Using 6-row and flaked corn

Patrik, as long as you are using flaked corn a single temperature infusion mash will work just fine. When I homebrew my CAP beers I mash for 60 minutes at 154 degrees F.

I am curious, what is your source for 6-row malt; which malting company? Is it easy for you to get?

Cheers!

P.S. Jeff Renner coined a term of Classic American Cream Ale (CACA); will you be brewing this sort of beer?

 

When I did my cream ale it was 20% flaked corn, 50% 6-row and 20% 2-row with the remaining balance of munich, 20L and cara-pils. I did a single infusion at 154F for 60mins... End result was awesome! No mash or sparge issues at all, just like any other beer I have done.

 

I used to professionally brew a lager that was 60% flaked corn and 40% 2-row (which has less husk than 6-row) and there were no issues with the corn, you just mash it as you normally would.

One "secret" that I learned from the big brewers was that you should do a thin mash. This goes against the common homebrew theory that your enzymes need to be tight in a thick mash to work, but I never had any problem with conversion. The thin mash is actually done for pH balance as you should need to add less sparge water afterwards.

 

Thanks for that link to Castle Malting company. I was not aware of European 6-row malt.

A CACA has basically the same hop schedule as a CAP: Cluster for bittering and Continental hops (e.g., Saaz, Hallertau Mittelfruh, Styrian Goldings) for flavor/aroma. Obviously the difference between a CACA and a CAP is yeast; the CACA would use an ale yeast strain, preferably a neutral strain (e.g. California Ale (US-05/WY1056/WLP001), German Ale (WY1007), ...).

Using something other than Cluster for bittering is no big deal if you would prefer to use a 'fresher' hop. Otherwise you could use the 2013 Cluster pellet hops but use a bit more than originally planned to account for loss of Alpha Acids due to age. Below is a link to an online calculator that you can use in this regard.

http://brewerslog.appspot.com/HopAlphaCalc

Cheers!

 

I just gotta double check this; you used more corn than malt?

Did you ever have any issues with conversion? The 40% 2-row had a high enough DP to convert the 60% flaked corn?

Cheers!

 

I always stir the mash like half-way through at 30minutes, but there was no sign of corn flakes at the end.

 

That's right Jack. We started at 40/60, went up to 45/55, 50/50, 55/45, and then over the top at 60% corn and 40% 2-row malted barley. The mash bed was NEVER disturbed after the initial dough-in and mix, and we never had any issue with conversion, and always had a very simple lauter and sparge. I should have noted, however, that I did acidify the sparge water, and that we were using quality 2-row malt (which in the end I believe was Durst Pilsner). This was for a '60's-70's style lager like one Bill Moeller might have been making at Schmidt's, not a cream ale.

 

Yeah, I just did a 'quick & dirty' calculation with an assumption that the 2-row malt would have a DP of 140 Lintner and with this assumed value there was enough DP to convert the 60% flaked corn.

You learn something new every day.

How did this beer taste with such a high proportion of corn?

Cheers!

 

In side by side comparisons it tasted light Stroh's light, Schlitz light, or something like that, which is exactly what we were going for. There were very few hops beyond the initial bittering addition, and as I recall that was only 9 or 10 IBUs, maybe even less.

 

That makes sense.

Thanks!

 

Patrik, I can't personally vouch for how accurate this online calculator is but the optimum way to store hops is in mylar bags that are either vacuum packed or flushed with nitrogen and stored at freezer temperatures (e.g., -18 degrees C).

If the hops you purchase are continually stored at refrigerator temperatures (e.g., 4 degrees C) it is indeed my understanding that the loss of Alpha Acids will be larger. The hop storage equations will indeed likely result in a values like "0.8%" for hops that are several years old and stored at refrigerator temperatures. If you were to have those hops analytically tested would they measure out at this low values? Boy, I really do not know.

In my homebrewery I promptly place my hops (in mylar flushed bags) in my freezer for storage. Freezer storage definitely helps here. You can go back to the online calculator and see for yourself. Perform the calculation under common circumstances and just vary the temperature from 4 degrees C to -18 degrees C.

Also, which button did you select for storage conditions?

Cheers!

Jack

 

Patrik (@Crusader) it is my understanding that the on-line calculator is based upon the work of Mark Garetz:

http://www.morebeer.com/brewingtechniques/library/backissues/issue2.1/garetz.html

Cheers!

 

Do you hops come in bags like pictured below? HopUnion uses mylar bags which they flush with nitrogen prior to sealing the bag.

Cheers!

 

Mmmmmmm, CACA beer.

 

Not to thread jack, but since Yakima valley hops took over does that mean hop union bags are "old stock"?