Brown vs white rice syrup

[mloster]

Could I use a syrup made from white rice instead of brown rice syrup in a recipe like dkershner's blonde? Would it affect the color only or also the taste?

 

[MultumInParvo]

I think you are going to be pretty close. I think there are likely to be a LOT of other factors that will change the taste more than that. Even color effects won't be too great. Best of luck!

 

[KevinM]

The coloration of the syrups from what I've seen so far look fairly similar. There will likely be differences in flavor and even fermentation since the white rice syrup will not have been processed with the rice bran, and whatever happens to be in it.

Try a side by side test

 

[adamjg]

I'm a newbie to GF brewing, and this question prompts me to add on one of my own: On this list and elsewhere I have read about the undesirable taste that results from using sorghum syrup. Would it be a bad idea to try to avoid this taste issue by using all rice syrup instead? Thanks for any thoughts on this.

Adam

 

[KevinM]

It... depends. There are certainly some 100% brown rice syrup beers made out on this forum (I think most of them are under Dkershner's page, since we don't have a gluten free recipe list yet). There are taste and texture differences involved when doing different ones. What you should really do is compare yourself. Find what both the taste and mouthfeel differences are, and then decide (and contribute) which situations you feel that 100% BRS is better than mostly sorghum, and vice versa.

There are studies out there that show sorghum as being closest to barley for brewing uses, and rice would be similar to... well.. rice. So you're getting some differences. So your options are: To not use sorghum at all, based on hearsay. Or to test it out first, and based on your experiences, not use sorghum at all, mitigate any effects with other fermentables, hops, flavorings and other changes.

 

[mloster]

@adamjg i've been thinking the same thing. i've brewed a couple sorghum beers, and, while better than no beer, there's a certain funk i cannot get over tasting. that's why i'm moving towards malting my owns grains or possibly trying tapioca syrup along with some malted grains. as i write this, i'm brewing a wheat type beer with sorghum, but after this one, i think i'm permanently moving away from sorghum. that's why i was inquiring about brs or wrs. in a week or so, i'm panning on making a 100% quinoa pilsner. i'll probably create a post documenting the process.

 

[adamjg]

Thanks for the responses. It sounds like there's no technical reason not to use all rice -- it's just a matter of taste. Mloster -- please let us know how the quinoa pilsner comes out.

 

[DKershner]

Even brown rice is only 2SRM or so...so there's not much color either way.

As for 100% brown rice syrup, I dont actually have a recipe that is 100%, I think LCasanova is the only one to do that. I tried a beer with 100% rice syrup and it failed to ferment. Note, that I think this is because the brown rice syrup was 6 months old...not because it isn't possible.

In any case, the taste associated with brown rice syrup is fainter than sorghum, but still present. Sort of like...pineapple maybe? As opposed to lemons with sorghum.

Here is the recipe I tried out with 85% BRS that came out great.

 

[Gengis]

I Totally agree with DKershner. I've tried an all-rice pale ale (80% BRS and 20% dark roasted rice) and the taste is very very fruity and tart. The aromas are those of pineapple and passion fruit. I won't use BRS anymore!

 

[KevinM]

I had recalled someone speaking of it and I guess I thought some of Lcasanovas recipes were therw, including the BRS. I've tried a lager with brs, and use it in combinations. So far, I thinl that what we've defined, is that each person should experiment with everything to find the ways to bring out the desired flavors, and that we do not yet have a magic blend or magic grain.

 

[DKershner]

I Totally agree with DKershner. I've tried an all-rice pale ale (80% BRS and 20% dark roasted rice) and the taste is very very fruity and tart. The aromas are those of pineapple and passion fruit. I won't use BRS anymore!

I actually still think its better than Sorghum. But, still not barley beer of course.

 

[BBBF]

Yeah, I've also made a (roughly) 80% BRS and 20% Sorghum DME, which I described as tasting like pineapple. It was better than 100% Sorghum, but I think the best option is to mix them at the right ratio.