exBEERiment | Impact Flaked Maize Has On A British Golden Ale

Author: Mike Neville

Malted barley is the primary source of fermentable sugar for beer, though as any experienced brewer is well aware, there are a number of alternative grains, one of which is corn. In its standard dry form, corn requires a cereal mash to make the starches contained therein available to the enzymes, which given its lack of diastatic power, typically comes from barley malt. However, flaked maize, or what some refer to as corn flakes, goes through a gelatinization process that ultimately allows it to be added directly to the mash.

Commonly associated with mass market American lager, corn has been used in various styles of beer since the dawn of brewing proper. In the UK, British Golden Ale was developed to compete with the popular commercial lagers of the day, hence it is intended to be light, crisp, and very drinkable. One way some brewers did this was to include a decent portion of corn in their recipes, an approach likely adopted from the very lager breweries they aimed to emulate.

I’ve used flaked maize a number of times over the years, though it’s usually been when I’m making styles like American Lager or Cream Ale. With a past xBmt showing tasters were able to reliably distinguish an American Lager made with flaked maize from one made with all barley malt, I was curious of the impact it might have on a more characterful British Golden Ale and designed an xBmt to test it out.

| PURPOSE |

To evaluate the differences between a British Golden Ale made with 21% flaked maize and one made without flaked maize.

| METHODS |

I designed a unique spin on a British Golden Ale recipe for this xBmt, supplementing the flaked maize in one batch with additional barley malt to ensure both have a similar OG.

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After collecting the water for separate 5 gallon/19 liter batches, I weighed out and milled the grain.

With the water properly heated, I incorporated the grains then checked to make sure both mashes were at my target temperature.

During the mash rest, I prepared the kettle hop additions.

Once the mashes were finished, I removed the grains then proceeded to boil each wort for 60 minutes, adding hops at the times listed in the recipe.

When the boils were complete, I quickly chilled the worts with my JaDeD Brewing Hydra IC.

Next, I transferred identical volumes of wort from each batch to separate fermenters.

Refractometer readings showed a slight difference in OG between the worts, with the all barley batch coming in 0.001 SG point higher than the batch made with flaked maize.

The fermenters were connected to my glycol unit and allowed to finish chilling to my desired fermentation temperature of 68°F/20°C, at which point I pitched a single pouch of Imperial Yeast A09 Pub into each batch.

Hydrometer measurements taken 9 days later showed a slight difference in FG that was consistent with the starting OGs.

At this point, I cold-crashed the beers to 38˚F/3˚C and left them overnight before pressure transferring each to CO2 purged kegs.

The filled kegs were placed in my keezer and burst carbonated overnight before I reduced the gas to serving pressure. After a couple weeks of conditioning, they were carbonated and ready for evaluation.

| RESULTS |

A total of 21 people of varying levels of experience participated in this xBmt. Each participant was served 1 sample of the beer made with flaked maize and 2 samples of the beer made without flaked maize in different colored opaque cups then asked to identify the unique sample. While 12 tasters (p<0.05) would have had to accurately identify the unique sample in order to reach statistical significance, just 7 did (p=0.58), indicating participants in this xBmt were unable to reliably distinguish a British Golden Ale made with 21% flaked maize from made with all barley malt.

My Impressions: Out of the 5 semi-blind triangle tests I attempted, I correctly identified the odd-beer-out just twice. I perceived these beers as being identical in terms of aroma, flavor, and moutfeel, both possessing crisp, clean grainy notes with citrus and earthy hop notes. The one area they were obviously different was appearance, as the version made with flaked maize was lighter in color and clearer.

| DISCUSSION |

Corn has been used to make beer for centuries, and while some view it as a cheap barley alternative, it arguably has a place in certain styles, particularly those intended to be light on the palate and easy to drink. Countering claims that corn has a negative organoleptic impact on beer, tasters in this xBmt were unable to reliably distinguish a British Golden Ale made with 21% flaked maize from one made with all barley malt.

While lacking the diastatic power and flavor qualities of malted barley, corn possesses ample amounts of dextrose, a simple sugar that is 100% fermentable. As such, including corn in a beer recipe is viewed as a way to increase strength while having a minimal impact on aroma, flavor, and mouthfeel. One possible explanation for the results of this xBmt is that the more complex nature of British Golden Ale, particularly its notable hop and fermentation character, simply overpowered any contribution of the flaked maize.

Unlike some, I don’t have a problem using corn in my beer recipes and have always viewed it as just another tool in my brewing belt. The fact neither tasters nor I could consistently tell these xBmt beers apart indicates to me that, at the very least, using flaked maize at the rate I did likely won’t be detrimental. I’ll continue keeping some on hand for use in styles that typically call for it as well as for higher strength beers that I don’t want to be too heavy on the palate.

If you have any thoughts about this xBmt, please do not hesitate to share in the comments section below!

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