luda007

Recipes 

Are there any mead recipes where I can use sweet corn?
Does anyone have any good ones if you have tried it?

fatbloke

Recipes 

Like all recipes that use grains, you firsr need to convert the starch to fermentable sugars........

Think beer making.

Corn may need the kernels removing first, then the corn equivalent of malting.

No recipe (obviously) but thats the sort of direction I'd be looking.......

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luda007

Recipes 

I have some sweet corn kernels in the freezer that i probably won't ever eat so I was thinking about trying it out.

snuesen

Recipes 

Fatbloke is correct, and you may find that using corn turns out to be a headache as it's not very fermentable on its own:
http://www.picobrewery.com/askarchive/diastatic.htm

However it's not impossible:
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesguino#section_2

I would think maybe a braggot would work; to get a lot out of corn you need to get some amylase activity from other grains.

centworthy

Recipes 

Corn, interesting ingredient. My husband and I visited Makers Mark in Louisville a couple years ago and got to tour the mash (whiskey must) building. Mash likes heat to ferment much more than mead must does, Interesting is that bourbon is distinguished from other whiskers because it is made with 51% or greater corn compared to other grains. Fat bloke makes a good observation about starch content in corn. Point being you may end up with something other than mead if you ferment corn since it is typically an ingredient in distilling much stronger hootch

kc_in_wv

Recipes 

From what I have read about the malting process, the grain is sprouted. Sweet Corn is picked in the milk stage for eating and the grains are not mature enough to sprout.

Now if you saved the corn for seed that would be a different story.

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bodhi86

Recipes 

Corn IS a very interesting choice. Are you looking for a corn flavor? If so you don't want to let it ferment, corn liquor tastes a lot like vodka, cleaner but very near. Your mead may taste more like a domestic beer if not sweet enough. I would think about getting your alcohol level high enough to stop things from rotting, mashing the corn a little and boiling for a second, then racking onto it. It should give a good corn flavor once it clears.

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luda007

Recipes 

I have since found a recipe but have a question.
I have a book that lists several recipes from everything to sugar wine to moonshine.
One recipe is corn wine.
2.5 lbs of sweet corn kernel
1-3/4 lbs sugar
1 gallon water
1 pkt wine yeast

It calls for me to get the fermentation roaring and then add fresh blended sweet corn to it.

I am wondering if if we're to use honey instead of sugar should I stick to the standard 2.5-3 #'s of honey or do a straight conversion?

snuesen

Recipes 

If you do honey, I would be worried that you might not get much corn flavor in the final product. Especially as you add more honey per gallon. If you choose honey (and it seems to me like the goal of this is to taste the corn too ), I would use a light varietal like clover or spring wildflower. Something that will not overpower your adjuncts.

luda007

Recipes 

Thank you!

I think I got lucky. I started a batch with clover honey last night. I pitched the yeast this morning. As of my arriving home this evening I didn't notice and activity....
I will keep you updated.