Corn Grits VERSUS Flaked Corn

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shamilton

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Ok, I'm going to be that guy and post this on here because frankly, I just need a little clarification.

Questions are as follows:

1) Difference between the two? I have read that grits have to have a cereal mash and flaked do not.

2) Do the two impart different flavors? Is one more of a prominent corn flavor versus the other?

3) What are acceptable amounts (percentages of grain bill) in an American lager? Please don't tell me scientifically, i.e. how much % I can convert with 6-row versus 2-row...no no, I want to know how much is acceptable TASTE wise. I do not want to brew corn beer.

Thank you for the help!
 
I brewed BierMuncher's Cream of Three Crops Ale using flaked maize and it came out with corn and rice notes, not too unlike a BMC beer but friends all agreed mine was MUCH better. I used different hops (Willamette I believe), too. I was going to use grits but couldn't find them easily in large enough size (I needed about 1.5lbs. IIRC) at the grocery I went to. I will probably try to use them in the future though as LHBS sells flaked maize for like $2.50 a pound :eek:
 
I used ~20% flaked maize and ~5% rice in a blonde ale. It was very light and delicious. I didn't really notice any corn or rice notes. Rice is supposed to add alcohol and lighten the body without adding flavor. I'm blanking on what corn does except for add alcohol and probably lighten the body. I used instant rice, straight in the mash no pre-cooking and I used flaked maize for simplicity, but in the future I'd use grits or polenta. You just need to cook it first. One thing I'd keep in mind is to note how much water goes into cooking the grits and subtract that from the mash in volume.
 
:mug:Right now drinking Cream of Three Crops mentioned above made with instant grits instead of flaked corn and minute rice instead of flaked rice. Turned out great! Straw colored and clear. Picture is warm glass with cold beer so a little foggy;)

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I use instant grits and minute rice in the cream of three crops recipe and it works out just fine. No need for a cereal mash with instant grits and rice.
 
I use instant grits and minute rice in the cream of three crops recipe and it works out just fine. No need for a cereal mash with instant grits and rice.

+1

I just used instant grits on a batch a few weeks ago. I sampled a bottle today, and it's a really good batch of beer!
 
Reviving the thread.

I'm going to use corn for the first time. I know corn doesn't give a LOT of flavor, but I've had pre prohibition lagers before that did have some corn character. I'm looking to get a bit of corn character. Locally, we have polenta and flaked corn. Any idea if I could get corn character from either if I used something like 25%???

Any insight is appreciated.
 
If you have polenta and flaked corn, I would just use flaked for simplicity since you don't have to cook it. In a light lager I'm sure you will be able to taste the corn even with 15%. If you do want to do 25% it should be fine, especially if you like the corn flavor.
 
As I mentioned above I used grits and minute rice when I brewed the Cream of Three Crops. To me the corn taste from the grits is really strong. So much that I'm not enjoying it, since I'm not crazy about the corn flavor. YMMV,

I had split off a gallon the day I brewed, and that gallon was dry hopped with NZ Rakau. That was really good. The hop aroma/flavor cut down on the corn flavor a lot. I wish I would have dry hopped the entire batch!
 
Reviving the thread.

I'm going to use corn for the first time. I know corn doesn't give a LOT of flavor, but I've had pre prohibition lagers before that did have some corn character. I'm looking to get a bit of corn character. Locally, we have polenta and flaked corn. Any idea if I could get corn character from either if I used something like 25%???

Any insight is appreciated.



Oh ya...25% will definitely give you corn character in the Triple. I don't know how that would taste/be characteristic to the style, however, I applaud your innovation. I would like to know how that goes. I use 15% in light lagers and its perfect
 
Oh ya...25% will definitely give you corn character in the Triple. I don't know how that would taste/be characteristic to the style, however, I applaud your innovation. I would like to know how that goes. I use 15% in light lagers and its perfect

I don't much care if it's characteristic to the style. Styles be damned! ;-)

I'm looking to basically make a beer I like anyway and replace the sugar, which is usually a substantial amount in my tripels and most tripels, with corn. I've had good luck with Belgians with a few different grains and think some of the yeasts play well with grain. Anyway, can't hurt to try, I figure. I'd like to get some of the corn flavor to come through.
 
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