Can I use this brand quick grits in place of Flaked Corn?

[IslandLizard]

I'm not sure if hominy grits and masa are the same, I think they may be. I tried these:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/MASECA-Traditional-Instant-Corn-Masa-Flour-4-Lb/10291185and I got good efficiency from them but the masa affected the taste of the beer which I did not like.

Hominy (masa) is made from corn kernels that were treated with lye, which gives it that specific flavor. Although it tastes good in Mexican foods, I'm not surprised you didn't like it in beer.

 

[MHBT]

Makes me wonder if pearled barley can be used in beer? I doubt it but cool finding about the grits

 

[IslandLizard]

Makes me wonder if pearled barley can be used in beer? I doubt it but cool finding about the grits

Yes, you can, pearled barley is raw, unmalted barley, with the husk and bran removed. You do need to mill it, it's not like flaked goods.

Now I'm not sure what the gelatinization temp of pearled barley is. If it's higher than your mash temp, you may need to pre-boil it or perform a cereal mash before adding it to your main mash.

Because it adds no husk material, if you use a large %, and depending on what else is in the mash, you may need to add some rice or oat hulls to keep the mash permeable and prevent it from getting stuck.

 

[MHBT]

Yes you can, pearled barley is raw, unmalted barley, with the husk and bran removed.

Because it adds no husk material, if you use a large %, and depending on what else is in the mash, you may need to add some rice or oat hulls to keep the mash permeable and prevent it from getting stuck.

Awesome thats great to know

 

[IslandLizard]

Now I'm not sure what the gelatinization temp of pearled barley is.

Even though pearled barley is raw, not malted or flaked, according to John Palmer (How to Brew, 3rd Ed., pg. 144), barley starches gelatinize at 140-150F.

So, after crushing they should gelatinize and get converted in the mash as intended.* A pre-boil or cereal mash, before the (main) mash, would not be needed.

* If used in larger percentages, make sure to have ample diastatic power from other, malted grains.

 

[MHBT]

Even though pearled barley is raw, not malted or flaked, according to John Palmer (How to Brew, 3rd Ed., pg. 144), barley starches gelatinize at 140-150F.

So, after crushing they should convert in the mash directly. A pre-boil or cereal mash, before the (main) mash, would not be needed.

Even though it’s different then flaked, in a pinch can it be used to replace flaked barley or will it give a completely different character to the beer? This is really interesting stuff , i always have pearled barley in the pantry for soup and its super cheap, i have some maris otter, r barley left over from yesterdays brew im gonna make a 1 gallon batch of dry irish stout with pearled barley and report back

 

[IslandLizard]

Even though it’s different then flaked, in a pinch can it be used to replace flaked barley or will it give a completely different character to the beer?

Yes, you can replace any or all flaked barley with pearled barley, 1 to 1.

Flaked barley still has some bran and pieces of husk in it (the small brown patches), pearled doesn't. When used in the mash, I would not expect much or any perceptible difference between either, or in the resulting beer.*

So use what's easier available or lighter on your wallet.

* Just a thought, no research or evidence. Pearled barley may be fresher tasting, due to being less processed and oxidized, being small, hard kernels with far less surface area than flaked barley. Something that may also appeal to LoDO brewers.

 

[MHBT]

Yes, you can replace any or all flaked barley with pearled barley, 1 to 1.

Flaked barley still has some bran and pieces of husk in it (the small brown patches), pearled doesn't. When used in the mash, I would not expect much or any perceptible difference between either, or in the resulting beer.*

So use what's easier available or lighter on your wallet.

* Just a thought, no research or evidence. Pearled barley may be fresher tasting, due to being less processed and oxidized, being small, hard kernels with far less surface area than flaked barley. Something that may also appeal to LoDO brewers.

Makes sense about the freshness/ less oxidized, i got some flaked barley one time that must have been extremely old, smelled like raw hide that you give dogs i was like

 

[IslandLizard]

Makes me wonder if pearled barley can be used in beer?

You surely piqued my interest with that question. Never really thought much beyond what's available in the homebrew store.

As an alternative to using pearled barley or flaked barley, an even simpler (and likely cheaper) replacement would be using regular raw, unmalted barley. It's far less processed, not malted, not polished, nor steamed and rolled. Plus you get the husk for free, for easier lautering. Any negatives to using that?

So raw (unprocessed) whole kernel barley must be dirt cheap, such as a decent feed grade barley compared to malting grade.

 

[MHBT]

You surely piqued my interest with that question. Never really thought much beyond what's available in the homebrew store.

