Adjuncts

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Wheat - adjunct or ingredient?

The following is about the brewing term; adjunct is also a term used in linguistics.

Adjuncts are unmalted grains (such as such as corn, rice, rye, oats, barley, and wheat^[1]) used in brewing beer which supplement the main mash ingredients (such as malted barley), often with the intention of cutting costs, but sometimes to create an additional feature, such as better foam retention.

1 Adjunct definition
2 Starch adjuncts
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Adjunct definition

Ingredients which are standard for certain beers, such as wheat in a wheat beer, may be termed adjuncts when used in beers which could be made without them - such as adding wheat to a pale ale for the purpose of creating a lasting head. The sense here is that the ingredient is additional and strictly unnecessary, though it may be beneficial and attractive. Under the Bavarian Reinheitsgebot purity law it would be considered that an adjunct is any beer ingredient other than water, barley and hops; this, however, is an extreme view and is not standard. The term adjunct is often used to refer to corn and rice, the two adjuncts commonly used by pale lager brewing companies as substitutes for barley malt. This use of ingredients as substitutes for the main starch source, usually to lower the cost of production, is where the term adjunct is most often used.

[edit] Starch adjuncts

[edit] Rice

Rice is sometimes used in the production of pale lagers. Rice does not usually affect the flavour of beer to any significant extent, but may be used to lighten the body and the mouthfeel, or increase alcohol content, or add a little sweetness. Because rice is cheaper than barley, it is mainly used as a cost-saving measure.

[edit] Examples of beers with rice

Anheuser-Busch's Budweiser. Anheuser-Busch is the largest North American buyer of U.S. rice (1).
Black Diamond's Wild Rice
Hitachino Nest Red Rice Ale

[edit] Maize/Corn

Corn is commonly used in the production of American-style light lagers, particularly Malt Liquor. Corn is generally used in brewing as corn syrup, and as such is highly fermentable. Like rice, corn is cheaper than barley, so it is used as a cost-saving measure.

[edit] Wheat

Wheat used in German and American wheat beers. Wheat lightens the body and provides a tart flavour. Wheat beers are often served with fruit syrups and/or slices of lemon in Germany.

[edit] Rye

Rye is used in roggenbiers from Germany and in rye beers from America. Rye is notoriously difficult to brew with, so most rye beers only include a small amount of rye. Rye provides a spicy flavour to beer and dramatically increases head formation.

[edit] Oats

Oats are used in Oatmeal Stouts, oats provide a silky mouthfeel and a mild flavour.

[edit] Sugars and Honey

Sweeteners such as maple syrup, honey, and molasses are common. In honey beer the honey supplies only a portion of the sugars converted during fermentation and is used primarily for flavour. Candy sugar is a common ingredient in strong Belgian ales, where it increases the beer's strength while keeping the body fairly light; dark varieties of candy sugar also affect the colour and flavour of the beer.

[edit] Spices

A number of traditional beer styles are brewed with spices. For example, Belgian witbier is brewed with coriander, Finnish sahti is brewed with juniper berries, and traditional beers in Brittany are brewed with honey and spices. Also, some strong winter beers are flavoured with nutmeg and/or cinnamon, while ginger is a popular flavouring for a range of beers. Many commercially available pumpkin ales are made with pumpkin pie spices without any actual pumpkin.

Spices may be added to the wort during the boil or spices or spice extract may be added at any time during fermentation depending on desired results.

Spices used in brewing include: