Partial mash with steeping grains included.

bohicarlp

Cheers all,
  My questions are these; Do you think it is fine to add say a crystal 20L into my mash grains and mash together? And,  Why do some of these home brewing companies add mashing grains with their kits and call for one to steep for 30 min at 155 F?

AnimalDoc

1.  you're good, add it to the mash.  Don't need to mash it you could just steep it but if you are doing a partial mash just put it all together.
2.  Steeping at 155 is ......... mashing.  But by calling it "steeping at 155" they are getting extract brewers to add fresh grain flavors to their extract without intimidating them because they don't think they can handle mashing.-- Scott
On Tap - Janet's Brown, Easy-Jack/SNPA mash-up
Primary - BCS Saison with rye
Secondary - Cabernet Sauvingon

bohicarlp

Then one would think that they should probably "steep" for say 45 min or so to try and get those sugars in, instead of the starch.

theblaster

Even after 30 minutes the grain tea is really quite sweet. But it is really done to add some differentiating flavor and mouthfeel characteristics to each kit. Otherwise it would just be 9 pounds of LME and different hop schedules.