Mashing with corn, clarity problem

[weekapaughead]

Hello everyone!
This is my first post in the forum. Usually I am able to find my answers using google, but for this problem I have been unable to find a satisfying answer. I'd like to start of by letting you know I am in China and brewing has been a nightmare here. Equipment is basically impossible to find so keep that in mind when giving your answers.
My question involves sediments in a brew I recently did. Here is the recipe.
90 min mash w/ 2.25kg 2row and 1.3 kg crushed dried corn.
Mash in:
~3gallons 168, final mash temp 150
Sparge @ 167

90 Minute boil
14 Grams willamette @ 60
14 grams Crystal @ 15

Now my problem is that this is probably the haziest beer I have made yet and I am trying to figure out what went wrong, and what cause the 2 inch layer of sediments in the bottom.

I am assuming it has something to do with the corn. Do I need to wash the corn before going into mash? cook it? Im assuming the corn was dried on the side of the road in a village.

The wort actually tasted great and is what I was shooting for (nice/light/sweet) but the amount of sediment in there is absolutely ridiculous. Also the beer is just plain ugly.

Any advice or personal experience would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks

 

[Marauder]

So I have to ask first what yeast did you use? Then, can you give us some details about your fermentation process? Primary/ secondary times, and temperatures? I actually just kegged a very similar recipe and my hydro sample was crystal clear. I can tell you one thing I did different from you though, is somewhat like you asking if you should cook the corn, a cereal mash. All your corn and about 1 pound of 2 row with a little water for 15 minutes at 160, than boil for 20minutes stirring the whole time to prevent burning the grains and adjunct. Do this before your mash to gelatinize the corn to make it easier to be converted in the mash. This is one identifiable difference between yours and my processes. Now for fermentation I used s05 went 3 weeks primary at 63f then racked to secondary for 5 days at 56f. I have found personally, a quick secondary at slightly lower temps has been getting my beer pretty clear. As to why yours is so hazy, it is hard to say without more details exactly, but I have to say picking up corn from a local market to brew with due to the lack of homebrew supplies available in your location, was a great idea. I hope this all helps, so you can brew some great beer in a place where it's hard to get.

 

[LBussy]

Some more info would be good as the above person asked.

To remedy however, rack to a secondary, mix up some unflavored gelatin, pour it in and mix, and if you can chill it. Here it comes in 8g packets I believe which is good for a 5 gallon batch.

 

[Marauder]

Some more info would be good as the above person asked.

To remedy however, rack to a secondary, mix up some unflavored gelatin, pour it in and mix, and if you can chill it. Here it comes in 8g packets I believe which is good for a 5 gallon batch.

+1 if you can get your hands on gelatin where you are, sound advice.

 

[Bostonbrewin63]

Couldn't you order grains/whatever you needed online? Or are you trying to stay away from that? Just my $0.2.

 

[BigEd]

I am assuming it has something to do with the corn. Do I need to wash the corn before going into mash? cook it?

You need to cook it and washing it beforehand isn't a bad idea.

Mashing raw grain doesn't work well because the starch molecules contained need to be "gelantized" prior to mashing. Cooking causes the starches to swell and bond with water allowing them to be accessible to conversion enzymes in the mash.

Marauder has outlined the basic steps of a cereal mash that you could try next time which should make a big improvement. The large amount of haze is probably mostly starch molecules from the corn floating in the beer. More of these, along with assorted proteins, cellulose and dirt are the likely contributors to the large volume of sediment.

The gelatin clarification step suggested by LBussy is also worth trying. If the wort tastes good then the beer should be good too.

 

[dobberson24]

BigEd is right. Corn has a higher gelatinization temperature than barley which is not reach in sacrification ranges. You need to pre-cook corn. The haze you are getting is from unconverted starch.

 

[JRems]

Make sure you wash the corn well before you cook it. You said you bought it from the side of the road, so who knows, it could have been meant for animal feed. If it was, it could have been treated with something. Especially so if you are in china.

 

[weekapaughead]

Right now it is only in the primary and it looks like a heff almost.

us-05 was used for yeast

we are trying to make a lighter beer that will appeal to our chinese friends. any suggestions on how to alter the recipe?

 

[Marauder]

Right now it is only in the primary and it looks like a heff almost.

us-05 was used for yeast

we are trying to make a lighter beer that will appeal to our chinese friends. any suggestions on how to alter the recipe?

Oh, how long has it been in the primary? It is probably too early to say that this beer won't come out clear. Just do a secondary for sure. The gelatin in the secondary a few people recommended, still isn't a bad idea since you didn't know about conducting a cereal mash, but you may find you don't even need gelatin. Mine looked very dark and murky while in the primary as well, but it cleared up. My recipe was very similar to yours. Here is my hydro sample after one week of secondary. I wouldn't necessarily change your recipe just add the cereal mash and you should have the nice light brew you are going for. I brewed this for the same reason, to try and ease my BMC drinking friends and family into homebrew.