Cigar Smoked Malt?

[FatDragon]

I've got a box of stogies that are more or less unsmokeable because of a light white mold on the outside of 1/3 of the wrapper. The cedar-wrapped portion of the cigars is unaffected and it doesn't seem that the mold goes any deeper than the wrapper or maybe the binder on the other part. I've had this crazy idea about cigar-smoked malt for a while and this is the perfect time to try it if it's worth trying.

That said, is it worth trying? I'm not going to smoke out my neighborhood (or more likely, my buddy's brewpub since he's got a smoker and the neighbors and patrons are used to putting up with people smoking there) with 20 half cigars unless there's a decent chance of something that will taste good and not give us cancer to drink. I'm not worried about the mold since we can remove all of the moldy leaf without any trouble, but will the cigar smoke give the malt a nice cigar-smoke note or a nasty ashy one, and will it impart a bunch of nasty tobacco carcinogens into the malt or no more than smoking with wood does?

 

[AkTom]

There’s one way to find out. Try it. If you die of have cancer in six months we will know, never do a cigar smoked malt.

 

[gratus fermentatio]

Just an FYI: Nicotine is a toxin & can cause poisoning, here's some info on it from Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicotine_poisoning

I wouldn't use tobacco itself for that reason. Also, I think if you tried to smoke the malt with tobacco, it would end up smelling & tasting like an ashtray. Just my 2 cents worth.
Regards, GF.

 

[FatDragon]

Just an FYI: Nicotine is a toxin & can cause poisoning, here's some info on it from Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicotine_poisoning

I wouldn't use tobacco itself for that reason. Also, I think if you tried to smoke the malt with tobacco, it would end up smelling & tasting like an ashtray. Just my 2 cents worth.
Regards, GF.

You're right. It's a terrible idea. The more I think about it, the more I think it's totally idiotic in more ways than one...

 

[Schlenkerla]

You're right. It's a terrible idea. The more I think about it, the more I think it's totally idiotic in more ways than one...

I've done it in my smoking gun on inverted drinking glasses. Then poured beer into them. Not to bad with the right beer and smoke.

Pipe tobacco was no good, same with cigars.

Smoked a wine carafe of cheap Canadian Whisky with it.... It's was like French kissing 60 year old whore from Montreal who chain smoked white owls.
[emoji14]

 

[Beewrangler63]

Are you sure its mold on the cigars and not bloom of the crystallized oils?

 

[Schlenkerla]

I've got a box of stogies that are more or less unsmokeable because of a light white mold on the outside of 1/3 of the wrapper. The cedar-wrapped portion of the cigars is unaffected and it doesn't seem that the mold goes any deeper than the wrapper or maybe the binder on the other part. I've had this crazy idea about cigar-smoked malt for a while and this is the perfect time to try it if it's worth trying.

That said, is it worth trying? I'm not going to smoke out my neighborhood (or more likely, my buddy's brewpub since he's got a smoker and the neighbors and patrons are used to putting up with people smoking there) with 20 half cigars unless there's a decent chance of something that will taste good and not give us cancer to drink. I'm not worried about the mold since we can remove all of the moldy leaf without any trouble, but will the cigar smoke give the malt a nice cigar-smoke note or a nasty ashy one, and will it impart a bunch of nasty tobacco carcinogens into the malt or no more than smoking with wood does?

Still you can smoke a small amount of grain like a pound using a spaghetti sieve and a pot that has a lid

Wet the grain with distilled water. It must be distilled to avoid chlorophenols from city water. Use about 3/4 cup water per pound. Put it in your sieve.

Fire up your moldy cigars, maybe with a blow torch, throw it in the bottom of the pot, put the sieve with grain on top and the lid. Let it smoke for the 2 hours if its gonna last that long.

Air out the grain for two weeks on cookie sheet then smell it and make a grain tea with it. If it tastes like a sweet moldy cigar you have your answer.

 

[FatDragon]

Are you sure its mold on the cigars and not bloom of the crystallized oils?

I've never heard of this. I recalled it as being a thin layer of white, but it's actually little spots, almost like little round white colonies. Definitely a bit of fine fuzz like a mold colony. Does that sound like this bloom you're talking about?

 

[Schlenkerla]

I've never heard of this. I recalled it as being a thin layer of white, but it's actually little spots, almost like little round white colonies. Definitely a bit of fine fuzz like a mold colony. Does that sound like this bloom you're talking about?

Close up pictures might help... I personally can't answer even if I saw the pictures.

 

[Beewrangler63]

You can tell the difference between bloom and mold by scraping off a little. Mold will leave a stain and if its bloom there will be no stain left after u scrape off a sample.

 

[papz]

Have you ever drank a rauchbier?
Do you like them?
I have only tried a few of them and to me, they taste like how you would imagine ash tray water would.
YMMV

 

[Schlenkerla]

Have you ever drank a rauchbier?
Do you like them?
I have only tried a few of them and to me, they taste like how you would imagine ash tray water would.
YMMV

It's like drinking, formula, soda, lemonade, coke, coffee, beers, IPAs, Belgians and Sours for the first time. At first its like WTF. Then you grow into them.

 

[papz]

Sure, you can force yourself to drink them until you like them just like anything.......(not for me)
You only get one chance to make a first impression.
I don't personally like them nor do i have interest in drinking them again. If you like them, great. You can have at them all you want.
Prost.

 

[Schlenkerla]

Sure, you can force yourself to drink them until you like them just like anything.......(not for me)
You only get one chance to make a first impression.
I don't personally like them nor do i have interest in drinking them again. If you like them, great. You can have at them all you want.
Prost.

At one time Budweiser, Miller and Coors were great. At 21-24 years old... 1987-1990. They are plain like white wonder bread. How exciting!!!

You still eat peanut butter and jelly, in white bread with crusts cut off? Just kidding!!!

One branches out to more mature tastes... I once hated brussel sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli and asparagus. Mainly because they were steamed/boiled to death. Now I eat them without disdain because they are usually wrapped or fried in bacon grease or covered with cheese.

I'm not saying you need to like it, or force yourself to like it if it's something you detest. I get it some people's taste never change.

More simply put, I didn't like IPAs at first. I also couldn't drink sours. I eventually came around to them. Maybe it's more due a developing sense of taste while brewing and exposure to various breweries beers. While both styles aren't my favorite beer style either, I can find myself liking a glass every now and then.

I will say my 2nd homebrew was rauchbier. I was hooked immediately. I'd say it was partially the novelty of making alcohol that impressed me. I like smokey, and charbroiled foods though.

Prost!

One for you [emoji481] and one for me [emoji481].