The GaP (Grocery and Produce) Beer Experiment
 

Using items only found in your local grocery/produce store, attempt to craft as drinkable of a beer as possible. Ciders, wines and mead do not count. Otherwise you are free to use any ingredient you find in the store.

Keep a detailed log to post here along with pics, tasting notes, etc. If people are up for an exchange after everything is said and done we can do that too.

:mug:

Ok, so this interests me quite a bit and I'd like some clarification on some rules. First and foremost, what kinda local grocery store are we talking here, I live in a pretty ethnic neighborhood, and they will have stuff that wouldn't be in a normal store, so are we keeping to like Albertsons, Ralphs, Vons, etc? Number two, is it ok to get a beer that has live sediment and get the yeast there and cultivate it into a starter? and three, how strict is the "no juices or honey" thing? are we saying like 50% of the fermentables need to come from grain? what are the exact rules here?

Here's a recipe you could try. I made it - once. Definitely an acquired taste.

George Washington's porter recipe:

To Make Small Beer:

Take a large Siffer [Sifter] full of Bran Hops to your Taste.

Boil these 3 hours then strain out 30 Gall[ons] into a cooler put in 3 Gall[ons] Molasses while the Beer is Scalding hot or rather draw the Melasses into the cooler & St[r]ain the Beer on it while boiling Hot.

Let this stand till it is little more than Blood warm then put in a quart of Yea[s]t if the Weather is very Cold cover it over with a Blank[et] & let it Work in the Cooler 24 hours then put it into the Cask - leave the bung open till it is almost don[e] Working - Bottle it that day Week it was Brewed.

The problem here is hops. You can get hops pellets in the more well-stocked organics sections of some stores, or in some health food stores. Otherwise, it'd have to be a selection of some other bittering herb.

Sounds like fun!

(Just don't make me drink any of Washington's Molasses Porter. Yich!)

Bob

I would think juice is ok as long as you are not making just straight up cider or wine. You could also harvest yeast from a beer, as long as you used something from the grocery store to culture it.

Although in RI you can't get beer from the Grocery store so some people would be at a disadvantage there.

In my grocery store they sell bags of whole wheat berries. They are in the 'middle eastern' ethnic food section. These can be malted. I've done that before. You could then mash other starch adjuncts: oatmeal, sweet potatoes, pearl barley, pumpkin...
As far as bittering. I think I'd use chocolate, coffee, or maybe just use citrus and ginger and skip the bittering.
What about using an off the self IPA to bitter a smaller beer?

Ok Rules Post!!
#1 Anything from the grocery store can be used
#2 Juice can only be used if its in conjunction with other ingredients, No meads, ciders or wines.
#3 Yeast, Harvesting from a bottle is ok but you have to step it up using things from the store, no dme or dextrose in a starter.
#4 No hops, Alternative bittering agents should be used.!

Come on people lets see some cereal mashing. maybe some vegetable beers?

Using hops is too much of a cheat for me. I think that alternative bittering should be required.

ok ill edit. No Hops

One of our local supermarkets sell LME in the baking section.
There is even a coop that I know of that sell brewing supplies along with the groceries.:rockin:

whatever you do dont use wormwood for bittering, I tried that once and it tastes like cough syrup. In some asian stores you can get the mold that converts rice starch into sugar for rice wine, is this cheating?