The "Adjunct" Beer

People who don't know what they're talking about copied other people who don't know what they're talking about . It continues to be done to this day .

 

What about corn? Would that be an adjunct? ( Corn whiskey....)?

 

"...an adjunct is a carbohydrate source added into the mash.." So yes, corn is indeed an adjunct.

Cheers!

 

Adjuncts are not wheat and oats, it's rice and corn!

 

I like that - true of any forum on any topic on the internet

 

Have you heard of German purity law and a beer style called Hefeweizen? And here's a description from this website.

American Adjunct Lager
Description:
Light bodied, pale, fizzy lagers made popular by the large macro-breweries (large breweries) of America after prohibition. Low bitterness, thin malts, and moderate alcohol. Focus is less on flavor and more on mass-production and consumption, cutting flavor and sometimes costs with adjunct cereal grains, like rice and corn.

 

Malted grains are not adjuncts. Raw or flaked grains are.

Malted wheat in a German wheat beer is not an adjunct. Raw wheat in a Belgian Wit is.

Flaked rye is an adjunct. Malted rye is not.

And so on.

 

The term was originally "malt adjunct" and referred to carbohydrate sources which used enzymes from the malt for conversion into fermentable sugars.
As has already been mentioned, the bulk of beer literature has relied upon regurgitating existing material rather than original research and scholarship.

 

Well, linguistically--for normal people just looking for the right word--it makes perfect sense. What other word were we all supposed to use?

Perhaps I'm too sanguine on the matter, but I don't see too much harm being done here...either to the English language or brewing history. The sun should still rise tomorrow...

 

Additions would do.or flavourings or many other words. But if you misuse the word adjunct what do you use to describe an addition whose primary purpose is to mop up excess enzymes in the malt?

 

I quite agree that there are other viable alternatives in the language, despite my original hyperbole. My main point, if I had one--never a certainty with me, mind you--was that "adjunct" simply comes to mind for many because it fits the case so well.

If that thereby conflates the term with itself when defined much more technically in the context of brewing, I do reckon that could be the source of some confusion for those unaware of the more esoteric meaning. But it wouldn't be a grievous harm, in my humble opinion. Both uses would still be entirely accurate, would they not? And as long as people ultimately understood the nuance, whenever and if ever it really mattered in a particular discussion, any objection would certainly be bordering on the pedantic.

In any event, it's far too late here on the West Coast of the good ole' USA to be debating semantics with someone presumably refreshed and alert after an evening's slumber in the UK. Perhaps we'll carry this forth another day...

 

I feel like that adjunct lager description is a little bias by adding "focus is on less of flavor and more on production and consumption" because i feel that while that is a good thought of how those companies do business, it is not a necessary description on that style of beer.

 

Ok, so let's start a new term.

Additives.

 

The TTB already calls them "exempt ingredients" based on their 2015 Rulling which now permits their use without submitting a formula:
Ingredients and Processes Used in the Production of Beer Not Subject to Formula Requirements

Maybe add "flavoring" to the term to be more specific and abbreviate it as "EFI" (Exempt Flavoring Ingredient).

 

What's your favorite non-exempt flavoring ingredient stout?

 

http://www.greatestbeersoftheworld.com/2013/02/ingredient-series-adjuncts/