How much corn in bitter/mild ?

[jfr1111]

I've looked at quite a few commercial recipes (or at least interpretations of commercial offerings) and many of them include non-sugar based adjuncts such as corn and torrefied wheat. I know about Bob's 80/10/10 (pale/crystal/sugar) rule for designing bitters, but would the corn just sub for the sugar used ? I'm looking at brewing crisp, dry beers.

I'm also interested in its "clearing" properties. I have heard that using corn can help battle haze in light beers because it doesn't bring much to the table in terms of proteins and polyphenols, wich are responsible in great part in haze in beers. Anyoen has experience with this ?

 

[Pappers_]

Take a look at Biermuncher's Cream of Three Crops or YooperBrew's Corn Cream Ale recipes for examples using corn to achieve the effects you're talking about.

Personally, I'm not such a fan of corn in cream ales - I do like using rice, though. It will also lighten and dry out an ale. You can see an example here http://www.singingboysbrewing.com/Drinkability-isn-t-a-word.html

 

[BigEd]

Flaked maize and torrified wheat are common adjuncts in a number of UK pales, bitters and ESBs, however, I don't remember seeing those ingredients much in milds. Using 10% in a bitter is something I have done a number of times with good results. I use it more for a little extra attentuation as opposed to haze reduction per se as UK pale malts are typically low in protein to begin with.

 

[jfr1111]

Any problem with "corn taste" when using a big proportion of flaked maize (10% +, for example).

 

[Pommy]

bringing this back from the dead....

If I were to use 10% flaked maize/torrified wheat how would you expect them to compare? Looking to dial in a simple but solid house bitter

 

[bierhaus15]

bringing this back from the dead....If I were to use 10% flaked maize/torrified wheat how would you expect them to compare? Looking to dial in a simple but solid house bitter

I am not a fan of flaked maize in English bitters. 10% corn will give a distinctly 'corny' taste which, IMO, does not belong in English beers. Torrified wheat will have much less of a flavor impact and will help with head retention tremendously - a lot of English breweries in the North use wheat in their beers. Though at 10% it might make the beer a bit hazy.

 

[BigEd]

Both adjuncts will lighten the flavor and color a bit. A 10% maize addition will not impart a distinct corny taste but will give the beer a subtle softer edge and help a little with attenuation. The torrified wheat adds a touch of mild toasty/grainy flavor and at 10% will not cause any haze problems.

 

[Pommy]

thanks guys, I think I will stick with the torrified wheat that I have used in my previous bitters, just seeing what advice there was for alternatives

 

[MrAverage]

A very quick perusal of the recipes in the Real Ale Almanac (5th edition) by Roger Protz shows that when torrified wheat is used, it's commonly used between 2% and 10% of the total fermentables (10% is very common).

Of those brew that list flaked maize as an ingredient, none that I saw give percentages specifically for the maize(not all of the listings in the Almanac give percentages of each ingredient, some give percentages of total adjuncts when multiple non-malt adjuncts are used) so I cannot know for sure, but it seems like 5-10% is reasonable.

I did note that both adjuncts are used in everything from milds to old ales and one brewery used both torrified wheat and flaked maize in all of their beers.

On the "Shut Up About Barclay Perkins" blog site, several recipes for old commercial English beers (recipes from the actual brewing logs) show flaked maize being used as 5.9 % (1953 Ben Truman Pale Ale), 13% (1923 Barclay Perkins XKL - a bitter), 9.4% (1919 Barclay Perkins X - a mild), 6% (1942 Barclay Perkins KK - a bitter pale ale along the lines of an IPA)...anyway, the list could go on and on.

The point is that traditional English brewers used and continue to use both torrified wheat and flaked maize up to 10% - sometime more - in their milds, bitters and pale ales, so you should feel comfortable doing the same