The Grocery Store Challenge

[cmac62]

So in another thread @VikeMan said he brewed corn beer as a brew club grocery store challenge, and that kind of extra derailed the thread. However, @bracconiere and some others thought it might be fun to start a thread to discuss/experiment with brewing beer with only ingredients you can find at the grocery store. This is an open thread, so whatever you want to make. A new Whole Foods opened up by me and thinking about this has got me interested in make a trip by to see what I can brew. Have fun.

 

[bracconiere]

i'm going to put a lb of brown rice on to soak to sprout right now! (guess i'm going to join the 1 gallon brews club after all!)

 

[Velnerj]

I can't help but walk through the grocery store and as I look at random items, think to myself... "could it beer?" Then I run through all of the possible ways to incorporate it into a a recipe.

I've never had the itch to act on those fantasies but it would be interesting to hear people's stories of they have tried.

 

[Drewch]

Should we assume that syrups (brown rice, sorghum, agave, maple, etc), honey, and sugars are off-limits?

I wonder how much of the sugar in beets is readily accessible....

 

[cmac62]

I can't help but walk through the grocery store and as I look at random items, think to myself... "could it beer?" Then I run through all of the possible ways to incorporate it into a a recipe.

I've never had the itch to act on those fantasies but it would be interesting to hear people's stories of they have tried.

I do that as well. "Will it beer" you must have watched a few Rhet and Link's good mythical morning episodes. LOL.

 

[bracconiere]

Should we assume that syrups (brown rice, sorghum, agave, maple, etc), honey, and sugars are off-limits?

I wonder how much of the sugar in beets is readily accessible....

honestly i've been wondering if bean-o tablets is out of bounds?

 

[cmac62]

Should we assume that syrups (brown rice, sorghum, agave, maple, etc), honey, and sugars are off-limits?

I wonder how much of the sugar in beets is readily accessible....

I don't think so, of course you will have to drink (or pour) what you make, and I guess that goes into what is beer. For some reason I think some of the sugar needs to come from a mash, but that is just me. Lets see what other's think.

 

[cmac62]

honestly i've been wondering if bean-o tablets is out of bounds?

If they are on sale at your grocery store, I'd say no.

 

[cmac62]

I've been googling what foods have amylase enzymes and so far ripe mango and banana seem to be a good fit.

 

[Drewch]

honestly i've been wondering if bean-o tablets is out of bounds?

Good question .... According to the interwebs, Bean-O is just alpha-galactosidase and binders.

 

[cmac62]

I just realized that it is a Sprouts that opened near me. They still should have an interesting selection of ingredients to check out. The one gallon brewers is definitely increasing by one at least. LOL.

 

[bracconiere]

no one else has even gotten to the store yet? my brow rice has allready been soaking for an hour, i'm trying to think how to drain it already in another hour or so....


i'm so going to crack a joke when i deculm it with a computer fan.....passing it meassuring cup-to-cup....outta be interesting if maybe this would be good for the homemade bread thread! malted rice, and sweet bread!

 

[WalletHocker]

Do the bittering compounds have to come from the store or can you use hops?

 

[MaxStout]

Pitching bread yeast seems a no-brainer, being a common grocery item. But I'm curious to see what herbs/spices people use in place of hops. Plenty of possibilities in the spice aisle.

 

[cmac62]

Do the bittering compounds have to come from the store or can you use hops?

I was thinking maybe using some hop tea or hop water to get some of the bittering and stability properties into the beer. And again, you can do whatever you want, but I think the spirit of the challenge is to make a beer with everything purchased at the local megamart (an obvious AB reference). LOL

 

[Drewch]

I've been googling what foods have amylase enzymes and so far ripe mango and banana seem to be a good fit.

According to this article, the amylase in bananas is primarily alpha-amylase.

 

[bracconiere]

homegrown hops would give a person an advantage at this!

 

[bwible]

The easy route is mead. Provided you can find honey at a somewhat reasonable cost. We have a discount grocery store that sells it in 5lb containers for between $12 to $17 depending on what they got and where they got it. You can add spices, fruit juices, etc to it.

You might be able to make cider if you can find juice with no preservatives. Usually labelled “organic” and twice the price.

I don’t know how you make beer from grocery store stuff. None of it has enzymes. And no hops. Gonna be “prison hooch”.

 

[bracconiere]

None of it has enzymes.

got my brown rice sprouting now...and that's how the thought for this came up in another thread.... i like brown rice in combination with roast barley in a stout.

i'm think my recipie will be 1lb malted rice, maybe some flaked oats to the tune of another 1lb, roast one or the other dark enough to be 'roast'...and use some black pepper for bittering? not prison hooch?