As an alternative to using pearled barley or flaked barley, an even simpler (and likely cheaper) replacement would be using regular raw, unmalted barley. It's far less processed, not malted, not polished, nor steamed and rolled. Plus you get the husk for free, for easier lautering. Any negatives to using that?

So raw (unprocessed) whole kernel barley must be dirt cheap, such as a decent feed grade barley compared to malting grade.

Being in the city raw barley animal feed would be more difficult to find unless it in the market and i never saw it

 

[IslandLizard]

Being in the city raw barley animal feed would be more difficult to find

There's baker's grade too.
I used to pick up sacks of (pre-milled) pizza flour at a baker's supply outfit. Not all flour is the same, that was certainly the best flour for pizza. They had all kinds of other grain products too.

Sadly, they did not carry malted barley, which was something I was looking for too and could not find. This was in the early 90s trying to get into homebrewing, Charlie Style.

 

[MHBT]

There's baker's grade too.
I used to pick up sacks of (pre-milled) pizza flour at a baker's supply outfit. Not all flour is the same, that was certainly the best flour for pizza. They had all kinds of other grain products too.

Sadly, they did not carry malted barley, which was something I was looking for too and could not find. This was in the early 90s trying to get into homebrewing, Charlie Style.

I gotcha, this makes me wanna try and make a beer strictly from ingredients from the supermarket minus the yeast and hops

 

[Miraculix]

Depending on the manufacturer, the flaking process heats the barley up and because of that, the flavour changes a bit. I got some flaked barley that smells completely different than non-flaked, it has this nice and almost a bit sweet popcorn type of aroma.

You can of course use the non flaked barley, no problem with that. But you might miss out a bit by not having this extra flaked barley aroma.

 

[MHBT]

Depending on the manufacturer, the flaking process heats the barley up and because of that, the flavour changes a bit. I got some flaked barley that smells completely different than non-flaked, it has this nice and almost a bit sweet popcorn type of aroma.

You can of course use the non flaked barley, no problem with that. But you might miss out a bit by not having this extra flaked barley aroma.

Now making me wonder if you toast the pearled barley in a dry saute pan like indians do with spices to deepen the flavor

 

[IslandLizard]

beer strictly from ingredients from the supermarket

Hard to find any kind of malt in a supermarket... Hard to find a supermarket that sells anything in bulk. The days of bulk bags on the bottom shelves are long gone.

Those familiar 42 oz round boxes with rolled oats is about as bulk as it gets now. But I've been getting the 10# boxes of rolled oats at Sam's or Costco for years. Sadly they're almost $1.20 a pound now.

 

[MHBT]

Hard to find any kind of malt in a supermarket... Hard to find a supermarket that sells anything in bulk. The days of bulk bags on the bottom shelves are long gone.

Those familiar 42 oz round boxes with rolled oats is about as bulk as it gets now. But I've been getting the 10# boxes of rolled oats at Sam's or Costco for years. Sadly they're almost $1.20 a pound now.

Yeah great point

 

[Miraculix]

Now making me wonder if you toast the pearled barley in a dry saute pan like indians do with spices to deepen the flavor

Toasting pearled barley in a pan and grinding it to a flour results in tsampa! The Himalayan staple food since centuries. Tastes nicely nutty when done right

Can be just mixed with water and being eaten directly.

 

[MHBT]

Toasting pearled barley in a pan and grinding it to a flour results in tsampa! The Himalayan staple food since centuries. Tastes nicely nutty when done right

Can be just mixed with water and being eaten directly.

Sweet

 

[MHBT]

Yes, you can replace any or all flaked barley with pearled barley, 1 to 1.

Flaked barley still has some bran and pieces of husk in it (the small brown patches), pearled doesn't. When used in the mash, I would not expect much or any perceptible difference between either, or in the resulting beer.*

So use what's easier available or lighter on your wallet.

* Just a thought, no research or evidence. Pearled barley may be fresher tasting, due to being less processed and oxidized, being small, hard kernels with far less surface area than flaked barley. Something that may also appeal to LoDO brewers.

I went ahead and brewed a 3 gallon batch of dry stout and replaced flaked barley with pearled that i toasted in a pan, all other things the same, the wort was pretty much identical to when i use flaked except flaked seems to create more frothy foam the pearled was less foamy, excited to see how it turns out

 

[MHBT]

Here she is Dry stout with pearled barley, success! very delicious just will change yeast next time but 2 thumbs up