Rice adjunct

[MashBag]

I have 25kg basmati rice to use up.

Mashing it sprang to mind.

Thinking of a light summer ale.
25% with 75% MO

Any advice or ideas please?

Thinking..
No precooking if soaked overnight ?
Protein rest maybe ?

Extra step for gelatinization?

 

[The Baron]

I have used rice quite a few times with ordinary malts. I do not use the raw rice but the pre-cooked packets from the supermarket that microwave in a couple of mins so no advice on preparation.
When I have used rice it can get a little gloopy but never had a real issue with the mash-500g to a 20ltr batch.
It does seem to thin the beer out so a relevant recipe to suit maybe a Japanese lager style?

 

[MashBag]

Ooo didn't like the word 'thin' Probably worth upping the mash temp then 67 ish then?

 

[The Baron]

IMO it does thin the beer out but lets see if any others say the same

 

[The Baron]

Just found this on a tinterweb search
Rice is a cheap source of fermentable sugar, but is tasteless and produces a very thin body. It's up to you how much to use, but realize it's going to eliminate any possibility of a full-bodied, malty beer. Also, you can't just mash it with your barley malt.

 

[DocAnna]

Along with all the above, which is all very sensible, I suggest boiling the rice for 30 min first and add it with the boil water...the rice grains needed cooked first for the enzymes in the malts to access the starches. Theoretically you could finely grind the rice instead but I'd be suspicious of everything getting gummed up.

 

[MashBag]

Thanks. This isn't going well, beginning to sound like a liability.

 

[Sadfield]

Dries a beer out much in the same way as adding sugar or corn (maize). Adds a slightly nutty taste that the above doesn't, IMO. It's great if you intend to make a dry, refreshing beer. Using something just for the sake of using it, is unlikely to satisfy.

Never had an issue with pre-boiled rice, it's already gummed up.

 

[JockyBrewer]

I've used rice quite a bit. I don't necessarily think it makes the beer thin as it does lend a delicate flavour - more so for flavourful whole rice like basmati and jasmine than flaked rice you might buy from the home brew shop, but it's not a strong flavour. It also ferments out more than barley malt, so it will dry out your beer, accentuating bitterness slightly.

Most recently I used Jasmine rice as 30% of the malt bill for a pale lager. The beer fermented from 1.046 to 1.003 having been mashed at 65C, so it is very dry. I could see this also working well with a saison or wit yeast, or very lightly hopped blond ale for a super dry summer beer.

The only issue with using whole rice is that you need to cook it before you add it to the mash as the starches gelatinise best over 75C. The way I did it was to put the 1.5kg of rice in a big 13 litre pot, add about 6 litres of my calculated strike water and then boil it for half an hour. I actually found that it was absorbing most of the water, so added more water to bring it up to the 10 litre mark in the end. I had to go out so left it warm on the stove, but when I came back I found it had absorbed all the water and turned into a big gelatinous blob of rice mush! I then put it into my mash tun with the rest of my strike water, and found that once the barley was mixed in it liquified very easily and the mash went as normal from there.

You'll see other people write about doing a 'cereal mash'. I suspect that's to help stop the gelatinous blob issue happening and is more of an issue for pro breweries. You really don't need to do it as pre-cooking the rice works.

I found the potential extract was about 1.032, compared to 1.037 for malted barley.

 

[The Baron]

No give it a go Mashbag just use it in a relevant recipe/style.
It can be used to tone down some heavy beers too so it does have a use as said I have used it in a Japanese style beer

 

[MashBag]

The only issue with using whole rice is that you need to cook it before you add it to the mash as the starches gelatinise best over 75C. The way I did it was to put the 1.5kg of rice in a big 13 litre pot, add about 6 litres of my calculated strike water and then boil it for half an hour. I actually found that it was absorbing most of the water, so added more water to bring it up to the 10 litre mark in the end. I had to go out so left it warm on the stove, but when I came back I found it had absorbed all the water and turned into a big gelatinous blob of rice mush! I then put it into my mash tun with the rest of my strike water, and found that once the barley was mixed in it liquified very easily and the mash went as normal from there.

Could I add it cooked in an overnight mash? This means it will sit with the barley for 6 hours at 20c before the mash starts.

 

[JockyBrewer]

Could I add it cooked in an overnight mash? This means it will sit with the barley for 6 hours at 20c before the mash starts.

Are you saying you'll cook the rice, then add it to the dry grain, all sat there cold for 6 hours? I think the danger there is you're adding wet rice to dry grain. Remember the rice will have been cooked in some of your strike water.

I've not tried it, but I'd be more inclined to add the cooked rice to the rest of your strike water when heated, and then use that to mash the barley with.

 

[The Baron]

You could cook it/boil it in the AIO then let it cool to mash temp then mash in with the grains. Sounds a bit of a balancing act or a pfaff but it would possibly work

 

[Sadfield]

Are you saying you'll cook the rice, then add it to the dry grain, all sat there cold for 6 hours? I think the danger there is you're adding wet rice to dry grain.

The danger there is projectile leakage from both ends, from 'fried rice syndrome'.

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

The danger there is projectile leakage from both ends, from 'fried rice syndrome'.

Yes be very careful with cooked rice as it can contain fungal spores that are not destroyed by boiling. If the cooked rice is allowed to cool down to the temperature where they have time to grow it can make you extremely unwell…

https://www.nhs.uk/common-health-questions/food-and-diet/can-reheating-rice-cause-food-poisoning/

 

[Gax]

You could also look into getting liquid amylase to help with the rice. I've used it when making washes for somewhat less legal ventures in alcohol production.

 

[MashBag]

@JockyBrewer Love it. Not what I was thinking. Cook it & let it absorb all the water. Then add it to my overnight mash, where everything liquor and grain bill This means it will sit with the barley for 6 hours at 20c before the mash starts.

While typing this I am reminded of resistant starches. Causes by letting rice chill. Hmm. It will change.

If it needs to be added cooked, it needs to be Mashed immediately after cooking, while still hot.

 

[MashBag]

Yes be very careful with cooked rice as it can contain fungal spores that are not destroyed by boiling. If the cooked rice is allowed to cool down to the temperature where they have time to grow it can make you extremely unwell…

https://www.nhs.uk/common-health-questions/food-and-diet/can-reheating-rice-cause-food-poisoning/

I eat reheated rice everyday. Yes indeed this is an issue. Chilling it immediately and keeping it in the fridge eradicates this. And it also changes the starch structure (& according its GI) so it doesn't give you a sugar spike.

 

[MashBag]

You could also look into getting liquid amylase to help with the rice. I've used it when making washes for somewhat less legal ventures in alcohol production.

Beanos?

 

[JockyBrewer]

You could also look into getting liquid amylase to help with the rice. I've used it when making washes for somewhat less legal ventures in alcohol production.

For beer I'd try without amylase first. Rice is already more fermentable than barley when treated right. If it still wasn't dry enough then I'd just use it in the mash.