mashing adjuncts

[Frothy]

Hi

For my first all grain I'd like to make an English Bitter from a recipe that calls for flaked maize in the mash. I understand that the addition of maize or rice is common in American Lagers to create a lighter flavoured brew. I'll probably use rice instead as this is what I've got to hand - do I need to give it any special treatment before adding it to the mash? Bought a 25kg sack of marris otter from the Great Oakley Brewery yesterday for £20
http://www.greatoakleybrewery.co.uk/

thanks
Matt

[deadlydes]

flaked maize will impart a slight corny flavour to the brew. using flaked rice will not do this.
flaked rice gives fermentable sugars but pretty much no flavour. it also contributes nitrogen (if i remember correctly) to the mash.
as for treatment just chuck it in with the grain
i would get some maize if you could though

[steve_flack]

Flaked Maize tastes of something. Rice pretty much doesn't. If you're using rice in the mash then you need to boil the rice first to soften it up. Flaked Maize (and flaked rice IIRC) don't need precooking as the process of making the flakes gelatinises the starches.

If the recipe uses maize I'd use maize. It's not the same as rice.

[ColinKeb]

i found flaked maize quite easy to buy from leyland , when i needed flaked rice i couldnt find it, brew shops had to order it specialy , health food shops didnt stock it i had almost given up until i stumbled across it in sainsburys !
good luck with the brew
cheers
colin

[mysterio]

I agree with the above, go for flaked maize if you can. It really does impart a nice flavour to ESBs that you won't get from rice.

I get it flaked from H&G. You could also use polenta (cook it first) if you happen to have it lying around. Cornflour might even work... anyone?

[BigEd]

Agree with the previous posters in that rice won't add anything to the flavor. It will just add fermentables to the recipe. If you do use whole rice it must be cooked before mashing to gelatinize the starches. Doing a cereal mash by cooking the rice (milled if possible) with a 20% addition of pale malt is your best bet but just boiling the rice or steaming it in a rice cooker will be OK. Another vote for flaked maize over the rice here as well. Used in limited amounts, say 5-15% of the grist, maize can add a nice smoothness to the brew and a hint of underlying sweetness.

[Vossy1]

Flaked maize can be bought VERY cheaply from most farms £5 for 25kg.
Not sure why it's so expensive from brewshops...anybody?

The Hopshop sell flaked rice...I've just bought some from them, though it's £9 odd for 3kg...ho hum

How much did you pay in Sains CK, bet it was cheaper than above

[steve_flack]

Where I used to live the asian corner shop had flaked rice with all the bags of spices. So maybe you should try your local asian food shoppe

[Frothy]

suport is overwhelmingly for flaked maize & I'm all for just being able to mash without too much special treatment. I'll try some local animal feed places - found these guys whilst searching who seem to supply microbreweries http://www.murphyandson.co.uk/Malts/FlakedMaize.htm

thanks - will let y'all know how it goes.
Matt

[steve_flack]

Murphys are great if you want 25kg. I think they also have a minimum order amount (£200?)

[ColinKeb]

im not sure but i think i paid about 60p for a 50gm bag of flaked rice from sainsbrys , i only needed 25gm for the recipie .
cheers
colin