Indigenous Amber Ale

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igliashon

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Promalt experiment #3:

Mash:
2 lbs 8 oz corn grits, lightly toasted
1 lb 12 oz wild rice, medium toasted
4 oz pecans, chopped, roasted, and pressed between paper towels to remove oil
1 tsp gypsum

Boil:
2 lbs organic grade B maple syrup
12 oz molasses
8 oz maltodextrine
1/2 tsp yeast nutrient

Hops:
0.3 oz U.S. Northern Brewer, 60 min
0.7 oz U.S. Northern Brewer, 15 min

Yeast: S-04

OG: 1.066
IBUs: 29.6 (Average)

Mash schedule:
Cereal mash at boiling for 3 hours (I had to leave for class before I could add enzymes). Drop to 120°F, add promalt, rest for 45 minutes stirring every 10 minutes or so. Bring up to 142°F, add additional amylase, rest for an hour, stirring every 10 minutes or so. I skipped the glucanase rest because my grains were just corn and rice, so not very high in beta-glucans. From the mash I collected about 4 gallons of 1.030 wort, about 60% efficiency. I blame myself for rushing the mash; had I left it another hour, I probably could have achieved 75%.

But it's just as well I didn't, because I goofed in the syrup additions. For some reason I thought I could just measure out 24 fluid ounces of maple syrup (which is the weight I meant to add), but it turns out syrup is denser than water and 24 oz of it weighs about 2 lbs. So I ended up with a higher OG than I intended (was aiming for 1.056), but that's fine, because my last two beers have been pretty low-gravity.

At first, I was not optimistic about this beer, because the mash had a very odd smell--kinda salty, almost cheesy or fishy--before I added the enzymes. I blame the wild rice, which smells kinda marshy and did not smell great after roasting. But I persevered, and the resulting wort was nutty and delicious. I think this will turn out to be a fine beer, especially because it's finally cooling off around here so my fermentation temps will be in a more hospitable range.
 
This makes me think it might be interesting to try an Ohlone (NorCal tribe) indigenous beer made out of acorns. I haven't seen anything in the record that the Ohlone had any kind of fermentation technology though.
 
Looks good. I'm glad you're having success with unmalted grains and promalt. Just wondering how you cereal mashed at boiling for 3 hours without burning the grains. Did you still continuously for 3 hours? That seems somewhat prohibitive. Or do you have a false bottom on your kettle? Also, how's the color on this beer?
 
Looks good. I'm glad you're having success with unmalted grains and promalt. Just wondering how you cereal mashed at boiling for 3 hours without burning the grains. Did you still continuously for 3 hours? That seems somewhat prohibitive. Or do you have a false bottom on your kettle? Also, how's the color on this beer?

Ha ha, no, I didn't boil the mash the whole time! I just heated it to boiling and then took it off the heat to rest.

The color is a light brown, I think...there's a lot of stuff in suspension right now so it's difficult to judge accurately, but it should end up in amber territory. The post-mash liquor was extremely light, though...even roasted, wild rice seems to add very little color.
 
That recipe is crazy, I like it. I wonder if I can modify it and make Chicha instead? Although I would probably use hops (I hate infections); probably 1/2oz of willamette or fuggles. Then maybe double the corn grits, take out the other ingredients... :D
 
One thing I must say, about brewing with corn: don't try to grind popcorn in a corona mill! Just don't even try. Trust me.

An all-corn beer would be interesting though, especially if some of it was toasted. I think we gluten-free brewers neglect it unfairly, as well as rice.
 
The first beer I tried to make was an all corn beer. I used some crushed maize from the home brew store, and added some polenta into the muslin bag. Maybe because I was fairly new to beer making and possibly chose the wrong hops, it didn't turn out too cracking. I am up for giving it another to though.

Do you think it is possible to sprout popping corn? It looks slightly toasted to me which would suggest no. But wondered if anybody had tried it. I just want to know before I go and spend £4 on a bag of it. Worth a try,
 
One thing I must say, about brewing with corn: don't try to grind popcorn in a corona mill! Just don't even try. Trust me.

An all-corn beer would be interesting though, especially if some of it was toasted. I think we gluten-free brewers neglect it unfairly, as well as rice.



I recomend an air popper for popcorn.
 
Bottled this last week. I used yellow corn grits (sadly) after I failed to be able to grind the Indian popcorn kernels in my corona mill. I also accidentally bumped the maple syrup and molasses up in quantity since I was lazy and used liquid ounces instead of weight (dumb dumb dumb), but the resulting beer tasted PHENOMENAL at bottling time. Provided it doesn't get infected (the bottling was a wee bit chaotic), it's going to be easily one of the best beers I've ever made.
 
I'm very interested in brewing this, I have a friend who would like a gluten free beer and I'd like to brew him one.

How did it turn out? Do you think backing off on the hops would be ok with this recipe? Maybe around 20 ibu?

He likes fat tire and negro modelo, might this be somewhat similar? Sorry for all the questions, I have no idea about gf beer. Trying to learn.

Thanks for the help!

Edit: just realized you bottled a very short time ago, so I don't expect you can tell me much about how it turned out.
 
The hopping is not too much, it's actually pretty light for my tastes. But I wouldn't recommend brewing this unless you can get yourself some promalt. If you try to do it with just amylase you won't get very good efficiency, the wild rice is tough to break down with out glucanase and protease.
 
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