Brewing With Polenta

[BjornJ]

Hi all,
does anyone know what yield to expect when brewing with polenta?

I bought a 1kg package at Coles, it is not cracked corn but ready-to-eat polenta, looks like a yellow, soft brick

Now, how much grain do I replace from my recipe with this 1 kg of Polenta?

(the "plan" is to take out a certain amount of Pale malt and replace with the polenta. Probably boil it up with some water and just dump it in as it is already coocked I guess there is no need for a cereal mash. Read Palmer p.173 about cereal mash but this seems to be about Polenta as in cracked corn, not the finished product)

thanks
Bjorn

 

[Bribie G]

I've actually got a brew boiling right now that I did with Polenta, the dry variety which I boiled to a mush before adding to the mash at mash temp. You don't actually have to 'take out' any malt, just formulate a recipe that takes adjuncts. In my case I would normally do, say 4000 grain malt and 500 bag of polenta.

With the pre cooked stuff however I don't know how much dry weight would actually be in a 1kg brick, I would guess about 300g of 'dry' polenta. You could soften the brick up with water then turn it into a mush and add to your mash. Check ingredients and make sure there aren't any additions like spices or oil.

Love Polenta :icon_cheers:

 

[BjornJ]

good point, I checked the label now and it says:

Ingredients: Water, cornflour, salt and tartaric acid.

nutrition information: per 100 gr
Energy 285.1 kJ
Protein 1.8 gr
Fat 1.1 gr
Carbohydrate 14.1 gr
-Sugars less than 0.5 gr
Sodium 5002 mg


Interesting that you are brewing with polenta, have you done so before? Interested in any feedback on how it will affect the taste!

But I still need to know the yield so I can add it to beersmith, thought?
If I don't know the yield, I can not calculate the OG of the recipe and therefore the IBU?

Thanks!

Another thing, being a light-bodied beer without crystal/dark grains and bittering about 20 IBU, will US05 be a good choice, or should I try Nottingham in stead?

thanks


Bjorn

 

[Bribie G]

US-05 is born to ferment such a beer:
In this piccie the bottles are my beer that I bottled off for my Son in law who is a Corona freak but the shot crops the tops of the bottles so you cant see the gold crown seals so you will have to trust me, I'm a doctor




Maize gives a great smoothness IMHO. Also most of the grain is converted to fermentables so it's really like adding sugar. I would expect that most software would have a maize option, which would be the same as Polenta.

I sometimes use it in UK lighter beers, as they do themselves over there.

 

[BjornJ]

Yes, remember seeing that picture before, that they could be drunk straight from the bottle.
My experience with US-05 is that I get large amount of fluffy sediment in each beer, but it may be due to isinglass and bottling in Coopers PET bottles.
First primary for a couple of weeks, then crash chill in secondary after another week or two and then isinglass and the beer is clear. After bottle conditioning with carbonation drops they all have a lot of sediment that won't settle. But it sounds like it is not the yeast, but the brewer (again).

 

[Zwickel]

hello brewers,

Polenta brings you the same amount of starch as you get with pale malt.

Im using Polenta and rice when I do my Corona clone and the yield is almost the same as Ive used pure Pilsener malt.

Cheers :icon_cheers:

 

[BjornJ]

Ok, how about these calculations:



The pack says 100 gr = 285.1 kJ.
this calculator says 285.1 kJ is 67.88 kcal
http://www.positivehealthsteps.com/calorie...converter.shtml

This site http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/calor...fast_cereal.htm
says Kellogs Corn Flakes is 370 kcal per 100 gr

so the ready-to-eat instant polenta is 370/67.88 = 5.45 x less yield than the corn flakes.

Or in other words I would have to use 5.45 times as much ready-to-eat polenta as corn flakes.

Hmm..
So my kg of instant polenta is the equivalent of 1000gr/5.45 = 183 gr of corn flakes.

So I will take out 180 gr of grains from the recipe as flaked corn has a yield of 1.037 and the grains only marginally less.

By the sound of it the instant polenta contains quite a bit of water!

Does this sound right?

thanks
Bjorn

 

[Sammus]

looks pretty good to me, except google converter gives 285.1 kJ = 68.1Cal ..I wonder why the discrepancy is?

If your polenta just contains cornflour... it kind of begs the question, why not just buy cornflour instead of dry polenta or corn flakes or whatever?

 

[BjornJ]

Hi Sammus, how are you! Still no bottles here, just so you know.

I had already decided to brew this Sunday and then read about using Polenta/corn again yesterday. Went to the shop today and there it was, a whole package of ready-to-eat polenta! Must admit I have never seen the stuff before as far as I know, and it seemed good not to have to deal with cereal mash and what-not.

