23 replies to this topic

[earthtone]

6lbs Pilsner8 oz Carapils2.2 lbs fresh popped corn3/4 oz Pearl @ 60US-05yum. just doughed in on this one!

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

6lbs Pilsner 8 oz Carapils 2.2 lbs fresh popped corn 3/4 oz Pearl @ 60 US-05 yum. just doughed in on this one!

air popped? hopefully not in oil like I make my popcorn

[johnpreuss]

Keep us posted. I'm interested on how this goes.

[earthtone]

yup air popped! it was a full 5 gallon pail! I wan't sure it would all fit in the mash tun haha. Smells awesome in the mash, will keep you guys posted!

[Slainte]

What do you think you're gaining by using popped corn as opposed to corn grits normally used?

[earthtone]

@ Slainte: It's cheap for one - less than $2 for 2 lbs. The aroma and flavour both have a popped corn element to them that I am curious to see whether it will persist into the final product. I've never done one with grits so I can only compare to some local micros that I know and their cream ales have no corn flavour evident but the lightness and crispness of their beer is evidence of the corn being in there (as well as the conversations with the brewmasters). I hope that a bit of the flavour persists, but if not at least I will have some data on using popcorn for others who might be interested in this method. Not a lot pops up when you look for examples of beer made this way.

[earthtone]

preboil grav: 1.049 for 6 gallonsthat's high 80's eff by my calculations. I am usually 80% +/- 2% so it looks like the popped corn was very easily converted. The calculator I am using only has flaked corn as an option so I am using that for the predictions.

[ColdAssHonky]

I did my Orville's Jiffy Cream Ale on Memorial day and it's now quieting down in primary. I used 2lbs of air popped corn, abused it with a potato masher and then pulverized it with a hand mixer to break up the larger parts. The mash was very unusual to say the least, but smelled amazing. I can't wait to try this one on draft. I'll post a thread for mine so I can remember to update and I'd love to hear how yours turned out.

[djinkc]

What do you think you're gaining by using popped corn as opposed to corn grits normally used?

Just conjecturing, but grits need to be gelatinized. Cereal mash or boil. Although they will gelatinized at typical mash temperatures it might not take place quick enough to have time to convert. I've done it accidentally a few times - brewday brain fart. It worked out OK, but I wouldn't trust it on a regular basis unless I was doing a really long mash.

Guessing again but I would think air popped corn should be similar to torrefied grain - maybe the same. It should be gelatinized and ready to convert assuming enough diastatic potential is in your base grains. Interesting and I may try it sometime. Don't know if I would be patient enough to pop 3 - 5 lbs of corn though. I'll ask the wife if I can borrow the clothes drier some brewday.

[earthtone]

well I hope the clarity improves a bit but it is damn drinkable on these hot days - the stout on the other tap barely gets touched with this puppy nextdoor. Here's a little pr0n even though it's a touch cloudy. There is a definite corn flavour, I think you would get it from grits or flaked as well but definitely not from rice or corn sugar. Worthwhile, very little work and people love that it's made form popcorn.
httpss://www.me.com/ro/eartht0ne/Galleries/100022/IMG_1604/web.jpg?ver=12780076470001

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

well I hope the clarity improves a bit but it is damn drinkable on these hot days - the stout on the other tap barely gets touched with this puppy nextdoor. Here's a little pr0n even though it's a touch cloudy. There is a definite corn flavour, I think you would get it from grits or flaked as well but definitely not from rice or corn sugar. Worthwhile, very little work and people love that it's made form popcorn.
httpss://www.me.com/ro/eartht0ne/Galleries/100022/IMG_1604/web.jpg?ver=12780076470001

hmmm - I can't get that image to work

[earthtone]

IMG fail

if at first you don't succeed
try try again...




can someone let me know if that one worked?

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

can someone let me know if that one worked?

lookin' good!

[Big Nake]

That looks nice, ET. So I'm envisioning this... you air pop the popcorn and then did you smash it up like MyBeerPants mentioned? I'm trying to envision how all of that popcorn fit into your MT and then I'm trying to envision what happened to it when it hit the mash... it got soggy and then just dissolved in with the rest of the grains? Interesting experiment. Cheers Amigo.

[earthtone]

Ken - just airpopped but I tossed it in whole, didn't grind it or anything. It sure filled up the tun but as I added the hot water it just squished down and ended up being about the same volume as usual. The interesting thing for me was that all the rock hard, half popped kernels that you get were soft and incredibly sweet after the mash was done. There was definitely huge conversion of starch in the mash and some of it was locked away in those little half popped pods but they were like soft sugar soaked popcorn after the sparge. I imagine if you had a food processor you could get more eff out of it but as I mentioned I already hit high 80's and the food processing would only add time - I liked this process because it only added about 20 min. in order to air pop like 20 batches of popcorn. p.s. ken is this cloudiness comparable to your issues with pale beer and chill haze? This one has only been in the fridge 10 days but I don't think I'll get the bright clarity of even the slightly darker brews like MLPA

[nbbeerguy]

could you describe the taste to me Earth

[earthtone]

It tastes like a more flavourful typical BMC ale, an extra dimension of flavour but still a super light summer brew. There is also a soft flavour I attribute to the corn that tastes like air popped popcorn smells rather than like the buttery microwave or theatre popcorn smell. This is just a background flavour as the pilsner malt dominates. The body is quite light and the finish is crisp and dry with just a bit of bitterness. Might be a touch of DMS in there also pushing the corn flavour a bit. There is a little malty sweetness to it but not a real sugary sweetness as I mentioned it's pretty dry (1.010 FG).

[MtnBrewer]

Try some 1187 to give it that buttery flavor.

[earthtone]

Try some 1187 to give it that buttery flavor.

Is that the ringwood? lots of diacetyl??

[MtnBrewer]

Word