 

[bwible]

I’d imagine you could also ferment white sugar to make something like a Truly seltzer base. Maybe flavor it with Mio or similar flavorings sold in the supermarket.

 

[bracconiere]

I’d imagine you could also ferment white sugar to make something like a Truly seltzer base. Maybe flavor it with Mio or similar flavorings sold in the supermarket.

i'd say that wouldn't really be a challenge...but being it still would be a learning curve for truly newbies....we'll call that level one grocery hooch! or maybe level two, since apple juice would be even easier....

 

[Drewch]

The easy route is mead. . . . You might be able to make cider if you can find juice with no preservatives. . . . I don’t know how you make beer from grocery store stuff.

Mead and ciders/wines are the easiest options. For beer, gonna have to find enzymes somewhere. Or find a grocery store that sells unprocessed grain that you can malt yourself.

 

[bracconiere]

https://www.frysfood.com/p/bob-s-red-mill-organic-hard-red-spring-wheat-berries/0003997811986

 

[Knightshade]

Genus Brewing has a whole “Will it beer” series on their YouTube channel.

I’ve got some Little BMB fermenters and a 1.5 corny just gathering dust. Maybe a HBT Big Brew Day w/a “Will it Beer?” theme might be interesting? Or a complete disaster…

 

[bracconiere]

Genus Brewing has a whole “Will it beer” series on their YouTube channel.

I’ve got some Little BMB fermenters and a 1.5 corny just gathering dust. Maybe a HBT Big Brew Day w/a “Will it Beer?” theme might be interesting? Or a complete disaster…

my brown rice is soaked, and drained...laying on it's side with a sprouting lid....will it chit or ****, or will it convert or subvert....

 

[rallenhall]

This is sort of 'Back to the Future.' I got started in the early 70's with store items ... malt syrup, sugar, and bread yeast from the baking aisle of a local grocery. Fermented in a pickle crock with a towel on top, I was brewing Belgians before I ever knew they existed.

 

[Homebrew Harry]

my brown rice is soaked, and drained...laying on it's side...

After this batch maybe try standing them on their ends to see if there is any difference

 

[Henbrew]

I've been googling what foods have amylase enzymes and so far ripe mango and banana seem to be a good fit.

Human saliva has amylase enzymes if anyone is willing to try

 

[cmac62]

At whole foods or sprouts I'm betting they have digestive enzymes for the conversion. Potatoes have a significant amount of Alpha, but I think you need to cook them before they will ferment?

 

[cmac62]

Human saliva has amylase enzymes if anyone is willing to try

That's why the women sit around the chicha pot chewing up the grain, or whatever it is, and spitting it back into the pot. I guess you could pasteurize the brew before packaging it.

 

[VikeMan]

Human saliva has amylase enzymes if anyone is willing to try

This young lady is way ahead of you on that.

 

[cmac62]

Here is an interesting article about an ancient brewery in Chile and it indicates the corn was not always chewed, but malted. Check it out. An Alternative History of Chicha, the Ancient Peruvian Corn Beer (Not) Made With Human Saliva

Got this from the No Barley thread.

 

[bracconiere]

After this batch maybe try standing them on their ends to see if there is any difference

i've got enough malting experince to know what the difference would be...baby got bacteria! (tying into spit brew....kinda like a cow chewing it's cud?)


edit: and Mo'Fo's you should take this thread seriously! there was prohibition once! never know if the sobs will try again! whether it be taxes or what not!

(and)

 

[cmac62]

there was prohibition once! never know if the sobs will try again! whether it be taxes or what not!

At this time I think it is going the other way, I can get more potent MJ than I ever did in the late 70s and early 80s. LOL

 

[NickTheGreat]

MY grocery store has beer. Can I brew with that?

 

[bracconiere]

I can get more potent MJ

what is that?

 

[davidabcd]

A grocery store's "strength" appears to be wine or mead but not anything beer-like.
Yeast can be gotten from some of the fruits, if I'm not mistaken.

 

[bracconiere]

not anything beer-like.

we'll see, i plan on staying in the ring more then one round.....

edit: (i don't want to be remebered as spinks)

 

[VikeMan]

Yeast can be gotten from some of the fruits, if I'm not mistaken.

If you live in a place where grocery stores sell beer, yeast can also be had from some of the bottles.

 

[bracconiere]

If you live in a place where grocery stores sell beer, yeast can also be had from some of the bottles.

damn i didn't even think about yeast really....i was just thinking creative ways to break down BIG glucose to bite sized chunks.....but i do have a positive pressure glove box, i could pour a bit of store bought beer on a petri dish...of course with a wheat germ media bought at the grocery!