Rice in US Beers

Beer experts... Generally speaking, is it true that the major US brewers use rice in addition to barley in making their best-selling beers? If so, in ballpark terms, what proportions are we talking about?

Reply to
Webster
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If by "major US brewers" you mean brewers of light lagers such as Anheuser-Busch, Miller, and Coors, then yes, their mainstream products use adjunct grains (corn or rice) to the tune of 25-40% of the grist (I think by weight, but it may be by % of fermentables; either way it's roughly the same). (Anheuser-Busch tends to use rice; I think the rest use corn.)

Reply to
Joel

The History Channel has a Modern Marvels program about brewing that was just on again the other day. In it, they feature Anheuser Busch in St. Louis and show the brewmasters tasting various infusions made from their ingredients and one of them is the brewer's rice. The program didn't go into it, but they must have one hell of a rice cooker!

Miller used to use corn, but from what I have heard (may not be true) they have switched to corn syrup.

Michelob is all-malt again and I think Coors Original is too.

Reply to
Randal

Thanks for the replies. I saw part of the History Channel show, which prompted my original question.

While not a beer c>> Beer experts... Generally speaking, is it true that the major US brewers

Reply to
Webster

Well, SOMEBODY'S using a lot of syrup, that's for sure- and considering that A-B, Miller (plus Miller-brewed Pabst brands) and Coors account for around 90% of US beer production totals, they'd be the only ones to have a dramatic effect on raw material usage, as noted in a great statistical pdf Excel file downloadable here-

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According to Page 8, "Materials Used" in the past dozen or so years (a period which included the demise of two major brewing companies, Heileman and Stroh), while malt, hops and rice usage have stayed relatively static, "Corn and Corn Products" usage has been cut nearly in half (from 1 billion lbs in '95 to about 1/2 billion in 2006) and at the same time "Syrups and Sugar" have gone in the exact opposite direction-

500 million lbs to a billion pounds. Also interesting is the rise in the use of other grains, like the tripling of wheat, "Barley and barley products" usage increasing more than 10 fold from '93 to '06 and even a tiny, brief flitation with sorghum. Now, some of that recent "other grain" usage might be attributed to the whole corn-ethanol deal, but seems to me to be a definite trend by at least one of the megabrewers.

Not that one can notice any difference, taste-wise . It's as if they deleted the 20% of so of the grain bill that was rice, but didn't replace it with anything! I made the mistake of buying it last winter when it came out -tho', it was only the second A-B purchase I've made in decades. I also fell for the confused A-B marketing copy that *implied* the initial version of that Budweiser Brewmasters Reserve was the (in)famous undiluted "high gravity" Budweiser. (This years version is a new recipe, reportedly a pretty good Dopplebock- I think I'll pass until I'm offered a free sample or find it at a party or something this time.)

That seems really unlikely but stranger things have happened, I suppose- it's a pretty neglected brand of Coors anymore and one would think they'd do a big campaign if they'd switched back to an all-malt version..

Getting back to the OP question, US breweries have always been pretty open about their use of corn and rice as adjuncts (A-B's been literately bragging about their use of rice in Budweiser for more than a century) and it's usually noted on the label, even when the vague "choice grains" is used. Sometimes "grains" is used since the recipes would vary with the rise and fall of the agricultural prices of the rice and/or corn and, as noted, above other grains.

Rolling Rock was one of the few beers that once clearly stated they used both (maybe Special Export in the Heileman days also did?).

Reply to
jesskidden

That would be silly. If you like Guinness, drink Guinness. If you don't like it, it doesn't matter whether they're using adjuncts or not.

Drinks have been brewed using rice and maize for centuries. Both are capable of making excellent beverages, and it would be the height of foolishness to dismiss them out of some misplaced notion that doing so somehow elevates you above your less discriminating fellow drinkers.

Reply to
Paul Arthur

Well, there's no one "Guinness"- they make a number of different stouts, sold in different markets around the world (17-19 by last count, IIRC). If you're in the US, you could be talking about the "Guinness Draught" that's sold in the bottles with the nitro "widget" or you may be talking about Guinness Extra Stout, which is not an Irish product from the Guinness brewery, but is brewed in Canada (and clearly noted on the label). Depending on the market, brewed by either Labatt or Moosehead, GES is "reportedly" just the local ale with Guinness extract added. Neither product is very well-respected by Guinness purists, and most of the various Guinness stouts being sold today (with a couple of hard-to-get exceptions) aren't very well thought of by many of the "beer snobs" (to use your phrase). I personally don't mind an ocassional (and redundant sounding) draught "Guinness Draught" but there are a lot of greater stouts on the shelves today.

