I have a TON of corn where I live and my friend said I could have some to brew with. Trouble is I don't know what the process is to convert the corn to be able to brew with it efficiently. I just think it would be cool to brew a beer with some local ingredients. If it is something that is do-able let me know!
Preparing corn for brewing?
- Thread starter dfassino
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I have no experience with this so the following is based totally on reading (and that some time ago). I hope you will get a response from someone who knows what he is talking about.
The first problem with whole corn is that it contains enough oil to ruin your beer. The oil is in the "germ" so this must be removed. No idea how that is done.
Second, the starch matrix must be broken down in order to release the starch for conversion to sugar. In commercial brewing the corn is put into a separate cooker with a portion of highly diastatic malt. The heat gelatinizes the starch and the enzymes convert them to sugar. This separate mash is then combined with the barley mash much in the way a decoction is combined with a rest mash. A texbook on commercial American brewing practices should give you the details you need.
The first problem with whole corn is that it contains enough oil to ruin your beer. The oil is in the "germ" so this must be removed. No idea how that is done.
Second, the starch matrix must be broken down in order to release the starch for conversion to sugar. In commercial brewing the corn is put into a separate cooker with a portion of highly diastatic malt. The heat gelatinizes the starch and the enzymes convert them to sugar. This separate mash is then combined with the barley mash much in the way a decoction is combined with a rest mash. A texbook on commercial American brewing practices should give you the details you need.
Terrier
New Member
Just chew it.
Do a you tube search for chewing corn
Do a you tube search for chewing corn
175 results of people/dogs/hamsters eating corn... what a fantasticly helpful suggestion.
back on topic...
corn kernels contain around 3.7% oil by weight. its not really fesable to extract that oil on the type of small scale we are talking about, in the same way that big production facilities do it.
it might be possible though to make a separate "corn mash", and either skim off, or just exclude, the top inch of liquid where the majority of the oil should float (being lighter than water). you would have to do some experiments and determine the best method, but it would be an interesting thing to try. if you could reduce that oil content by 90%, you would be left with around 0.3% corn oil by weight, which i dont think would have a huge impact on the beer; especially if the corn is not a large % of the total grain bill.
and actually, corn oil by weight is around 30% oleic acid, which is a great food for yeast cells. so if you get the oil content down low enough, the remaining residue should be broken down even furthur by the yeast themselves.
I always wonder why cereal mashes are done with added barley. Why are the enzymes necessary if the cereal grain is then going to be added to the mash anyway (where there would be enzymes for conversion)?
Try searching Chicha instead.
It will give you better results than just chewing corn.
Discovery Channel did a TV episode with Dogfish to create this Peruvian beverage a short while back. Corn is the major ingredient of this beverage.
From memory, the barley malt is added to cereal mashes to reduce the viscosity of the mash. Too thick, it can char if heated, or just be a pain to handle. The amylase in the malt reduces the dissolved starch molecular weight and that reduces the viscosity of the water phase of the mash.
That's my recollection from reading about this subject a couple years ago. Mind you I have cliff memory, after some time the memory falls off the cliff never to be seen again.
That's my recollection from reading about this subject a couple years ago. Mind you I have cliff memory, after some time the memory falls off the cliff never to be seen again.
My memory too (I think... I've no idea how much I've forgot, but I'm told it's a lot).
You could malt the corn
http://xb-70.com/beer/chicha/ch_malti.htm tells you how to make corn malt.
I don't know how much the corn would then be modified or even if the corn has the correct amount of enzymes to convert many of the starches into sugars. I'd try it as a 40/60 split with Two-row.
http://xb-70.com/beer/chicha/ch_malti.htm tells you how to make corn malt.
I don't know how much the corn would then be modified or even if the corn has the correct amount of enzymes to convert many of the starches into sugars. I'd try it as a 40/60 split with Two-row.
You can use 6-Row for more enzyme power. It is commonly used for light american lagers.
BYO has a recipe for a Dixie Clone that I may try this year, it is composed of 6-row and flaked corn.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/2-row-vs-6-row-59888/
BYO has a recipe for a Dixie Clone that I may try this year, it is composed of 6-row and flaked corn.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/2-row-vs-6-row-59888/
for 5-gal, I would take a pound of 2-row or a half-pound of 6-row, and do a cereal mash with 2-lbs of milled corn, taking it slowly from 110 degrees to 150 and then all the way to boiling (after verifying conversion), and add to the main mash that is at say 130 (use a brewing calculator or some math to result in 150) and you can make some Miller Genuine Draft...... 
I would do it if I had free grain! I use this method with regular quaker oatmeal and stone ground wheat flour for my Wit... yes, a pound of flour, and the mash does not stick....
I would do it if I had free grain! I use this method with regular quaker oatmeal and stone ground wheat flour for my Wit... yes, a pound of flour, and the mash does not stick....Similar threads
