Corn beer?

[rworange]

What beer is made from corn?

There is Chicha, Andian beer made with a maize called jora. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicha

Supposedly in the early part of the 20th century, around Western Kentucky, they brewed a corn beer using a large kernal type of field corn

There is tesguino, a ceremonial brew made in Chihuahua, Mexico.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4532569

I see recipes online for brewing your own corn beer
http://www.geocities.com/jswortham/sa...

Is there any corn beer that is sold commercially? Most reports compare it to tasting like apple cider.

[sparkuz]

I know this is an old post, but you guys can find that so called "corn beer" any were here in the USA were the hispanic are, this "TEJUINO" is nothing close to an actual beer, the tejuino is not filtered in any way, it have a consistency like a casein protein shake or something like that, its really thick, its usually served with salt, lemon, and a little bit of baking soda, the actual taste its more like sweet and salty, you can still find that drink here in phoenix, in Los Angeles you can find it in the Plaza Olvera,

[Jim Dorsch]

That's interesting. I read about it just now on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tejuino

I'm guessing that it contains very little alcohol. Is it sold in bottles?

[sparkuz]

No, tejuino its a home brew beverage and its usually sold on cups with cubes or shaved ice, and yes, it contains alcoho but at very little amounts, and this is due to the fermentation process, the longest the fermentation the more alcohol, but as i said its just very little, its been said that you need about 4 gallons of tejuino to get a buzz, and this is the reason the law enforcment is sendig people to court, because they are selling an alcoholic beverage "illegally" i have a receipe for tejuino which is very simple to do, no weird ingredients and easy to find if you know were to look for them, 4 ingredients 3 days and bingo lol.

[zoe moon]

Back during the pioneer days in Texas, they brewed corn beer. I have a recipe that came from someone in Menard Tx.

[bsheitman]

Corn and rice are common adjuncts in many commercial beers, especially light beers. The idea is to add alcohol content while minimizing the carbohydrates, thus simpler starches/sugars ferment more completely then barley or wheat. This also yields the lighter taste that a lot of drinkers prefer.

As for a primarily corn based beer, I've never had one, but a beer made from fresh corn sounds like it has the potential to be very crisp and refreshing.

[therealbigtasty]

I think Miller High Life is brewed with a lot of corn.

If you're drinking a cheap beer and it leaves sort of a sticky sweet aftertaste, that's what I've been told is the addition of corn.

[Flaco]

Yep... always thought of Miller having a lot of corn and Bud having a lot of rice.

[Erich]

Quite right, Jim - RICE is their big mistake.

You know, Jim, you might be right about dextrose not imparting the same qualities to beer as whole corn. Maybe I'll give it a shot - after all, I am a Hoosier who grew up around a lot of corn.

[Jim Dorsch]

You've probably seen recipes for pre-prohibition pilsner, including a measure of corn.

[warrenr]

presidente from the dominican republic is made with corn, budweiser also has a good amount of corn in it.

[Jim Dorsch]

Budweiser famously is not made with corn.

[therealbigtasty]

Yeah, Bud is forty percent rice. It's the most rice that the law will allow.

[LStaff]

What law is that?

[JessKidden]

Among Federal agencies in the US, there are two conflicting definitions of "beer" and "malt beverage". ("Malt Beverage" being the TTB's catch all term for all "beers"- lagers, ales, porters, stouts as well as near beers, "malternatives", etc. It is NOT only a reference to non-beer products like the malt-based flavored stuff, as is commonly believed by some).

The IRS definition does not specify ANY malted barley percentage (or hops, for that matter)- instead allows for malt "substitutes" -grains or sugars. The TTB (successor to the old ATF) specifies *at least* 25% malted barley and 7.5 lbs of hops per 100 barrels (so, in Miller Lite's case- 2.5 lbs times 3). Read all about (complete with lots of legalese that'll make you WANT a beer afterwards) here http://www.ttb.gov/rulings/2008-3.pdf

So, *in theory* a "beer" could have up to 75% adjunct content and still be labeled as such, but most industry sources put the "high" point in the US at around 50% - not counting the "neutral malt beverage base" flavored malternatives. In general, the TTB definitons of beer types is rather, um, let's say, "generous". http://www.ttb.gov/beer/bam/chapter4.pdf They're more concerned with "place" names that any adherence to "style", that's for sure.

The subject of both hops and malt usage in modern beers has come up with both the desire to brew gruits and other non-hopped older styles as well as the demand for gluten-free "beers". (In the latter case, the TTB recently announced they were giving the FDA the responsibility to regulate them).

Postscript - Oh, damn, just realized this is a 3 year old thread resurrection ...

[ben61820]

i dont know of any commercially available corn beers out there. love to try one tho. i can see it maybe working, just owing to corn's innate sweetness. oh well, let us know if you get ahold of anything worthwhile.

btw, anyone out there try magic hat's SAINT GOOTZ dark wheat? i had it last night for the first and it was pretty decent. will have another go and see what its all about.

[Jim Dorsch]

I recall Kentucky common beer, but I don't believe this was brewed exclusively from corn.

[Erich]

Tiswin is a corn beer of the indian pueblos of New Mexico. Phyllis Hughes' _Pueblo Indian Cookbook_ (Museum of New Mexico Press, 1972) (easily found) has a recipe.

As a home brewer, I find that the addition of corn sugar can render an otherwise good brew rather insipid, so I work pretty hard to avoid it. The thought of a dedicated corn beer doesn't much interest me. But then, we all have different tastes.

[Jim Dorsch]

I doubt that corn and dextrose lend the same qualities to beer, or perhaps you're just turned off by the association due to your experience with dextrose.