How do I know if my specialty grains need mashing or steeping?

[King Ruddager]

First of all ... http://www.howtobrew.com/section2/chapter12-1.html

 

Good starting point, but the good people at Beerbelly sure do have a lot of different specialty grains available ... http://shop.beerbelly.com.au/ingredients/malted-grain.html

 

Remember when that $50 was burning a hole in my pocket? Well, I think I came up with an extract recipe for a dunkelweizen!

 

1.5kg wheat LME

1.5kg amber LME

500g wheat DME

150g Carafa 1 (900)

Hops to bring the whole lot to about 16 IBUs

 

Woohoo! But what about that "carafa"? Ok, it sounds kind of like a lot of other crystal malts like caramalt and caramunich and others - is that a good enough guide? I had to mash some rye malt recently which was news to me. How do you find out whether something requires a mash or a steep?

[Otto Von Blotto]

You answered your own question in the topic title. Specialty grains only need to be steeped.[cool]

 

http://craftbrewer.com.au/shop/details.asp?PID=879

[King Ruddager]

So rye is not a specialty grain?

 

That website makes a pretty handy reference, cheers [smile]

[Otto Von Blotto]

I've never used rye but I believe rye malt isn't a specialty grain and needs mashing. I do like the CB website listings though where they list whether the grains need mashing or steeping. [cool]