WIld Rice Brown Ale

[Sam]

Has anybody used wild rice in a beer before? How did it work out?

I have a Brown Ale conditioning now that I used 2lbs wild rice. I modified a brown ale recipe that was acceptable/OK to add 2lbs wild rice to see if it contributes any nutty flavor. The idea came from green tea at a local sushi restaurant that steeps wild rice to give it a slight nutty flavor.

I won’t be able to make it to the March 18th meeting. Hopefully I will still have some for the April 15th meeting. 🙂

My grain bill is:
5.5lb Root Shoot Pilsner malt
2lb wild rice
2lb Weyermann Munich 10L
1lb Crisp Pale Chocolate
.75lb Simpsons DRC
.5lb Briess Victory
2oz Carafa Special II

RO water with additions to target
104Ca, 3.6Mg, 29.7Na, 52.4Cl, 54.5 SO4

.5oz Magnum 11.1% 60min
1oz Liberty 4.3% 10 min
.5oz Crystal 3.3% 10 min (just to finish the Crystal)

Imperial A09 Pub yeast.

https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/941723/2020-40-american-wild-rice-brown-ale

• This topic was modified 4 years, 5 months ago by Sam.

Serving:
Genmaicha Brown Ale
Munich Dunkel
IPA

Conditioning:

Fermenting:
House Amber

Planning:
?

[JayB]

Great post! Thanks for sharing your recipe.

Jay
NEIPA hell at the moment

[colterw]

Sam I can’t wait to try that beer. I have had a few Japanese green teas with roasted brown rice in them and they have a great flavor. I could see this working in a beer as well.

Cheers

Serving: Brooks Irish Red 4.8% ABV
Serving: Robert's IPA
Fermenting: We Are The Dreamer of Dreams (NEIPA)

[Sam]

Colter, I’ll have to check with the restaurant where I had the nutty green tea. Roasted brown rice does sound more likely for a green tea instead of some random wild American grass seed head.

Something for me to think about and possibly try in the next brown ale if I don’t get the flavor that I’m targeting.

Serving:
Genmaicha Brown Ale
Munich Dunkel
IPA

Conditioning:

Fermenting:
House Amber

Planning:
?

[colterw]

This is the brand I have had before. Yamamotoyama – Genmai Cha (Brown Rice Tea) 16 bags https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002EQTIG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_hg8yEb8PRJ3YA

Cheers

Serving: Brooks Irish Red 4.8% ABV
Serving: Robert's IPA
Fermenting: We Are The Dreamer of Dreams (NEIPA)

[Sam]

Initial feedback is: good beer. My wife doesn’t always like what I brew (hoppy, sweet, full beers), but she has been asking to ‘sample’ the wild rice brown ale frequently. 🙂

It is one week in the keg, and the flavors are starting to blend. I can definitely taste the wild rice component. It is a little earthy just like a serving of wild rice. The pale chocolate malt flavor dominates at the end. Not too surprising, the body is thinner. I had hoped the Simpsons DRC would add more body. Another week or two should allow this brown to finish conditioning.

Hope I have some left whenever we next have a meeting. 🙂

Sam

Serving:
Genmaicha Brown Ale
Munich Dunkel
IPA

Conditioning:

Fermenting:
House Amber

Planning:
?

[Sam]

To update this thread and give some final thoughts about the recipe…

The wild rice flavor and aroma has diminished so that it isn’t so prominent, while still contributing to the brown ale. The pale chocolate has become apparent, and this is a very drinkable beer (if you like wild rice). However, it isn’t what I had envisioned.

For me, the cost of 2 pounds of wild rice isn’t worth making this recipe again. I was hoping the nutty characteristic of wild rice would add to the brown ale. Nope.

I will probably try again but use toasted/roasted white rice like Colter mentioned. I’ve found a few links for toasting rice for Genmaicha. This one seems worth a try for me: https://www.instructables.com/id/Genmaicha-roasted-rice-tea/

I’ll fill a bottle or two to bring to a future OTMP meeting for others to try.

Sam

Serving:
Genmaicha Brown Ale
Munich Dunkel
IPA

Conditioning:

Fermenting:
House Amber

Planning:
?

[Author]

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