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  • Bizarre adjuncts

    I'm brewing on a small Pacific Island which has very little agriculture. They do grow Taro, = tapioca, = cassava. Has anybody ever used this as an adjunct? Comments on flavor, usage, and gelatinization temperatures would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!
    Phillip Kelm--Palau Brewing Company Manager--

  • #2
    Never used it but seen it in leterature. Go for it!

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    • #3
      I would be tempted to use it like rice - assume it needs to be gelatenised, presumably by boiling up separately before adding to the mash as you mash in, to release the starch for enzymic degradation, and also assume that it will not have any husk of any sort. I don't remember seeing anything specifically about tapioca, but will have a look through my notes
      dick

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      • #4
        I have read about the use of taro before, but it is a seldom used adjunct.

        I believe it popped up, with a recipe, in the New Brewer back around '96-'98. Sorry for such a broad spectrum to search.

        Also, I'm sure it was in Charlie's homebrewing book. The first one. Mine is in storage at my Dad's house, but I know it's in there.

        Personally, I'd Google for gel. temp to convert and try to use it to make a light bodied beer. It sould probably be used in reasonable amounts (read as low % of entire mash) based on your ability to convert and what kind of gelatinous mess you have to clean up. Another possibility is to use it to add body to a good stout and tout it as a "local" product. It may become a favourite!

        I'm sure a local or two (probably old timers) have fermented and distilled taro before. I would ask around a bit, causually though, like when getting a haircut (good old style barber with a red and white pole) or at a local hole in the wall off the beaten path, with regulars. I'd let it be known who you are and why you need the info. In the past, I have obtained information this way. Also, a few "good faith" growlers or case of beer to share over stories is a great wa to show that you're not "THE MAN" or a Fed looking to bust someone. Free beer always seems to bring out the sense of co-operation in people I have dealt with.

        Hope this is helpful.

        Best of luck!

        Mike

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        • #5
          P.S.

          I just did a qick Google and came up with a Taro homepage:http://www.wcc.hawaii.edu/commsvcs/taro/taropg.htm

          It has links etc. At least it will give you an online jumpstart before you hit the bricks (probably sand). I'm envious up here in Canada in January. You're a lucky man!

          Good luck.

          Mike

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          • #6
            Thanks! Appreciate the link Mike. Internet service here is frightfully slow, if even that. And yes, it is nice here! My father always said "you make the luck". I've worked for it, now I can enjoy! I'm thinking about taro starting at 10% and trying to work up to 20%. Taro is a bit like a stiff potato when cooked, so I'll have to use a restaurant's facilities to boil the hell out of it and use a floor mixer to whip it with water into a thin glue. Then slowly vorlauf for the entire rest of an hour to clarify and gently set a bed to lauter well. Sound reasonable? The beer is now made with extract powder and corn syrup (see my post "Mash tun wanted"!). It is a lighter beer similar to an American "blond" ale with more hop kiss or a funky English bitter. Using Taro not only makes it a "local" product I can sell as a novelty, but it also cuts costs significantly. Importing to Gilligan's Island is expensive. It also involves the locals in the manufacture of their local beer. It will be a few months, but I'll post results when I see how it works. In the mean time, any help with using tuberous vegetables would be appreciated! Thanks!
            Phillip Kelm--Palau Brewing Company Manager--

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            • #7
              Hey,

              Glad you found the link useful.

              I looked at some other sites that said taro was the "tropical potato". Bearing this in mind, you might also look towards some distillation sites, not to distill, but for some fermentation guidelines for the initial stages. A reasonable search would be for potato based vodka.

              Your brew day sounds like an arduous process. I had envisioned something totally different. Thanks for the clarification!

              A brewing friend of mine from Oz used to brew on a comparable tropical pacific island, before we met, and had incredible stories of wheevles (beetles) in grain sacks, living in their own personal ecosystem until the bag was opened on brew day. This topic came up when I had a minor infestation and relayed the tale. Upon delivery, he would put his grain sacks in a walk-in freezer for 24 hours to freeze any critters. Sacks containing more critters than grain were subsequently discarded. Everything else was mashed in with no ill results. At the other end of the spectrum, he was impressed with the tales of mice that floated up and were subsequently scooped out of the mash tun at the regional brewery, where I used to work, in Canada. Of course, this only happened on Sunday, midnight shift start up. And we had very few rodents for a brewery that size; however, we had a 2 square acre steel scrapyard behind our location, and they all tried to migrate indoors in the winter.

              I was vorlaufing one night @ 2:30am and felt like I was being watched, so I turned around and saw a very interested mouse watching me while "walking" straight down (head first), the unpainted cinder block wall, where the second story of the brewhouse was located. I had never seen that before and people don't believe that mice are capable of such things.

              Sorry I got off topic. Anyhow, in your position, I would try slicing the taro into "chips" or you may be able to get one of those food processors that will slice it thinly as you press down on the tuber. I would stay away from making any kind of paste of it, unless you have done it successfully before. I'm just certain that it will cause a haze in a light beer. Both by content and probably by protein.

              You may want to look a adding alpha/ beta glucanase to your slices (in some type of liquid medium) to achieve an "artificial" conversion enzymatically. This would prevent the haze problems I forsee and gets you around the puree process as well.

              Another "island brewing tip from Oz" just popped into my head. My friend used to get his Co2 in cylinders from the mainland by barge at quite a high cost. To help get more longevity out of each tank, he convinced his supplier to boost the pressure rating at the time of filling (something along those lines) so that the Co2 charge was more dense and stored at the max. pressure rated for the cylinders. In doing this, he got more gas for his money and had to buy less in the process. You might check your tanks volume and pressure on arrival and come up with a proposal for your vender as well. Just an idea.

              Sorry for such a long letter. Hope it was entertaining at least. Please let me know what you think of my taro conversion proposal.

              Enjoy the beach!

              Mike

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              • #8
                The taro must be cooked to gelatinize the starches into a more soluble form. I'd prefer a runny paste to chips if not for the better surface area, then for the ease with which I can smash the taro vs. cut them. I'm also NOT planning to peel them, either! I'm thinking that the paste should turn soluble and clear with conversion and not present a clarification or a sparge issue. Taro is a low protein food, and if haze develops, then perhaps a lower temperature protease rest will eliminate this. I think that there would be sufficient protease activity remaining at mashing temperatures. Anybody remember the time/temperature relationship for protease activity/denaturation? Thanks for all the help! Cheers!
                Phillip Kelm--Palau Brewing Company Manager--

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                • #9
                  Russian taro ale?

                  You might try using the taro like the ukranian potato ale recipe I came across...after grinding the taro up mash it 50% with a highly modified malt (I used Maris Otter for the potato) and go for a really long saccharification. Then heat the whole gooey batch up to boil (no lauter) and scoop out the chunky bits as they develop. You will be left with a really gooey mess. Don"t bother running it through the HE. I just boiled mine in the mash mixer and used the big mash pump to move it into an open fermenter. I pitched about twice the normal amount of yeast when it cooled, and then let it do its stuff. After a week of fermentation, I skimmed the liquid and added it to a normal brew (a light amber ale).

                  Worked for potatoes. I'm going to experiment with using this narsty goop as a sugar for priming an oak keg.

                  If you have Tamarind growing on your island, that might make a nice adjunct, too. When I was brewing in the carribbean, I found that some of the local seaweeds made really good copper finings. I envy you, sounds like fun!!

                  Which island are you on? Is the diving any good? Maybe I can use that as an excuse to visit!!

                  natrat

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                  • #10
                    Diving

                    I'm in Palau. The diving is nothing short of awesome. I'm in the process of getting whirlfoc shipped in for kettle finings. Wish there was a local seaweed I could dry and use. Any help here would be appreciated. And Tamarind? What sort of flavor/color does that give. I will certainly look for it. Reinheitsgebot be damned. Never did like "pure" according to the Germans. Certainly stop by and let's dive the "blue holes" here. You won't be disappointed.
                    Phillip Kelm--Palau Brewing Company Manager--

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