Fresh Corn in the Mash or Boil?

jgln · 09-23-2009, 09:25 PM

I was boiling and freezing all the corn we picked from the garden recently and with all the corn we got I was thinking of uses for it. Besides freezing the ears, making soups and feeding the buggy/wormy ones to the chickens I got to thinking brewing.

So, I see a lot of recipies using corn in different dried states but why can't you use it fresh, right off the cob?

kanielb1 · 09-23-2009, 10:19 PM

You can eat it. You need to dry and malt to be able to extract the fermentable sugars from the corn. I dont think you can do anything else with it. I will be watching this thread to see what else can be done.

Freezeblade · 09-23-2009, 10:39 PM

Certainly, once it is boiled to free up the starches, put it in the mash with some base malt and it should convert your starches to sugars just fine. Perhaps a cream ale is in order, or some other lighter style.

jgln · 09-24-2009, 02:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Freezeblade

Certainly, once it is boiled to free up the starches, put it in the mash with some base malt and it should convert your starches to sugars just fine. Perhaps a cream ale is in order, or some other lighter style.

Can't it be put in fresh into the mash and be converted there?

dutch-brew · 09-24-2009, 02:34 PM

I don't know how he did it, but a customer gave me a bottle of sweet corn wine.. i have it in my fridge right now..

**Bobby_M** · 09-24-2009, 02:39 PM

The starch really isn't going to be accessible if you put whole kernels in the mash. If it were me, I'd cook it first, then put it into a blender, then dump that into the mash.

dutch-brew · 09-24-2009, 02:45 PM

hmmm...how do they do it then when they make corn-whiskey..? hadn't thought about that.. they need to get the sugars out for that too, don't they?

**Bobby_M** · 09-24-2009, 02:53 PM

Well, you'd have to malt the corn first but that's a bit more work than using it as an adjunct in a mostly malted barley mash.

jgln · 09-24-2009, 03:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bobby_M

The starch really isn't going to be accessible if you put whole kernels in the mash. If it were me, I'd cook it first, then put it into a blender, then dump that into the mash.

So cutting it off the cob fresh, exposing the insided of the kernels, maybe smashing them some too, would still not work? It needs to be cooked first before adding to the mash? I am not using processed frozed corn that is whole kernels, I would be cutting it off the cob with a knife. I know it is not that big a deal to cook first, just want to understand the process.

My other question is does it really give flavor and if so how much to use for a 5gal recipe?

**big supper** · 09-24-2009, 03:25 PM

you need to cook it first. to gelatinize the starches, i think..........