My corn doesn't taste like anything.

[user 141939]

My last batch of kiss yer cousin kentucky common ale had 3 pounds of flaked corn.

Like a good brewer, I ate some before brewing, it had like no taste. I mean, maybe if I ate a mouthful of them I could taste something but gee whiz.

What's a guy gotta do to get some good corn around here? I mean, I can just imagine the kind of raw material whoever the hell is making that crap is using, no wonder it has no taste. Maybe it's a good thing. I don't know.

 

[Yooper]

My last batch of kiss yer cousin kentucky common ale had 3 pounds of flaked corn.

Like a good brewer, I ate some before brewing, it had like no taste. I mean, maybe if I ate a mouthful of them I could taste something but gee whiz.

What's a guy gotta do to get some good corn around here? I mean, I can just imagine the kind of raw material whoever the hell is making that crap is using, no wonder it has no taste. Maybe it's a good thing. I don't know.

The corn in brewing is to provide fermentables and lighten the body, although if a LOT is used, you might pick up a slight hint of sweet in the aroma from the corn.

 

[JKaranka]

It was used a lot in late Victorian times because it was a) cheap, b) had very little effect on flavour, c) was very pale in colour. Perfect for when pale ales aimed at being as pale as possible.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

How do your peanuts taste?

 

[user 141939]

Flaked Peanuts? I haven't tried them.

I was just wondering if everyone else corn didn't taste like anything. And I supposed maybe it would be gross if it did have a taste. I guess corny beer is probably not good.

 

[dcbw]

It tastes a bit like cornflakes to me. Not much flavor at all.

 

[user 141939]

Yes , i see kellogs corn flakes has sugar, salt, and malt flavor. I bet if it didn't it was also taste like nothing.

 

[gundarak]

What if you took a bunch of corn and essentially juiced it, then add that as part of the mash water?

I can see something like that working and having a lot of corn flavor, but i wonder how much will be lost during fermentation. corn is very sweet and doesnt have much of its own essence if the sweetness is removed.

why not add some mashed corn to the secondary for a few days?

It'd be a lot of experimenting to figure out how to get some good corn flavor in a beer

 

[1977Brewer]

There's an easy way to do that. It's called DMS. Just leave a lid on your kettle for the whole boil. BAM corn beer.

 

[FarmerTed]

I brewed a CAP last fall, and the flaked corn I used tasted like nothing as well. It's better than tasting like crap. The beer was good, though. You could try a cereal mash with some fancy polenta, but I doubt it would matter that much.

 

[Magnus314]

Use grits if you want more corn flavor. Use Polenta or fine corn meal if you want even more corn flavor than that.

 

[user 141939]

Do grits/polenta require cereal mash? I think I'll try this out.

 

[IslandLizard]

Do grits/polenta require cereal mash? I think I'll try this out.

Absolutely!

But why do you want corn flavor in beer? Many macro brewers add corn to increase ABV without adding body and flavor. Some have switched to rice as it has even less presence. American light lagers are brewed with 40% or more of adjuncts, like corn and rice.

 

[Magnus314]

The short answer is no.

But just know that corn meal in a mash tun can definitely give you a stuck sparge, and if you use grits, use instant or 5 minute grits.

I used to boil cornmeal or grits in some of the strike water and add cool water until i got to dough in temps. Now I just mix it right in to the mash. But I BIAB, so I never get a stuck mash.

 

[user 141939]

Absolutely!



But why do you want corn flavor in beer? Many macro brewers add corn to increase ABV without adding body and flavor. Some have switched to rice as it has even less presence. American light lagers are brewed with 40% or more of adjuncts, like corn and rice.

I probably don't. If you go back to my first post, i mention it's maybe a good thing that it has no flavor. But IDK, for something like a kentucky common, perhaps a subtle corniness might be neat, maybe not though!

 

[Magnus314]

Corn definitely has a flavor in beer. Even flaked corn.

To me, rice has very little flavor though.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

Do grits/polenta require cereal mash? I think I'll try this out.

