|
Post by Leftympfrmde on Mar 19, 2023 19:34:48 GMT -6
For sure. At this point I’ve pretty much decided that oven roasting some Corn Malt is a certainty. And I’ve convinced myself because doing the “toasting” myself might be a nice DIY tip-of-the-cap to the spirit of street corn. Now, while I have no intention of adding mayonnaise to this beer, I may need some community-convincing that chili powder would be a mistake. Anyway, this beer will be brewed sometime in the next few months and I’ll certainly add to this thread when it gets closer to game time. I still need to decide on a yeast (waiting for those Baja reviews to start rolling in) and the best way to add some lime flavor. Hope it works out for you. Ironically enough, stopped by keystone brew supply for a couple things on the way home from the poconos.asked if they stocked Deer Creek corn malt- not on hand, but they can order it.
|
|
|
Post by Megary on Mar 20, 2023 6:25:45 GMT -6
For sure. At this point I’ve pretty much decided that oven roasting some Corn Malt is a certainty. And I’ve convinced myself because doing the “toasting” myself might be a nice DIY tip-of-the-cap to the spirit of street corn. Now, while I have no intention of adding mayonnaise to this beer, I may need some community-convincing that chili powder would be a mistake. Anyway, this beer will be brewed sometime in the next few months and I’ll certainly add to this thread when it gets closer to game time. I still need to decide on a yeast (waiting for those Baja reviews to start rolling in) and the best way to add some lime flavor. Hope it works out for you. Ironically enough, stopped by keystone brew supply for a couple things on the way home from the poconos.asked if they stocked Deer Creek corn malt- not on hand, but they can order it. Nice. How was the place? I've always wanted to get to Keystone Homebrew, but it's just a bit too far for me. I'll remain a loyal on-line buyer however. A few years ago I made some contacts at Deer Creek and I just e-mail them my order whenever I need more malt. They'll ship direct and they always take good care of this small-time homebrewer. (As a side benefit of ordering direct from them, you can add select choices of their beer, as well as any of the baking stuffs they have available.)
|
|
|
Post by Ken on Mar 20, 2023 8:37:29 GMT -6
For sure. At this point I’ve pretty much decided that oven roasting some Corn Malt is a certainty. And I’ve convinced myself because doing the “toasting” myself might be a nice DIY tip-of-the-cap to the spirit of street corn. Now, while I have no intention of adding mayonnaise to this beer, I may need some community-convincing that chili powder would be a mistake. Anyway, this beer will be brewed sometime in the next few months and I’ll certainly add to this thread when it gets closer to game time. I still need to decide on a yeast (waiting for those Baja reviews to start rolling in) and the best way to add some lime flavor. For the lime I think I would just have lime wedges ready and squeeze them fresh into the beer when you tap/serve it. It's the freshest way to get that flavor and you don't have to muck around with the brewing process at all. When I make my American Wheat, I'll sometimes squeeze a lemon wedge into the beer and rub it around the edge of the glass. You get the super-fresh flavor and aroma of the citrus but this way you could also just drink the beer without it or maybe someone is over and they don't want the fruit... so it's like two beers in one. Just thinking out loud. I'm sure you could find a good lime extract and add it to the keg too. There is also something called TRU-LIME. It's a powder and it's made from lime zest (I think) and there's no sugar in it. You can Google it. I think I just realized that I don't know what 'corn malt' is. When it comes to brewing with corn it's always been flaked corn that you get from a brewing supply house. I did use masa harina once (I always have it in the house) when another brewer mentioned it but I only tried that once. What exactly is "corn malt"?
|
|
|
Post by Megary on Mar 20, 2023 10:24:22 GMT -6
Well I'm no maltster, but I believe Corn Malt is similar to Barley Malt or Wheat Malt or Rye Malt. Essentially the corn kernel goes through the "Malting" process of steeping ---> germinating ---> drying/kilning, unlocking those great starch reserves. The malt then has to be milled and mashed for conversion.
Of course, that might not have been what you meant.
