Odd Ingredient Help: Mac'n'cheese Powder

[MrCerealKiller]

(Not sure if this is the appropriate place to post. Apologies, I'm new to the forum.)

A picture of the "Kraft Double Cheese IPA" has become somewhat of a joke among my friends:


I was thinking about trying to make it a reality as a joke gift for an upcoming occasion. I understand this may be sacrilege and I'm certainly not expecting it to taste very good, but I'm wondering if there is a way to approximate this.

I know that the powder in the Mac'n'cheese is actually mostly whey, but there are some amounts of milk product. There is also the possibility of enzymes/cultures being present, but this should be in incredibly small amounts if any... I was considering dissolving the cheese powder in water and adding it during secondary fermentation. This seems like the most obvious thing to try... I am kind of assuming that by the time it reaches secondary fermentation, the environment is too harsh (alcoholic/acidic) for anything strange to happen with the addition of powder itself (apart from the usual things that could go wrong).

If anyone foresees ways this could go horribly wrong, has a suggestion of what ratio to start out with, or knows a way to approximate the flavour without using the cheese powder, I'm all ears.
Generally, I'm just not sure how feasible this is. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Jayjay1976]

Interesting idea.
A few years back, some chef came up with a way to "extract" or isolate the flavor from Doritos, de-fatted and all, and the result was a clear consomme. It made quite a splash, and was on the menu at his restaurant. I think it was Wiley Dufresne and his restaurant was called WD-50. Famous guy in molecular gastronomy.

I'll Google up some more specifics and post back, but I'm pretty sure you could duplicate his process with cheese powder.

Edit: here's the recipe. You can skip some steps here since you don't need to separate the cheese powder from the corn chips. Good luck!

https://www.chowhound.com/recipes/doritos-consomme-with-shrimp-smoked-corn-and-cilantro-30215

 

[Sunfire96]

Use some super old cheesy hops?

 

[Jayjay1976]

Use some super old cheesy hops?

I have some super cheesy old hops, like 20+ years old. In addition to the strong cheesy smell, there is an intense herbal aroma that could be amazing to cook with. When I brew with them, the smell coming from the kettle is really appetizing. Might go well with the Mac & Cheese theme.

 

[DannyBoy270]

Could try to make a tincture maybe good luck

 

[Bramling Cross]

I suppose the main thing that I would be concerned about is gumming up the plumbing in whichever vessels are exposed to the powder and then getting those vessels clean and sanitary after the project. I'm a sucker for the lolz, but fermenters, fittings, and kegs are expensive.

To that end, I like Jayjay (pretty straightforward by molecular gastronomy standards, despite its disappointing lack of liquid nitrogen ) and DannyBoy's suggestions. They both allow you to filter the solids out and give you some control over the flavor profile of the finished product. I also searched for a mac and cheese flavoring extract, but no luck.

Is this going to be bottled or force carbed? If you're going for natural carbonation, I suppose there's a bit of an unknown quality regarding the powder's effects on your yeast, but it likely isn't anything that will pose a problem.

 

[Transamguy77]

Found it on Amazon, I couldn’t figure out how to add a link, it’s early and I haven’t had any coffee yet.

Personally I’d make a half a batch and bottle it all then no keg, lines or tap to worry about cleaning. This will either be totally epic or hilariously horrible either way you gotta post back.

 

[Jayjay1976]

To that end, I like Jayjay....

Yikes.

 

[bracconiere]

i'm thinking, ~70% wheat malt, ~30% oat malt, maybe 60/40 for the sake of the sparge...

https://www.amazon.com/Cheddar-Chee...t=&hvlocphy=9051700&hvtargid=pla-570059232361
added to taste after the boil. but might want to try something besides hops to preserve it for a long trip?

 

[Velnerj]

Maybe in the mash in case there are starches? Perhaps some of it will convert to Mac and cheese alcohol?

 

[Snark_Wolf_Brewing]

Welcome to Homebrewtalk.

 

[Bramling Cross]

Yikes.

What can I say...

It's the soulful eyes. They get me every time.