To Grit or Not to Grit

[Bill Lawrence]

A couple of weekends ago, Donnie left me two bottles of CAP he had made, one was made with grits and the other with flaked corn. At the officers meeting last night, I brought both bottles and we did a quick side by side tasting. Both bottles were marked the same so this was truly a blind tasting and I have no idea which bottle was which. As doing a ceral mash on grits is a fair amount of work, the question is, do you get the same beer using the flakes as you do with the more labor intensive grits? Anyway, our opinion was that one beer had more body, a slight sweetness and was generally more interesting than the other, although both beers were very good examples of the style. As both beers were made using the same formulation except for the adjunct addition, hopefully Donnie will enlighten us as to which was which. I am betting on the cereal mashed beer but one never really knows. Since I will soon be brewing my annual CAP for the Bluebonnet, the answer to this question will soon be relevant to me. By the way, the hopping was good on both beers, will the Master enlighten the unwashed masses?

[donniestyle]

Nice picture Bill.

The corn grits CAP had 2C on the bottle cap label (it was underlined). Basically, the grits were boiled with a charge of malt for 70 minutes. About 20 minutes before the end of the grits boil, the main mash was doughed in at 95F. I think the mash schedule was 95, 128, 148, 160. The addition of the boiled grits was the first temperature rise. The second was a simple decoction. The third was an infusion.

The flaked corn CAP had 2C on the bottle cap label (it was NOT underlined). All grain and flaked corn were doughed in at 95F. The mash schedule was the same as the grits version. The first two temperature rises were simple decoctions, and the third was an infusion.

The only variables were the type of corn used, the mash procedure (cereal mash + single decoction versus double decoction), and the date/time. Exactly the same hops, malts, type of yeast, starter size, quantity of yeast, and fermentaiton schedules were used.

If you have a system that will step mash, it is the preferred method for this style. I decocted because I cannot step mash.

Details on both beers should be available in our previous discussion threads.

[Bill Lawrence]

Unfortunately, I didn't notice the fact that one was underlined and the other not so I don't know which was which. Oh well, I guess the answer to that question will be a mystery, we will just have to brew some more to determine that one.

[donniestyle]

Fortunately, I still have 1 2C and 2 2C left.

[donniestyle]

Down to 1 2C and 1 2C left. We should get together and judge them, before I get too thirsty.