EDIT: Great point on the lime flavor. A slice in the glass at serving makes perfect sense.
|
|
|
Post by Ken on Mar 20, 2023 12:06:07 GMT -6
Well I'm no maltster, but I believe Corn Malt is similar to Barley Malt or Wheat Malt or Rye Malt. Essentially the corn kernel goes through the "Malting" process of steeping ---> germinating ---> drying/kilning, unlocking those great starch reserves. The malt then has to be milled and mashed for conversion. Of course, that might not have been what you meant. No, that's exactly what I was after. Flaked corn is so yellow and looks like it was pressed flat by whatever process. So does "corn malt" keep it's normal look and shape? Does it still look like kernels of corn when you get it? If so, now I'm intrigued. I think you would be best served by the wedge of lime. I notice that when you try to add a fruit flavor to beer some other way it tends to get scrubbed out and muted a little bit and it doesn't taste as fresh. Good luck on the beer. I do not plan on brewing with the Baja yeast VERY soon because I have 2124 running now. But someone posted some results under the YEAST subcategory over on AHA and I thought there were some detailed notes taken by someone who bought an entire brick of Baja.
|
|
|
Post by Megary on Mar 20, 2023 13:26:47 GMT -6
Just looks like Corn kernels. This is Deer Creek's Pale Corn Malt. 5/13 Edit*** This is not what the Blue Corn Malt looked like in the beer I brewed that follows below. The Blue Corn Malt has clear blue-purple notes and a whitish background. There is no “yellow” to it at all.
|
|
|
Post by Ken on Mar 20, 2023 14:10:16 GMT -6
Okay and then you would run that through the mill and mash as usual? It may just be a blind spot for me but when I see homebrewers mention "corn" in a beer I almost always envision flaked corn. I could also see this stuff being toasted/kilned (whatever the term) to various degrees to get different characteristics from it. I wonder how the finished beer would differ between this and flaked corn... or if it would differ at all. I found this... Interesting.
|
|
|
Post by Leftympfrmde on Mar 20, 2023 17:03:55 GMT -6
Hope it works out for you. Ironically enough, stopped by keystone brew supply for a couple things on the way home from the poconos.asked if they stocked Deer Creek corn malt- not on hand, but they can order it. Nice. How was the place? I've always wanted to get to Keystone Homebrew, but it's just a bit too far for me. I'll remain a loyal on-line buyer however. A few years ago I made some contacts at Deer Creek and I just e-mail them my order whenever I need more malt. They'll ship direct and they always take good care of this small-time homebrewer. (As a side benefit of ordering direct from them, you can add select choices of their beer, as well as any of the baking stuffs they have available.) It's a long trip for me as well- but worth the trip. Started going there a few bags of grain for the brew club and myself. It's a large store- and well stocked with ingredients, gear and commerical tap handles. Totally worth the 2 hour round trip to haul a dozen bags of base grain.
|
|
|
Post by Megary on May 12, 2023 9:44:05 GMT -6
Tomorrow will be my first pass at this Street Corn Lager. 84% Deer Creek Colonial Pils 16% Deer Creek Pale Blue Corn Malt (oven roasted) 18-20 IBU's of Magnum at 60 Baja Mexican Lager Yeast Serve with a slice of lime. I decided to roast the dry Blue Corn Malt in the oven at 325° for about 30-35 minutes. Unlike roasting a typical 2-row or Maris Otter, the kitchen did not fill up with Grape Nuts and graham cracker aromas. Rather, what I got was more reminiscent of popcorn, with a bit of biscuit thrown in. When the aroma got interesting enough and before it went over the cliff, I pulled the malt and let it cool. Tasting the roasted corn malt did give some nice nutty flavors with a bit of toast. The trademark "sweetness" of corn, which was very present in the un-toasted malt, was hardly noticeable in the roasted grains. I don't expect any "Munich" characteristics from the way I dry-roasted the malt, but I do wonder what the difference would have been had I soaked the corn prior to roasting?? An experiment for another day. Anyway, tomorrow, while the beer is getting brewed, I will also mini-mash some roasted corn malt and regular blue corn malt and do a side-by-side comparison in aroma, taste and color. Hopefully this will give me a solid baseline for future whacks at this beer.
