Tortilla Ale Experiment

So I just brewed a highly experimental batch of beer that used Masa (nixtamilized corn flour) as the primary grain.
I really wanted to see what the Masa would contribute to the beer.

As expected laudering was a bit of a nightmare, and the carboy is really full of trub. This is not surprising given that the grain bill was almost pure flour!

Masa is essentially gelatinized corn flour, its cheap, and readily available. I made this batch to better understand this ingredient. Depending on how this turns out, I may start using a couple of pounds of Masa as an adjunct in my brews.

The wort tasted good, and my efficiency was good. I expect it to be tasty, but I probably won't do this again.

The 3.5 gal recipe is below.

Termamyl (thermo stable a amylase) 2 Tbsp
Buckwheat Groats (crushed, coarse) 0.80 lb
Corn Grits/Masa 5.5 lb
Biscut Rice malt 1.00 lb
James Brown rice malt 6.00 oz

SEBamyl L (endo amylase for high maltose syrups) 12.00 ml
SEBpro PL (protease) 7.00 ml
ViscoSEB L (cell wall carbohydrase blend) 7.00 ml

Magnum Hops 0.25 oz (60)
Branched Chain Amino Acids 0.50 Tbsp (60)
Fermax Yeast Nutrient 3.00 tsp (15)
whirlfloc tab 0.50 tab (15)
Amarillo Hop 1.00 oz (10)
Amarillo Hop 1.00 oz (5)
Mosaic Hop 1.00 oz (whirlpool)

US-05 yeast

I will probably dry hop with an ounce of something.

I transferred ~3.8 gal of 1.061 wort into my fermentor...It tasted good. There was a pleasant corn character.
We will see how this goes.

So you made like a, chicha/pale ale hybrid! You're a braver person than I!

Good luck!

I have used polenta flour in some of my lagers, before. Mostly when I was out of flaked corn. Does pretty much the same job. But best putting it into a brewing bag, as it becomes gelatinous.

I bottled this today.
The uncarbonated beer was suprisingly good.
The malt charicter was very subdued but plesant, no off flavors to speak of.
Very nice floral/orange hop aroma.
This will be a nice pale ale.
I will probably add a kilo of Masa to most of my brews from here on out... but will not be using it for the majority of the grain bill only due to the chalanges with laudering.

Legume said:

I bottled this today.
The uncarbonated beer was suprisingly good.
The malt charicter was very subdued but plesant, no off flavors to speak of.
Very nice floral/orange hop aroma.
This will be a nice pale ale.
I will probably add a kilo of Masa to most of my brews from here on out... but will not be using it for the majority of the grain bill only due to the chalanges with laudering.

Click to expand...

This sounds really good to me! You could try BIAB when using masa, so lautering isn't an issue when using more of it. This sounds like something I'd love to try.

I've been afraid to try using masa as an adjunct (15 to 20%) because of the residual lime. Did you have any problems with the pH?

Yooper, I mash in a brew pot (no bag) then pour the mash into a BIAB bag lined zap pap style lauder. Masa is ground very fine, it makes for a sticky mess even in a BIAB bag. I think at 20% of the grain bill it would be no problem...at 80% it was a PITA. All I could think as I was trying to seperate wort from the spent dough ball was ... I wish I had a centerfuge that could accomodate 5 galons of mash!

z-bob, I had the same thought about pH.
I measured my pH at several points throuought the mash (as usual) and everything behaved as usual for me. If there is any residual lime in Maseca brand Masa, its not enough to cause pH problems (even when used as the primary source of fermentables).

Pics or it didn't happen

I've never tried masa, but the times I've ground home malted GF grains into flour were a nightmare. I've had better luck using popcorn from an air popper to add corn.

So now that this is carbonated and cold, I thought I would provide an update.
This is some strange beer!
The masa is too neutral in flavor, it is like a completly blank slate.
The hops I used have an incredably floral charicter, this floral aroma over the top of the softest, lightest, most nutral malt flavor I have had; make for a beer that tastes of orange water/perfume.
Its not bad...but it is not exactly beer.