Tasting raw grains

So I've seen John Palmer (on BTV) chewing on raw grains trying to decide which ones to brew with. Does anyone do this? Can you really pick up a flavor profile this way?

I do this because I think they taste great.. I like to try them and compare them.

However, I'm not designing recipes by chewing grain .. I guess you can taste the differences between the different kinds of grains, and that may help you design your recipe.


I'm pretty sure most AG brewers out here do it.. all the time


Cheers !

Black said:

I do this because I think they taste great.. I like to try them and compare them.

However, I'm not designing recipes by chewing grain .. I guess you can taste the differences between the different kinds of grains, and that may help you design your recipe.


I'm pretty sure most AG brewers out here do it.. all the time


Cheers !

Click to expand...

+1

While I'm milling my kids n I will munch on the grain. I think it helps me to taste the different grain flavors in the finished beer. I don't change my recipes based on grain tasting, but maybe someday ill try that

I like the taste too, but rarely have the chance to sample before ordering for a recipe.

Try pulling aside a few dry ounces of the malt bill before you mash. A side by side comparison with a finished beer and the raw grain is a hell of a good time IMO.

I think you can get an idea of what the grain brings. Not flavor so much as "richness" maybe.

A pinch of pale against some Biscuit and Vienna next to a couple of crystals and a pinch of Melanoidin...

Doesn't directly provide a "flavor" to expect, but you can gauge the intensity of "impact."

It is interesting to experience the different flavors. When I started doing this, I remember being fairly amazed at the differences, strengths, etc. Sorta thought they would all be mostly the same. Not!

If any of that makes any sense...

Cheers!

Yes, you definitely get an idea of what the grain will taste like in your beer, be careful with and Crystal/caramel 10 they are still very stealy (not fully modified), and if you're not careful you can chip a tooth.

All the time. Now that I'm moving into recipe development I find myself tasting grains as I finalize my grain bill. Or, if I try a new grain (like rauch) I'll give it a chew. It's really abstract in relation to tasting the final beer, but it certainly does provide a guiding hand.

Also, is the best smell in the world not freshly crushed grain, especially the Crystals? If they made an aifreshener in "Fresh-Crushed Dark Grain" I would buy their entire inventory. Kyle

I used to taste raw grains until I saw how many bugs can live in them.

Hmm. And here I thought I was special by doing this.

m3n00b said:

I used to taste raw grains until I saw how many bugs can live in them.

Click to expand...

Protein

Awesome. Thanks for the insight everyone!

On one of the episodes of The Sunday Session on The Brewing Network, they took 100 kernals of grain, each type in the amount of its percentage in the grist, and chewed it up all at once to get an idea of flavors that might be present in the finished beer. Justin swore he could taste a similarity, the rest were not convinced. If I ever have problems with irregularity, I might give it a try...

I use raw grains when I'm teaching someone how to brew. I put out a mini-buffet of all different grains I have, and let them try each one (even the acid malt). I think it help people understand how much difference there is between grains, and why each recipe can produce such different flavors using the same basic ingredients.

Plus, I like the taste. Tastes like Grape Nuts cereal to me.

I would like to do this with some smash recipes. Maybe make a bunch of smash recipes and as bearfoot mentioned, save a few ounces of grain to chew on with the finished product. I think that would be a very cool experiment.

m3n00b said:

I used to taste raw grains until I saw how many bugs can live in them.

Click to expand...

Just extra protein! Like mealworms cooked into bread

BradTheGeek said:

Just extra protein! Like mealworms cooked into bread

Click to expand...

"Cooked" being the keyword here

I did at the start , but my teeth, ouch

fartinmartin said:

I did at the start , but my teeth, ouch

Click to expand...

I did find a noticeable difference between the canadian 2 row I have and the maris otter. The british malt is way softer, I even have to space my grinding wheels apart or it'll be reduced to flour. It might depend on the crops, I guess. Still interesting to compare 2 base malts side by side. They're totally different when you chew them.


Cheers !

When I'm creating a new recipe I'm always chewing grains for their taste. I will taste the grains separately and then start putting them in combinations that I'm looking at using them. It could be years of work in the kitchen, but I can get a fairly good idea of the final taste based on the raw grains.

Yes I'm a big fan of doing this, usually taste some before I formulate my recipe, and I'll also usually sample a few grains of each before I mill my grain. I think I could eat Maris Otter straight out of the bucket .

Conan said:

All the time. Now that I'm moving into recipe development I find myself tasting grains as I finalize my grain bill. Or, if I try a new grain (like rauch) I'll give it a chew. It's really abstract in relation to tasting the final beer, but it certainly does provide a guiding hand.

Also, is the best smell in the world not freshly crushed grain, especially the Crystals? If they made an aifreshener in "Fresh-Crushed Dark Grain" I would buy their entire inventory. Kyle

Click to expand...

I love the taste of the grains. I have to set aside a small bowl of 2-row or whatever to munch on so I do not steal it from my recipe.

When I was brewing this past weekend I remembered how much I love the smell of Melenodian, love the raisney sweet smell of it.