Chicha

[oldbloke]

On Saturday we went down to the local garden centre for a few things. I had a good look at the birdseed section, in case they had any good deals on millet (no pure millet, all mixes). What I did spot though was maize kernels, and for feed not seed so no nasty chemicals. And just the day before I'd been reading about chicha, the south american 'beer'.
Worth a try? It'd have to be malted, but I'm used to that from the millet experiments.
Hops, or try for something more traditionally south american? Which would be what exactly?
The Alaskan Bootlegger's Bible mentions caraway, but I dumped some of that in my last TC and when I bottled yesterday I couldn't detect any flavour contribution from it - otoh, it's not conditioned yet and I'll want to try a side-by-side taste test with the caraway-less gallon I made at the same time, when they're properly ready in a few more weeks.


[edited to correct spelling of chicha !]

 

[RobWalker]

No mention of hops in any of the videos i've watched...would be up for putting this on with you though! How exactly would we go about mashing corn without gobbing all over it?

Could we just use corn syrup? It looks like it would work and yield basically the same result, but I reakon it would be neccessary to chuck in some sweetcorn too, otherwise there won't be much flavour.

Looks like a lot of people use cinnamon/chilli too, so that could be fun.

 

[RobWalker]

Experimenting here pal :)

viewtopic.php?f=39&t=23983

 

[oldbloke]

No mention of hops in any of the videos i've watched...would be up for putting this on with you though! How exactly would we go about mashing corn without gobbing all over it?

Could we just use corn syrup? It looks like it would work and yield basically the same result, but I reakon it would be neccessary to chuck in some sweetcorn too, otherwise there won't be much flavour.

Looks like a lot of people use cinnamon/chilli too, so that could be fun.

If you malt it you don't need to add enzymes from saliva! But I'd probably chuck in some shop-bought amylase as well, JIC.

Cinnamon sounds good.

Think I know what I'm googling tonight

 

[oldbloke]

Well, I didn't Google much, after finding that "chicha" (possibly) just means "fermented liquid" and there are a zillion local versions.

I think I'll just try malting some maize kernels and make it up as I go... Might roast some, might not... Possibly use hops to make it taste something like something I'm used to.
Only a daft experiement!

 

[RobWalker]

Yeah, it looks like the original is corn based so thatd be your best place to start, it looks a lot like kids ginger beer we make here! Good luck, let us know how u get on. My pineapple and sweetcorn version is going on this weekend :-)