The fundamental part of annealing brass is the cold water quench after a uniformheating of the neck and shoulder. Some folks throw them onto a cold wet towelbut I think a dunk in a pail of water is a more complete annealing action. Brass is the opposite of carbonized steel in that a heating and an immediatecold quench makes it softer.

Heating the brass until it just starts to turn color is plenty of heat to accomplish this, and consequently too hot to hold onto without gloves. A smooth jawed set of plyers works the best as you can hold thecase neck over the end of the torch flame, shooting the heat into the case mouth, giving a nice even heat...and not roast your digets in the process.

Annealing brass that should have been anneal2 or3 loadings prior isn't going to gain you much back.............