Just like I brewed three beers with flaked grains to understand what mouthfeel characteristics they brought to NEIPAs, Mike brewed three beers for a flaked adjunct comparison. We wanted to understand the difference between flaked grains that lighten beers. Check out this video where we taste and discuss our findings.
Flaked Grains to Lighten Beers
I am not sure if this sentiment still exists, but brewing with rice or corn was frowned upon when we first started brewing. Maybe this notion is a relic of the past, but brewing all malt beers (without adjuncts) were a way to show the world that homebrewers didn’t cut corners on ingredients. With time, Mike and I have come to understand that these flaked grains are just another color on the palette. They should be used when needed for the desired result.
Even though we understood it was ok to brew with them, we don’t have much brewing experience. We have brewed with flaked corn (maize) before but not rice. This experiment was conducted to help us understand the difference between the two.
What Differences Did We Pick Up?
Mike brewed three small batch brews. The first one was an all-malt beer to be used as our control. The second one was brewed with the same malt, but 10 percent of the grain bill was replaced with flaked corn. The third and last beer – the same deal. It was also brewed with that base malt but 10 percent of the grain bill was flaked rice.
All Malt Beer – Tasting this beer set our baseline for flaked adjunct comparison. Once we tasted the other two, the body of this beer seemed quite heavy. It was clear that using either of these flaked grains as 10 percent of the grain bill would have a dramatic effect on the body of your beer.
Beer Brewed with Flaked Corn – Again, certainly had a lighter body than the control. There was a perceived sweetness in the aroma. That same sweetness was slightly present in the flavor.
Beer Brewed with Flaked Rice – The body of this beer was the same as the flaked corn one. The aroma and flavor was cleaner – it didn’t have the same notes as the corn beer did.
Overall, this comparison was enlightening (pun intended). I personally would like to brew with some flaked rice this summer to brew a clean light lager for those days you need a refreshing thirst quencher.
What’s your experience with these flaked grains?
BREW ON!
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