Surprised it only seems to be the equivalent of 180 gr of grains, but guess that is because it is boiled with water and the end-product is 4/5 water.

I added it to beersmith as an adjunct with a yield of 1.007.

thanks
Bjorn

 

[Swinging Beef]

Sam,
In Australia cornflour is often made of wheat.

So... for all the polenta brewers... what makes polenta better or worse adjunct or better suited than table sugar or dextrose?

 

[Bribie G]

Polenta (maize) gives a distinct light grainy flavour to the beer. In fact on the UK Carling mega-lager webpage they spruik Carling Lager as having 'a mouthwatering corn aroma' so they aren't hiding the fact
It's like other adjuncts such as wheat, flaked barley etc, they all add a bit of je ne sais quois that it's hard to put a finger on but there nonetheless. Next time I do a CSA I'm thinking of putting some semolina in the mash (semolina is wheat, polenta is maize but same principle). I read a few months ago a post from someone who claims to have worked for Coopers and that they just whack white flour into the CSA mash. I wonder.

I can't see the point of getting precooked polenta, I've also seen it at ALDI, when you can go to IGA get a 500g bag of no frills uncooked polenta for about $1.30 that cooks up in fifteen minutes.

Edit: Actually weetbix would probably make a nice brew as well although that might cause a rift on the forum between weetbix and vita-brits fans :mellow:

 

[BoilerBoy]

Interesting thread over on the Northern Brewer forum about Polenta, some are just sticking it straight into the mash as it gelatinizes at around 145F or 62-63C.

Never used it myself I've always use popped corn.

Cheers,
BB

 

[tdh]

I always used flaked maize when brewing Classic American Pilseners at Grumpy's and it went straight in to the mash.

I'm reasonably sure that polenta might require a cereal mash.

tdh

 

[3G]

Last CAP I used 20% polenta. Mashed at 40 for 10 mins with 5% of the total malt. Then 66 for 30 mins then raised to the boil for 20 mins. Than added back to main mash for a 65 degree mash. Got 80% (same as usual). Tastes great.

 

[Fourstar]

Im with Bribie on this one. Corn adds a 'cornyness' to the beer, no not just DMS but a distinct cornish flavour... you just have to try it i guess.

After the BJCP session last night, ive got the feeling to knock out another CAP again (will be a good excuse to use the yeast cake from my xmas swap rice lager). This time i might go radical and shoot for 30-40% (1.5-2kg) of the grist being polenta. Especially after seeing those gelatinisation points on northern brewer. My only concern is loss of mash water as the polenta begins to soak up all the water. Maybe i'll try rehydrating it over an extended period like cous cous/dried beans so the loss is not terribly high. Wish me luck!

As for rice/corn over sucrose/dextrose (regardless of what people may think) It DOES impart its own flavour/aroma profile and not just increase fermentability with a drier FG. its also fun to convert your own fermentables!

Myself, Bribie, Chappo just to name a select few are avid users of these adjuncts. Dont delay, Uncle Sam wants you!

 

[discoloop]

Anyone ever tried throwing a handful of corn-based packing foam into the mash? h34r:

 

[reviled]

Anyone ever tried throwing a handful of corn-based packing foam into the mash? h34r:

:blink: WTF??

 

[Bribie G]

They started using adjuncts in the 19th century because in the USA with their six row barley and in the UK and Northern Europe with the introduction of artificial fertilizers the malt became too high in protein and they were getting hazes. At about that time glassware was becoming cheap. Adjuncts just became part of the 'taste' that people knew. Apparently since the rice shortage panic of last year it now costs the likes of Budweiser more to use rice than to use malt but they wouldn't dare change the recipe.

Hey Y'all Abner this here bud's tastin like dem maltesers ahm gonna switch to Coors :lol:

 

[Fourstar]

Anyone ever tried throwing a handful of corn-based packing foam into the mash? h34r:

Nope but would probabaly work well! It would dissolve like popcorn i'd say!

:blink: WTF??

basically a form of pelletised puffed corn. imagine a Cheetos tube made from corn, without the MSG coatings! I didn't believe they were edible (by edible i mean consumable, wether or not they are good for you is a different story), let alone made from corn!

 

[Bribie G]

Nope but would probabaly work well! It would dissolve like popcorn i'd say!



basically a form of pelletised puffed corn. imagine a Cheetos tube made from corn, without the MSG coatings! I didn't believe they were edible (by edible i mean consumable, wether or not they are good for you is a different story), let alone made from corn!

I was at a motor show in Bris many years ago and the hot chip stalls had cups made from that stuff, you ate the cup afterwards :huh: . Tasted about as good as the chips IIRC and far less litter, any thrown away would get eaten by the pigeons.