|
|
|
Post by Leftympfrmde on May 12, 2023 14:09:23 GMT -6
Tomorrow will be my first pass at this Street Corn Lager. 84% Deer Creek Colonial Pils 16% Deer Creek Pale Blue Corn Malt (oven roasted) 18-20 IBU's of Magnum at 60 Baja Mexican Lager Yeast Serve with a slice of lime. I decided to roast the dry Blue Corn Malt in the oven at 325° for about 30-35 minutes. Unlike roasting a typical 2-row or Maris Otter, the kitchen did not fill up with Grape Nuts and graham cracker aromas. Rather, what I got was more reminiscent of popcorn, with a bit of biscuit thrown in. When the aroma got interesting enough and before it went over the cliff, I pulled the malt and let it cool. Tasting the roasted corn malt did give some nice nutty flavors with a bit of toast. The trademark "sweetness" of corn, which was very present in the un-toasted malt, was hardly noticeable in the roasted grains. I don't expect any "Munich" characteristics from the way I dry-roasted the malt, but I do wonder what the difference would have been had I soaked the corn prior to roasting?? An experiment for another day. Anyway, tomorrow, while the beer is getting brewed, I will also mini-mash some roasted corn malt and regular blue corn malt and do a side-by-side comparison in aroma, taste and color. Hopefully this will give me a solid baseline for future whacks at this beer. Good luck!
|
|
|
Post by Ken on May 13, 2023 7:02:01 GMT -6
How did you come up with the idea of roasting the corn? You're pushing some buttons I have never pushed before. I'm going to start subscribing to your newsletter and following you on the Gram.
|
|
|
Post by Megary on May 13, 2023 8:34:34 GMT -6
How did you come up with the idea of roasting the corn? You're pushing some buttons I have never pushed before. I'm going to start subscribing to your newsletter and following you on the Gram. Not my fault! I didn’t come up with the idea, Lefty did! Back on 3/18. See, I wanted to use Deer Creek’s Toasted Corn Malt but they didn’t have any. So Lefty said, “why don’t you just toast your own so we can all get a good chuckle out of this”. Well…maybe not the exact words used… Anyway, this has been a great learning experience. I’ll post more later, boil is ending as I type.
|
|
|
Post by Megary on May 13, 2023 11:45:29 GMT -6
Brew day was a success! Sample taste into the fermenter was very promising so as long as I don’t jazz the fermentation, hopes will be high. Here’s a comparison of just the Corn Malt, roasted and plain. Tasting notes: Deer Creek Blue Corn Malt Aroma was like freshly husked corn. Taste was clean and corn-on-the-cob sweet. Deer Creek Blue Corn Malt, roasted at 325F for 30-35 minutes Aroma was like a 2-row Barley mash. Taste was tea-like, a bit nutty and what reminded me of a standard barley wort. If you’ve ever had “Barley Tea”, this was very similar to that. (If you haven’t tried Barely Tea, you really should. A great NA summer drink for beer lovers.) Here’s a shot of my mini-mash that I used to compare roasted vs. not. Crazy how purplish the regular Blue Corn Malt “wort” was.
|
|
|
Post by Ken on May 14, 2023 9:08:40 GMT -6
Mmm, can't wait for the tasting notes on the finished beer. I like this experiment.
|
|
|
Post by Leftympfrmde on May 14, 2023 11:53:35 GMT -6
How did you come up with the idea of roasting the corn? You're pushing some buttons I have never pushed before. I'm going to start subscribing to your newsletter and following you on the Gram. Not my fault! I didn’t come up with the idea, Lefty did! Back on 3/18. See, I wanted to use Deer Creek’s Toasted Corn Malt but they didn’t have any. So Lefty said, “why don’t you just toast your own so we can all get a good chuckle out of this”. Well…maybe not the exact words used… Anyway, this has been a great learning experience. I’ll post more later, boil is ending as I type. Lol- I just suggested cutting out the middle man and toast your own corn malt! Truth be told, I really like the idea of this recipe- if it's a success, wouldn't mind trying my own version of it. If it's a failed experiment, wouldn't mind going over what Megary didn't like about it, and try a 2.0 version.
|
|