Brewing With Rice

[shughes600]

i am planning on brewing an all grain recipe that calls for a lb of flaked rice. does anybody have any recommendations on how to ensure conversion. I've heard two opinions, one is to use a good protein rest, the other is to boil the rice with a decoction form the main mash. Anybody know?

[Tweek]

Its funny how this is a topic that is hard to find info on. I would think that with the mass appeal of some of the rice beers out there that this kind of information would be more widespread.

That being said I have not tried this myself but have looked into it. It appears that you do not need anything additional types of grain to convert the enzymes, but you do need to mash the rice at higher temperatures than you would barley, which means seperate mashes - yuck. I cant recall what temperature they said and for the life of me I cant find the document that I read it from.

Are you thinking of using wild rice for flavor or some sort of white rice just for sugar? Please keep me posted on how this goes.

And for all of you that say that rice doesnt belong in beer, yeah I know that is the way you feel, no need to remind me here.

Edit- found something that is an interesting read on the subject.
http://www.byo.com/feature/633.html

Cheers

[shughes600]

Thanks so much for the link. It helped a lot. I am putting this brew off a week, but I will definately attempt the method in BYO.

FYI - I am not really trying for a rice taste. An all grain recipe I obtained had rice as 10% of the grain bill. I assume that they are boosting sugar while keeping color down. I admit to being somewhat concerned with color myself. Mainly to ease the initiation of those that don't like "strong" beers. As long as I can't taste the rice in the finished product then all is good. Hopefully, as I learn more about recipe composition and my methods improve I will be able to better control beer color.

I have used rice before, but I used hulls and the homebrew store recommended adding them preboil. I didn't taste them in that recipe.

As to your statement about beer being hops, barley, water, and yeast. I agree with that to some degree. I detest preservatives and chemicals. But look around the homebrew community. I would say most of us like the independence of putting different things in our beers and or experimenting with different procedures. In the last two weeks I have seen info on fruit beers, oak chips, charred bourbon barrels and sweetgrass.

[Tweek]

As to your statement about beer being hops, barley, water, and yeast. I agree with that to some degree. I detest preservatives and chemicals. But look around the homebrew community. I would say most of us like the independence of putting different things in our beers and or experimenting with different procedures. In the last two weeks I have seen info on fruit beers, oak chips, charred bourbon barrels and sweetgrass.

Did I say that? Not me. I believe that anything that tastes good can be good. I am extremly critical of my own beers and have no problem adding rice if it helps me achieve the desired results on the batch I was cooking. I love experimentation. Maybe you were referring to my statement about others who feel that adding rice is sacriledge, I was merely try to keep them from bashing us on this thread.

Cheers

[danno]

Tweek, your baiting must have been too subtle... You shoulda said you were going to dispense and serve with co2 from a tank... :D

[Tweek]

LOL so true!

[hopjack13]

it is sacriledge!!! go ahead and slap a bud lable on it too while you at it!!! kidding of course but i couldn't resist.:p

[shughes600]

Does anyone have any idea where I can get beechwood for my aging process?

[Tweek]

Have you tried your local homebrew shop? I would think they would have them in chip form. If not my locals do I believe.

http://www.sfbrewcraft.com/
http://www.thebeveragepeople.com/

(nothing wrong with a little promotion of your local shops :D )

[b3s]

see, now, i thought the request was a joke given the post that preceded it ;)

[Tweek]

heh perhaps it was. Im a little slow this morning. O well at least I got the shameless advert for my local shops in.

[shughes600]

Hah hah. i was kidding a little. I would love to find bud labels though.

[RAL]

The only place that one could possibly find beechwood chips would be at the beech with fish.