Poll on winner/loser batch!

[bracconiere]

So someone gave me a bag of expired brown rice 2lb bag. i'm trying to cut back on malt, now that i'm pull low 90% effec. i was going to brew a stout. and thought why not dope it up with the rice.

so recipe is:

10 gallon batch

15lb's pale malt
1lb crystal 60
1lb roast barley
8oz's black patent
2lb's brown rice i threw in the pressure cooker for an hour then, dumpped into my strike water.

i forgot, i'll toss 2oz's of cascade hops in around when i have 60 more minutes in the boil.

 

[IslandLizard]

Of course I had to vote for the last item on your poll!

But seriously, this is not all that far off the path for a dark beer: Brown Rice Guinness.

Brown rice, especially when cooked has its own flavor and aroma. Hard to describe, kinda earthy, husky, wholesome, smells like walking into a health food store. All good.
Some of that slightly rancid, whole grain character, due to it being older or stored warmer, may carry over, even in a darker, somewhat roasty beer. It's all good!

Pressure pre-cooking the brown rice is perfect. You want it to be thin, very soupy, so use plenty of water, at least 2-3 times the weight of rice I'd say. It may also increase in volume and foam like crazy, be aware. I always watch my rice pot for boil/foam overs when cooking rice.
Yes, that rice soup becomes part of your strike water. I do something similar with corn.

 

[bracconiere]

well, it's about chilled to my pitched temp of 80f. (wine yeast, but i'd do it notty too! lol)

see what my gravity is, last i saw in how many gallons brewed in 2020, they were off by half gallon so stopped the boil shy of 10.

be about week, and i'll report back with a very limited person palets opinion. and the reason i don't give up? 2lb's free brown rice just saved me about $4 dollars on a 10 gallon batch!

gravity of 1.060, at 10.5 gallon beersmith tells me i'm on to something with mash/nap time...i was try to duplicate my 97% batch, so i layed down and took a nap after decocing it to 162f.

 

[FromZwolle]

i personally like to start a weird ingredient in a more neutral type of beer so the uh, uniqueness, of the ingredient doesn't get drown out by roasty flavors or mountains of hops, but brown rice seems like it would go great in anything darker than an american amber, excluding shwarzbier.

 

[bracconiere]

i personally like to start a weird ingredient in a more neutral type of beer so the uh, uniqueness, of the ingredient doesn't get drown out by roasty flavors or mountains of hops, but brown rice seems like it would go great in anything darker than an american amber, excluding shwarzbier.

yeah, well, i'm in the mood for dark, and what do they call it in cooking? extender? stretcher? kinda like adding noodles to a chicken stir fry? more filling and cheaper!

being the looming threat of InBev has lessened, i've kinda loosened up & buying malt again, i might price it out and see if maybe 2-3lb's white rice from walmart would cut costs for me....

 

[FromZwolle]

yeah, well, i'm in the mood for dark, and what do they call it in cooking? extender? stretcher? kinda like adding noodles to a chicken stir fry? more filling and cheaper!

filler.

doesn't sound great in food, but i like my glass fillered with beer, so

 

[bracconiere]

filler.

doesn't sound great in food, but i like my glass fillered with beer, so

that's why i don't like fancy big head in my glass!

 

[bracconiere]

well, i carbed it 3.5 hours ago after cold crashing. 1.2oz's co2. pouring it now, perfect head.

i didn't notice the brown rice at first. just the roast barley. but half way trough the glass, i realized it's because the brown rice is blending with, and complimenting, the roast barley flavor. it's a little bitter, something light, but sweet would have helped it, but over-all i like it! 2 kegs to drain, see you all next week brew day tomorrow!

maybe not 60L but 40? or maybe 120, and 20? just for a smooth transition. or could be smoother.

 

[FromZwolle]

that doesn't look like a picture...