Confederate Corn Beer

[Zuljin]

I work with a guy who is big into genealogy. In the course of his hobby, he came across what he called a Confederate almanac. The online reproduction had this recipe.

Corn Beer
Boil one pint of corn in enough water to cover until quite soft. Add one quart of syrup or molasses, a handful of dried apples, one once pulverized ginger, a cup of solid yeast dissolved in warm water and three gallons of water in a jar. Set in a warm place in winter or a cool place in summer. It will be fit for use in two days.

I've not done any research on this to know if it's even legit. It sounds horrible. A cup of solid yeast? Shirley, they mean an amount of yeast dissolved in the cup of water. No mention of covering the jar. Two days isn't long enough for fermentation to finish. Maybe that should be two weeks.

But okay. It's getting brewed this weekend. Not with a cup of yeast though. I'll use one pack of US05.

 

[edco76]

Could explain why they lost the war. Yankees had Yuengling

 

[dkevinb]

It sounds interesting, though I would take the first sips cautiously. Some older styles of beer were shipped and drunk while still in primary fermentation, so it's possible people drank this stuff after two days. If you're desperate enough to try making beer out of boiled corn and dried apples you're probably not too picky about how long it ferments.

 

[dkennedy]

Sounds...unique. Curious to hear the results.

 

[flars]

Found some other interesting receipts (recipes) compiled in 1863. Check page 9.
The yeast may have been proofed, and filled a cup, before it was added.
http://docsouth.unc.edu/imls/receipt/receipt.html

 

[aryoung1980]

The apple water sounds interesting. I might try it.

 

[Zuljin]

Brewed it.

3 ears fresh corn sliced off the cob and boiled.
3 fresh apples cored and chopped. I used Red Delicious, with the peels on.
1 oz chopped ginger
1 quart molasses
Water to 3 gallons

The corn was boiled until quite soft. The molasses was added to the pot at flame out. I figured that was a good way to get thick molasses mixed well into the wort. All that and water to 3 gallons was dumped into the fermenter. The chopped apples and ginger were added to that and stirred well. Once it cools, I'll add 1 hydrated pack of US05.

 

[Zuljin]

The sample OG was 1.044, and tasted like straight up molasses.

 

[Hop_Head_from_Connecticut]

You need to turn the corn starch to sugar for fermentation with amylas enzymes. The recipe sounds like the start of a moonshine recipe. I do know that boiling, or mashing corn won't turn to sugar without some help. Cheerz

 

[coyote68]

sounds interesting Zuljin.....sub'd to see the progress

 

[Zuljin]

1.028 tonight. 2.07% ABV.

It's visibly fermenting. No way this is ready, but it says two days. Okay. I wonder if this was ever meant to be bottled. Maybe they drank it straight away as it was racked off the apples and corn or put into a large leaky wooden barrel keg to be served from.

It tastes predominantly of molasses, followed by corn, with a hint of apple. It is sweet. I've actually got more hope for this than two days ago.

Only three bottles were drawn. Two for the guy and one for me. The rest will be let to ferment completely.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

1.028 tonight. 2.07% ABV.

It's visibly fermenting. No way this is ready, but it says two days. Okay. I wonder if this was ever meant to be bottled. Maybe they drank it straight away as it was racked off the apples and corn or put into a large leaky wooden barrel keg to be served from.

It tastes predominantly of molasses, followed by corn, with a hint of apple. It is sweet. I've actually got more hope for this than two days ago.

Only three bottles were drawn. Two for the guy and one for me. The rest will be let to ferment completely.

http://draftmag.com/how-to-make-chicha/

 

[Zuljin]

It is reminiscent of chicha recipes, and I'd though about smashing the corn.

Jalapeno chicha? Sounds like Mexican cornbread beer. Mangoes, maybe? Or ferment a corn salsa or corn salad? There's all kinds of ways to abominate this.

 

[bob1852]

Sounds a lot like Apache tiswin or tualapai (sp?) that Geronimo and Cochise used to make/drink....very low ABV corn "beer" drank young (not bottled, obviously).

Cochise was said to not like it much because it would make his tummy ache before he got drunk from it.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Sounds a lot like Apache tiswin or tualapai (sp?) that Geronimo and Cochise used to make/drink....very low ABV corn "beer" drank young (not bottled, obviously).

Cochise was said to not like it much because it would make his tummy ache before he got drunk from it.

Not sure if co-worker reference or movie reference.

 

[yeahfairly]

http://draftmag.com/how-to-make-chicha/

Thanks for that link.... good reading!

I reckon that it's a possibility that since the Apache didn't have a reliable Kegerator and that they were surrounded by bad bugs, disease and had an extremely short life span, they figured the longer they let that brew go in the deerskin pouch the higher their chances were of contacting a severe case of the "Back Tepee Door Trots"!!!!!

 

[fuelish]

Jalapeno chicha? Sounds like Mexican cornbread beer. Mangoes, maybe? Or ferment a corn salsa or corn salad? There's all kinds of ways to abominate this.

 

[Zuljin]

Holy molasses, Batman! Right in the mouth. I can taste the corn more, and the apple too. The apple in it is nice. This may be something in another four to six weeks.

 

[ong]

Huh, I would assume they meant dry dent corn, not sweet. And yeah, some kind of enzymes to break down the starch. Sounds interesting though.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Huh, I would assume they meant dry dent corn, not sweet. And yeah, some kind of enzymes to break down the starch. Sounds interesting though.

The corn is not there to ferment. It s there to mask the alcohol behind it from the sugar.

 

[Hop_Head_from_Connecticut]

The recipe does sound interesting. Cheerz

 

[Zuljin]

The coworker I got the recipe from drank one today. He said it was "very good". I doubt that. We'll see in a few weeks.

 

[Zuljin]

1.044 OG
1.006 into secondary, and with all the corn and apples floating around in this, it is in secondary.
ABV is about 5%

It now has a surprisingly thin mouth feel. It tastes of corn, then apples, then corn again. No surprise there. A lot of the molasses flavor has toned down. It still has a sweet molasses flavor, but not, POW! MOLASSES IN YO FACE!, like it did before.

This gives me an idea for later fruit based brews. My WoW inspired Kungaloosh may do well with a few bottles of molasses in it.