Chris Lohring once called corn “the most vilified grain in all of American brewing.” He also argues that it is one of the most traditional and historically important brewing ingredients. As the founder of Notch Brewing in Massachusetts, Lohring has long fought against such unjust brewing notions, has brewed multiple beers with corn, and offers some advice for those who may be interested in exploring this historic often ridiculed ingredient.
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Interest In Brewing With Corn
When he first started brewing with corn, Lohring took exception to how many in the industry treated what he considered to be one of this country’s founding beer ingredients. He cites opposition among other craft beer drinkers and brewers that associated corn and rice with macro beers as well as efforts by the Brewers Association to discourage the use of such adjuncts. He recalls when the BA excluded Schell’s Brewery, the country’s second oldest brewery, from the organization for using corn in its flagship.
“It was kind of my way to give a bit of a middle finger to the Brewers Association who had to make it us versus them,” he laughs.
Lohring first encountered craft beers made with corn while apprenticing at Kennebunk Brewing Company in Maine in the early 90s. The brewery made a light beer with flaked maize intended for Bud Light drinkers but Lohring found himself drinking it because he liked the way the corn influenced the beer.
“It had this really kind of cool perceived sweetness that made this light beer really interesting rather than bland,” he recalls. “I don’t know where the adjunct leads to blandness idea is coming from because my experience has not been that.”
Lohring emphasizes that corn can bring a lot of flavor to a beer when used properly.
“My point is always that it’s not the adjunct that makes the beer bland, it’s the recipe and the intention that makes the beer bland.”
He points to changing attitudes among brewers about extending their efforts beyond the Reinheitsgebot, including adding adjuncts such as donuts. “There’s no right or wrong, I just ask, “what’s your intention? What’s your goal?,” he says. “If there’s one thing about craft beer in the last 10 years, American brewers have said ‘anything goes’ and with anything goes, why not corn and rice?”
Corn Beers At Notch
Notch’s own exploration of using corn in its beers started with a beer called The Mule, which initially confused many of Lohring’s patrons. They wondered whether he was trying to recreate a macro beer. The Mule eventually became a small cult favorite before Notch ultimately retired it to focus on other beers. Lohring’s exploration of corn in brewing has extended beyond that now retired beer to include a Dominican lager called Punto Pils, a French Pils, and a Cream Ale called Reel to Reel.
There are several ways to include corn in your beers, ranging from the simple addition of flaked maize to the more complicated method of cereal mashing.
Lohring employs this latter method but notes many breweries are not set up to do cereal mashing, a process he describes as “very, very challenging” and “terrifying.” “A lot of people shy away from doing it,” he says. “But we have fun with it because we’re process driven and we like to get deep into that minutiae.”
For cereal mashing, the brewery needs a cereal cooker or a dedicated vessel for taking the adjunct, usually corn grits or rice, and then converting that into sugar. The cereal cooker requires a high shear impeller that operates at a substantial RPM, which few have beyond larger regional brewers.
So Lohring modified his system a bit using a low shear impeller. To avoid ending up with polenta in your brew kettle that has to be dug out by hand, Lohring recommends using an enzymatic pathway that breaks down the grits and renders them into a liquid like substance, thereby releasing the starch so that six row barley can start the process of converting starch into sugar.
Alternatively, brewers can use malted corn, which they can often get from a local maltster. Lohring recommends that brewers get their malted corn pre-milled unless they want to hear what sounds like “nuts and bolts going through your rollers.” He also notes that flaked maize is the easiest way to employ corn in a brew but that it is often a bit one note in its flavor performance. With flaked maize, he recommends using it at a rate of at least 15 to 20 percent of your grain bill or you won’t pick up much flavor.
Choosing A Style To Brew
Lohring recommends that brewers who want to work with corn first choose a style that includes the adjunct that interests them.
“If you work with a style that excites you, then you have a goal of having this flavor,” he says. “Then you can understand how the corn is integrated into that.” He gives the example of using corn in a beer style that doesn’t include it as something to avoid, such as in Czech lager.
“I wouldn’t even know where to start and I don’t understand why you would do it,” he says.
So start with Cream Ale, American Lager, French Pils, or another style that traditionally employs corn. Then he suggests researching recipes and gaining an understanding of how and why corn is used in those beers. That was Lohring’s path to brewing with corn.
“And we got excited around beers that used corn and implemented that into our process. And I think that’s a good place to start.”