I was wondering the same thing.I read you can get a stuck sparge without the cereal mash,a non issue with BIAB.But I also read you NEED to cereal mash to get the fermentables out(or something to that effect) Does this apply to corn meal as well? Some say you need to do it,some say you don't. Is there a definitive answer?..I cant find one

 

[FarmerTed]

I was wondering the same thing.I read you can get a stuck sparge without the cereal mash,a non issue with BIAB.But I also read you NEED to cereal mash to get the fermentables out(or something to that effect) Does this apply to corn meal as well? Some say you need to do it,some say you don't. Is there a definitive answer?..I cant find one

I think if it's quick-grits, you don't need to do the cereal mash, but for regular grits or polenta (ones that take a while to cook), you need the cereal mash.

 

[IslandLizard]

Do grits/polenta require cereal mash? I think I'll try this out.

The short answer is no.

But just know that corn meal in a mash tun can definitely give you a stuck sparge, and if you use grits, use instant or 5 minute grits.

I used to boil cornmeal or grits in some of the strike water and add cool water until i got to dough in temps. Now I just mix it right in to the mash. But I BIAB, so I never get a stuck mash.

I got most of the information from Palmer's How to Brew, especially pp. 173-175 (cereal mashing).

As long as the grain is fully gelatinized, the enzymes can get to work and break down the starches into fermentable sugars. Instant grits and flaked corn have been heat treated to a certain point so they can go straight into the mash (milled of course), but could benefit from some pre-mash treatment, such as boiling or a cereal mash, to convert more completely.

To fully gelatinize the starches in regular grits (as well as steel cut oats, milled wheat berries, and all other raw untreated grains, etc.) they need to be cooked first, and a cereal mash will be more efficient. During a cereal mash, a beta glucanase rest helps to break down the beta-glucan and gummy polysaccharide matrix that holds the starch granules, but since corn and rice contain very little protein you can skip the beta glucanase rest for them.

I was wondering the same thing.I read you can get a stuck sparge without the cereal mash,a non issue with BIAB.But I also read you NEED to cereal mash to get the fermentables out(or something to that effect) Does this apply to corn meal as well? Some say you need to do it,some say you don't. Is there a definitive answer?..I cant find one

Corn meal is ground finer than grits, but the starches have not been gelatinized, so yes, a cereal mash is in place.

With corn and rice the risk of a stuck sparge is much smaller since the protein levels are much lower than in barley, wheat, rye, oats, etc.

 

[IslandLizard]

Corn definitely has a flavor in beer. Even flaked corn.

To me, rice has very little flavor though.

Yes, you can smell and taste it clearly in Miller Lite, which contains up to 40% of corn adjuncts.

Rice has even less flavor, but is detectable if you know what to look for.

"The lack of flavor is sometimes the flavor."

 

[user 141939]

Good stuff.

 

[user 141939]

This beer has close to 30% flaked corn so I shall see. I havent had a miller lite in a while but I'll pirck one up

 

[Magnus314]

I know for sure that fine corn meal and instant or 5 minute grits don't need a cereal mash.
It seems that corn gelatinizes at mash temps.

Rice has to be cooked first.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

I know for sure that fine corn meal and instant or 5 minute grits don't need a cereal mash.
It seems that corn gelatinizes at mash temps.

Rice has to be cooked first.

Everything Ive read said just dump the rice in the mash,no pre cooking

 

[Yooper]

Everything Ive read said just dump the rice in the mash,no pre cooking

No, it needs to be cooked unless you're using flaked rice or Minute Rice.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

AHH. I got minute rice.Brew day tomorrow.Trying to get the plan together. Never brewed with rice or corn

 

[Jonkl]

If your really want corn flavor, use frozen sweet corn. I toss mine straight in the mash, with 6-row for the extra diastatic power. At the end of the summer, I'm going to try fresh, steamed sweet corn, and add the corn cobs to the mash, too. There's supposed to be a ton of flavor in them, though I haven't tried it.

 

[fleeba409]

How do your peanuts taste?

HOLY BALLS! i had the exact same thought. That's probably weird.

 

[user 141939]

If your really want corn flavor, use frozen sweet corn. I toss mine straight in the mash, with 6-row for the extra diastatic power. At the end of the summer, I'm going to try fresh, steamed sweet corn, and add the corn cobs to the mash, too. There's supposed to be a ton of flavor in them, though I haven't tried it.

What kind of beers are you doing this in?

 

[Jonkl]

Mostly just a cream ale. But it would work in pretty much any lighter, high-adjunct beer.