be mashed to convert starches to sugars.  You have a partial mash recipe.  the remainder of the grains could be steeped in some recipes, but in this case they would also go into the mash.

Does Beersmith have a partial mash option?
 
Yes Beersmith does have a partial Mash option and that is what I used when I entered the recipe so that I could get the 45 minutes of steeping time. Beersmith has the recipe on their site but is is wrong from what the White House has so I entered the one from the white House that I have used to make this beer before. The Beersmith version of the recipe has it listed as ab Extract and only 30 minutes of steeping time. So I want to follow what the original recipe has listed.
 
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