Complex Grain Bill with Extract...waste of time?

[JRR]

Ok, I'll buy that. My simple recipes so far have been very satisfying and not lacking in complexity. So, how would any of you simplify this thing?

[Dirk McLargeHuge]

Ok, I'll buy that. My simple recipes so far have been very satisfying and not lacking in complexity. So, how would any of you simplify this thing?

I would consolidate the Marris Otter and the 2-row, and use just one Munich malt. If I were doing this extract with steeping grains, I would eliminate the base malt and replace it extract and consolidate the Munich.

[JRR]

How about this for the extract + steeping grains?

6.5 lbs Light DME
3.0 lbs Maris Otter Pale Ale Malt
3.5 oz Munich Malt
3.0 oz Crystal Malt 60°L
1.5 oz Cara 8 - Caramel Malt
1.5 oz Melanoidin Malt
0.5 oz Wheat Flaked

0.5 oz Magnum (13.0%) - added during boil, boiled 75.0 min
0.75 oz Columbus (15.0%) - added during boil, boiled 75.0 min
2.0 oz Cascade (5.6%) - added during boil, boiled 0.0 min
1.0 oz Cascade (5.6%) - added dry to secondary fermenter
1.0 oz Columbus (15.0%) - added dry to secondary fermenter
1.2 oz Centennial (10.0%) - added dry to secondary fermenter

[thatguy314]

Ok, I'll buy that. My simple recipes so far have been very satisfying and not lacking in complexity. So, how would any of you simplify this thing?

+1 on that

1 base malt (MO) 13.5lbs
one mellanoidin rich malt (munich II?) to the total 1/4 lbs
1 crystal malt (60) 1/4 lbs

I don't think 1/2 an oz of wheat will do anything

That's where I would start. It would also save me $ from buying a million specialty grains.

[TheDarkSide]

Don't you need to mash MO and Munich, rather than just steeping it?

[Dirk McLargeHuge]

I think you can steep Munich for color. You need to mash 2 row and Marris Otter. I would get an English malt extract for Marris Otter.

[thatguy314]

Muntons light would be a good extract.

I'd minimash the munich with a little MO. Munich will convert itself if its the only thing, but you have crystal in there, so I'd just toss a pound or so of MO to make sure everything converts well. Then you'll see how easy it is, and just do that from now on.

[Elbone]

You can't steep Munich (base malt) or flaked wheat (pre-gelatinized, yes, but still not converted) without it dumping a bunch of unconverted starch into your beer. These will need to be converted. (you might accidentally convert these while steeping, but why not plan for it and control it?)

As recommended above, you not only should but you really must do a mini-mash on this one. It's not hard. It's really just like steeping, only you need some base malt for enzymes, you need to keep your water:grain ratio between 1 and 2 qts/lb, and you need to hold the temperature between 150F and 160F for an hour or so. I'd probably do an iodine test to check for conversion too, til I got the hang of it. Once you see how easy this is, you'll be one step further towards all-grain brewing.