Adding Cracked Corn to Beersmith

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GCS Brewer
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Adding Cracked Corn to Beersmith

Post by GCS Brewer »

Just curious if anyone uses beersmith to put together recipes? I'd like to add cracked corn to the ingredient list but I don't have the numbers to add it. Does anyone know the numbers for potential specific gravity; yield, color and diastatic power? Screen shot attached as well.
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Fills Jars Slowly
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Re: Adding Cracked Corn to Beersmith

Post by Fills Jars Slowly »

Flaked corn is already in Beersmith and you can use that as a template. The difference is that flaked corn has been pre-gelatinized, thus saving you the cereal mash (corn cooking) step. Otherwise its properties are the same as any other unmalted corn. Speaking of unmalted, since the corn is raw grain and is not malted, diastatic potential is zero, meaning you will need to mash it along with malted grains or otherwise provide enzymes for conversion of starch to sugars.

So, potential gravity is about 1.037 for a pound of corn in a gallon of water, the color is about 1.3 SRM, and diastatic power of 0. Twiddle the "Yield" number in Beersmith to account for the fineness or coarseness of your crack/crush in order to account for better or worse efficiency associated with that factor.

Note that Beersmith's potential gravity number of 1.037 is not written in stone. Palmer reports a potential of 1.039 (at 100% efficiency) and, of course, IRL potential varies a bit from crop to crop, variety to variety, and batch to batch. If you are using cracked and not milling to meal or flour, expect quite a bit of starch to remain beyond the reach of your extractive efforts.
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Re: Adding Cracked Corn to Beersmith

Post by GCS Brewer »

Fills Jars Slowly I appreciate the answers to this. Thanks!
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rgreen2002
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Re: Adding Cracked Corn to Beersmith

Post by rgreen2002 »

Fills Jars Slowly wrote:Flaked corn is already in Beersmith and you can use that as a template. The difference is that flaked corn has been pre-gelatinized, thus saving you the cereal mash (corn cooking) step. Otherwise its properties are the same as any other unmalted corn. Speaking of unmalted, since the corn is raw grain and is not malted, diastatic potential is zero, meaning you will need to mash it along with malted grains or otherwise provide enzymes for conversion of starch to sugars.

So, potential gravity is about 1.037 for a pound of corn in a gallon of water, the color is about 1.3 SRM, and diastatic power of 0. Twiddle the "Yield" number in Beersmith to account for the fineness or coarseness of your crack/crush in order to account for better or worse efficiency associated with that factor.

Note that Beersmith's potential gravity number of 1.037 is not written in stone. Palmer reports a potential of 1.039 (at 100% efficiency) and, of course, IRL potential varies a bit from crop to crop, variety to variety, and batch to batch. If you are using cracked and not milling to meal or flour, expect quite a bit of starch to remain beyond the reach of your extractive efforts.
+1 to all of this!!

I have in the past used SG of 1.033 but I think FJS' points are well taken regarding the variability. I use brewers friend as a calculator: https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/ ... alculator/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow as well and the "flaked corn" choice has always been relatively close for me when calculating. I destroy my corn in the mill... somewhere between fine grain and cornstarch in consistency :mrgreen:
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Re: Adding Cracked Corn to Beersmith

Post by bluc »

Isn't grits closer to cracked corn? Grits is listed in beersmith also.
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cede
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Re: Adding Cracked Corn to Beersmith

Post by cede »

bluc wrote:Isn't grits closer to cracked corn? Grits is listed in beersmith also.
Yes, you're right ! it's the ingredient to use for corn !
http://beersmith.com/Grains/Grains/grain_42.htm

Reminds me when a recipe called for corn and that I tried to cook flaked corn before mashing it. What a mess and a waste !
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