I'm in the minority of "beer geekdom" tho', and don't necessarily reject corn and rice as adjuncts (or consider them "adulterations"). I'm of the small (but growing) segment that doesn't understand the acceptance of wheat, various sugars, spices and fruits in their beer but reject corn and rice simply because of the brewers who most use it and the beers they brew.

Reply to
jesskidden

Wheat beers have a specific style to them. Spices, fruits, etc, give other flavors.

Rice and corn, otoh, don't.

To the best of my knowledge, and some of this came from a Budweiser brewery tour, where rice and corn are used in beer, it's done for the specific purpose of a "filler". IOW, by substituting a portion of barley malt with rice, you reduce the cost of the product (and flavor, btw), without reducing the end result alcohol content.

Reply to
Jeffrey Kaplan

I've found that homebrewers tend to be a little more accepting of various adjuncts than random beer geeks. But maybe only a little.

Reply to
Joel

Rice, maybe. Corn definitely adds a particular flavor. I can taste it in Rolling Rock and Shiner lager (and Bock), to name a couple well-known examples.

Look into the history of brewing in America, and you'll find it's not quite as cut and dried as all that.

Reply to
Joel

Actually, doing a tasting at a Bud plant can be very informative. When you taste their products side by side, in as fresh a condition as it can get short of sipping directly from the lagering tanks, I think it's easy for anyone with anything approaching a discerning palate can taste a difference.

Reply to
Joel

Yeah, I was being a wise-ass, of course - tho' I found the new all-malt bottled Michelob pretty underwhelming compared to the pilnsers and light lagers coming out of some craft breweries. Agree that fresh, draught Michelob at the brewery is pretty amazing- I had it once back in the

80's in Columbus and, after that, whenever I came across a Michelob was always a disappointed. I had hoped the new version would be closer to that sample I had years ago.
Reply to
jesskidden

And (tho' you and I might not care for the result) that "lack" of flavor (which the brewery probably calls"lightness" or "clean tasting") is something that brewer *wants* in his beer.

The use of wheat can result in a pretty "bland" beer, as well- much of the unique flavors of German & Belgian wheat beers are due to brewing styles and the yeasts. There are a number of pretty bland US-style "wheat beers" which, without the additional spicing or addition of lemon and poured into opaque glassware (hidding the cloudiness), would be just as "tasteless" as typical "Industrial Light Lager".

As Joel notes elsewhere, those "fillers" were necessary in 19th century US brewing (due to differing US barley) and the resulting "light" taste (which started out trying to mimic European pilsners) became one that the vast majority of US beer drinkers came to favor.

And the sugar used by some UK and Belgian breweries is just as much an empty "filler" adjunct as corn or rice.

This is not as clearcut as the "beer geek common wisdom" suggests- rice, at times, can rival the cost of malted barley and preparing the adjuncts in separate "cereal cooker" vessels requires addition equipment and steps (granted, some of those costs are one time fixed ones).

Reply to
jesskidden

There are all sorts of wheat beers brewed. Some have diverse flavors; some are quite bland. I wouldn't say wheat's got any special place in brewing, other than being used moderately frequently in a couple prominent beer regions.

Corn is frequently used in English bitters.

If you search back in the archives, I think you'll find some information from Lew Bryson about the rice and the fact it's not a cost-saver. It is a way to create a lighter beer, both in body and flavor, while preserving alcohol content. Which is the primary motivator behind the heavy use of adjuncts in light fizzy yellow lagers.

-Steve

Reply to
Steve Jackson

Well, I didn't say it was *amazing*, just that one could tell a difference between it and the cereal adjunct brews. ;-)

Reply to
Joel

One of the things I love about the tremendous variety of beers available to me here in the United States is that I cannot say what my favorite beer is. I may have a favorite-ish for the season (right now I find myself drinking Sierra Nevada Celebration quite a bit). On that note, you should try some of the many stout offerings from US craft brewers. Availability will be dictated by your location but here are some of my favorites (some of these are Imperial Stouts and may be a shock if you are used to the comparatively tame Guinness draught):

Rogue Shakespeare Stout Bell's Expedition Stout Anderson Valley Oatmeal Stout Sierra Nevada Stout Great Divide Yeti Victory Storm King

_Randal

Reply to
Randal

Didd Budweiser really say they were introducing products into their beers simply as filler, or to take up space? Personally, I doubt it. While i'm not a big fan of beers from Budweiser, Michelob, etc., I think it is safe to say that those brewers are very successful at at what they do. The decision to include corn, rice or wheat is based on how the end product is suppposed to taste. Rice is not free or cheap especially in the quantities Budweiser consumes it.

Reply to
John S.

Rice is not free or cheap

Compared to hops?

Reply to
Coal Cracker

Especially compared to hops, given the relative amount of each that A-B uses.

Reply to
Joel

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