Malted Corn for Chica de Jora

After reading some threads here I figured I would share my picture of malted corn for making Chica de Jora or "Corn Beer" which isn't much of a beer at all - but still goes with the base concepts of creating malt to use in the fermentation of sugars to create an alcoholic beverage. I'll write a little on the process later. These still have to be dried and have the chutes removed.

or is it "shoots"

I did that too and it came out with a nice tart twang

Got a recipe for this using malted corn?

This is probably one of the easier ones..

1 lb (4 full cups) Maiz de Jora
-purchased or homemade
215-oz cakes chancaca OR
1 cWhite sugar and
2 cBrown sugar; packed
+additional for sweetening
8Whole cloves
1Dried hot chili pepper
1Fresh stalk (about 36")
Sugarcane (1-1/2 lbs)
-cut into pieces; crushed
1Lemon; sliced for garnish

Method:

In a stainless-steel stockpot large enough to hold 2-1/2 gallons of
liquid, combine the jora, chancaca or sugars, cloves, pepper, and
crushed sugarcane with 8 quarts of cold water. Allow to soak for 1
hour. Place over high heat and bring to boil, stirring now and then
with a wooden spoon and scraping the bottom of the pot to prevent
sticking and burning. When the mixture comes to a full boil, lower
the heat and gently simmer, covered, for 4-1/2 hours, stirring now
and then.

Remove from heat and allow to rest for about 2 hours undisturbed. Pour
through a strainer.Press liquid from the sugar cane and discard the
pulp. Strain the mixture again through a double layer of cheesecloth
into a ceramic, porcelain, or glass container and store in a dark,
cool place, covered tightly with cheesecloth or a kitchen towel.
Allow to sit from 3 to 8 days, depending on how strong and how thick
you want the chicha to be. The longer the chicha sits, the higher the
alcohol content and the thicker it will get.

To serve, add the additional sugar to taste, chill thoroughly, and
garnish with lemon slices.

Thanks very much.

I made some Chicha using the old fashioned chew and spit method. It turned out awesome. Surprisingly everyone I offered it to was willing to drink it (and liked it!). Unfortunately there's a reason that Chicha makers put red flowers out when they make it. Once the red flowers are wilted, you know their Chicha is bad. Mine was only at it's peak for a week or two. After that it was still good, but not near as good as the first one I cracked. I wouldn't make too much at one time.

reverendj1 said:

I made some Chicha using the old fashioned chew and spit method. It turned out awesome. Surprisingly everyone I offered it to was willing to drink it (and liked it!). Unfortunately there's a reason that Chicha makers put red flowers out when they make it. Once the red flowers are wilted, you know their Chicha is bad. Mine was only at it's peak for a week or two. After that it was still good, but not near as good as the first one I cracked. I wouldn't make too much at one time.

Click to expand...

Good to know. Is it the low alcohol that makes it go bad or the nature of the process? I'm looking to brew something based on a fermented corn based dish in the area where I am from and thought Chicha would be a good base. But I am less concerned about it being traditional. Can you imagine what changes you might make that would help preserve it, but not totally turn it into a beer? Just wondering how I could bottle this and keep it around for a few months. Thanks for the input.

Microphobik said:

Good to know. Is it the low alcohol that makes it go bad or the nature of the process? I'm looking to brew something based on a fermented corn based dish in the area where I am from and thought Chicha would be a good base. But I am less concerned about it being traditional. Can you imagine what changes you might make that would help preserve it, but not totally turn it into a beer? Just wondering how I could bottle this and keep it around for a few months. Thanks for the input.

Click to expand...

I upped the abv on mine to be in the 4-5 range. I think traditionally it is more like 2-3. If you click that link in my previous post I detailed my process and recipe.

It doesn't really "go bad", it just tastes a whole lot better fresh. The spices lose their flavor, etc. Think of wheats and IPAs, how they are best drunk young. It's kind of like that. The flavors all mellowed out quickly and the tastes really changes for the worse, but that's not to say they are undrinkable. My friend had heard we made "spit beer" (as everyone liked to call it) but didn't make it over until ~ 6 months after we made it. I saved him a bottle and we drank it. It tasted the same as it did when the flavor went away, and he said he really liked it (he's a craft beer drinker and very honest, so I trust his word). I split the bottle with him and like I said, it was good, but not the greatness it was.

I think I will make it again, but I will probably shrink the batch size to 1.5 gallons because of the freshness factor. Also, it takes a LONG time to chew through all that corn.

Awesome, thanks. Looking forward to trying this. Your recipe looks good. Just saw the Master Brewers episode on Chicha last night coincidentally. I think I'll be skipping the chewing step and stick with malted corn. Just need to wait for corn season. Thanks again for the info.

Any reason this wouldn't work with frozen corn and amalaze? Assuming there were no preservatives in the corn? Don't know if I want to wait until I have home grown stuff on hand. Does it have to be dry?

Or would it be better to use popcorn and malt it?