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Acorn Maple Wheat

Here in New England, acorns provide a readily available source of starch for use as an adjunct.
Collecting them in the fall is easy enough, but the treatment neccessary to use them is a bit tedious.
Basically, you gather a big pile of them, roast them in the oven at 225 F for two hours, shell them
until your hands bleed, chop them in the blender, and rinse them with running water for two more hours.
You don't need a lot of water, but it must keep moving (do not soak). After drying them in the oven
again, they are ready for use. As an alternative, I understand they can be purchased, already prepared
at some Asian markets. To break the starches down, I used some amylase enzyme that I bought at the
brew store, which took several hours at about 130 F. Then I just added the whole mess to the mash.

Brewer: S. Chavez Email: -
Beer: Acorn Maple Wheat Style: -
Type: Partial mash Size: 5 gallons
Color:
107 HCU (~37 SRM)
Bitterness: 7 IBU
OG: 1.078 FG: 1.002
Alcohol: 9.8% v/v (7.7% w/w)
Water: I filtered the water for use, but I made no chemical adjustments of any kind. Perhaps
some gypsum would have helped, but I did not notice any sort of problems.
Grain: 4 lb. 0 oz. American 2-row
0 lb. 8 oz. Dextrine malt (Cara-Pils)
0 lb. 2 oz. British black patent
0 lb. 2 oz. Roasted barley
2 lb. Acorns, shelled
Mash: 50% efficiency
I soaked the acorns for several hours as described above. I put the grains, and the acorn
into a grain bag for the mash. Did a stovetop mash at about 152 F (approximately, temperature
control was spotty at best) for an hour and sparged with near boiling water. Collected 3
gallons.
Boil: 60 minutes SG 1.129 3 gallons
3 lb. 5 oz. Wheat extract
5 lb. 0 oz. Maple syrup
I added Irish Moss with 15 minutes of boil remaining.
Hops: 1 oz. Hallertauer (3.3% AA, 60 min.)
.5 oz. Hallertauer (3.3% AA, 15 min.)
.5 oz. Hallertauer (aroma)
Yeast: Since I needed an alcohol tolerant yeast, I chose the Belgian Strong Ale, Wyeast 1388.
Log: Fermented for approximately two months, making regular transfers every couple of
weeks. Kept everyting at room temperature (upper 60's) and gave the yeast time to do
their work.
Carbonation: To pick up the maple flavor, I primed with 3/4 cup of maple syrup, and bottle
conditioned for two weeks.
Tasting: Mild flavor, more maple aroma then taste. Slight nuttiness from the dark malts. The
alcohol content is noticeable, and comes through in the flavor. If I did it over again,
I might use a more assertive hop, but really I was quite pleased.

Recipe posted 01/20/98.