Amber lager with corn and orange peel

[sgreene820]

I started a recipe this weekend as follows:

• 3lbs pilsner malt
• 2.5 lbs 6 row pale malt
• 1 lb crystal 80
• 3lbs Bloody Butcher Malted Corn
• 1/4 tsp amylase in the mash to make sure the corn gets converted
• 0.3 oz Magnum hops at 60 min
• 0.5 oz Cascade at 10 min
• 1.5 oz Mandarina Bavaria in a hopstand.
• Imperial Harvest L17 lager yeast

Between those hops and the heirloom corn, I was already picking up a citrus taste to the wort. I'm thinking sweet orange peel or orange zest in the last few days of fermentation. Has anyone added orange peel to an amber? I'm thinking it will go well with this grainbill.

 

[AlexKay]

I like orange peel in the hopstand, but I’m sure it will work in the fermenter as well. As with anything, make your best guess of how much you need, and use significantly less … like, 1/3.

Be sure to let us know how it turns out!

For future iterations, I recommend both Lotus and Bergamot as bringing much stronger orange flavor than Mandarina.

And the trouble with corn won’t be lack of enzymes, but gelatinization of the starch. If you end up with haze or low attenuation, a cereal mash would be indicated.

Is that Sugar Creek corn? They’re the only folks I know of who malt weird corn varietals.

 

[cmac62]

I like orange peel in the hopstand, but I’m sure it will work in the fermenter as well. As with anything, make your best guess of how much you need, and use significantly less … like, 1/3.

Be sure to let us know how it turns out!

For future iterations, I recommend both Lotus and Bergamot as bringing much stronger orange flavor than Mandarina.

And the trouble with corn won’t be lack of enzymes, but gelatinization of the starch. If you end up with haze or low attenuation, a cereal mash would be indicated.

Is that Sugar Creek corn? They’re the only folks I know of who malt weird corn varietals.

Alex the Mandarina Bavaria is a newish hop variety.

 

[AlexKay]

Alex the Mandarina Bavaria is a newish hop variety.

Lotus and Bergamot are newer! And more to my taste. Just sharing an opinion…

 

[doug293cz]

I second the recommendation for a cereal mash for the corn. Boil up a thick porridge of the corn, and then add it to the mash.

Brew on

 

[sgreene820]

And the trouble with corn won’t be lack of enzymes, but gelatinization of the starch. If you end up with haze or low attenuation, a cereal mash would be indicated.

Since I brew with a Grainfather (RIMS), my system is pretty efficient with the mash. It was malted corn, and I took the chance. The wort came out unusually clear (for something with Crystal 80 in it). Fingers crossed!

 

[sgreene820]

Is that Sugar Creek corn? They’re the only folks I know of who malt weird corn varietals.

Riverbend Malting.

 

[AlexKay]

Riverbend Malting.

Where do you order from?

 

[BeerHolic]

As to orange peel only used it in a Witbier
I added as follows.
50g orange peel at 10 min
Prepare the orange peel several days before brewing.
Boil orange peel in 250ml water for 15 min add to jar and refrigerate.
On brew day remove orange peel from jar and add 10 min before end of boil.
Add contents of jar to secondary fermentation.

 

[sgreene820]

Where do you order from?

I bought it from one of my local homebrew supply stores, Annapolis Homebrew.

 

[gleoncavallo]

As a fan of the Amber corn lager style, I am curious to hear your results with the citrus addition. Following

Re: corn additions
I have tried various corn varieties - even a malted corn from Epiphany - but keep going back to the flaked (gelatinized) corn. With the proper amount the flavor comes through, and no cereal mash required.
The sweet spot on my system is ~25% flaked corn to the grain bill

Cheers

 

[tracer bullet]

Re: corn additions
I have tried various corn varieties - even a malted corn from Epiphany - but keep going back to the flaked (gelatinized) corn. With the proper amount the flavor comes through, and no cereal mash required.
The sweet spot on my system is ~25% flaked corn to the grain bill

Whew. I'm fermenting a "Mexican" lager right now with about 15% flaked maize and was thinking I could "just" mash it without special steps. Glad that's (probably) the case.

Lotus and Bergamot sound interesting... I'm always trying to get a little orange flavor in an ESB-like recipe I keep tinkering with. I've got some sweet orange peel on hand but haven't used it yet. Keep hoping I can do it with the yeast and hops.

Orange zest seems like a good idea as well, I've used it also in a Wit but long ago and had crappy anti-oxidation practices. It was underwhelming but I know why now.

 

[sgreene820]

I've shaved a little orange zest into a half shot of white dog corn whiskey (more corn!). I'm going to let it steep for a couple of hours, then pour it into the fermenting wort.

 

[cmac62]

Lotus and Bergamot are newer! And more to my taste. Just sharing an opinion…

LOL, goes to show, don't correct unless you know what is being said. I have never heard of Lotus or Bergamot, but they sound tasty.

 

[sgreene820]

This recipe appears to be fermenting just fine without a cereal mash. I'm at 1.018 right now, still going!

 

[tracer bullet]

Mine is putzing away. I generally trust the yeast to do its job, I've only brewed ales and stick with yeast that goes completely crazy for a few days and so I tend to feel confident and only measure after I've kegged, out of curiosity. The WLP940 right now is a slow but steady fermenter. I probably underpitched though, a single pack into 2.5 gallons might have been on the low side. It'll ferment but hopefully no funny flavors.

I'll be really interested to hear how the orange peel goes. Please don't forget to update!

 

[sgreene820]

This brew finished out at about 1.014, or 5.8% ABV. Photo is from a taste from kegging. It has a surprisingly dry finish but the corn sweetness and a slight clovey flavor are evident. The orange zest I added integrated perfectly, it's evident, but not overwhelming at all. I plan to add a half ounce of Bergamot hops before tapping this keg.

 

[sgreene820]

I started a recipe this weekend as follows:

• 3lbs pilsner malt
• 2.5 lbs 6 row pale malt
• 1 lb crystal 80
• 3lbs Bloody Butcher Malted Corn
• 1/4 tsp amylase in the mash to make sure the corn gets converted
• 0.3 oz Magnum hops at 60 min
• 0.5 oz Cascade at 10 min
• 1.5 oz Mandarina Bavaria in a hopstand.
• Imperial Harvest L17 lager yeast

Between those hops and the heirloom corn, I was already picking up a citrus taste to the wort. I'm thinking sweet orange peel or orange zest in the last few days of fermentation. Has anyone added orange peel to an amber? I'm thinking it will go well with this grainbill.

Well, I'm hear to report that I produced a complex and interesting beer. I definitely would double the amount of orange peel, as that flavor is there, but muted. The corn contribution is complicated. I literally taste something different every time I pull a pint. The color is unique, almost purple in the right light. Dry hopping one oz of Bergamot in the keg was nerve racking, but it mellowed quickly and provides an additional orange grace note. I'll upload an image soon.

Next time? I might dial the corn back a half pound. Maybe add Munich to compensate. Maybe lower mash temperature a shade, the residual sweetness from all of that corn is still noticeable.