Beer question from someone who knows nothing about beer


 
Grant Cunningham

Grant Cunningham

TVWBB Pro
I know it's not BBQ, but I do make my pizza in the Genesis Platinum - doesn't that count?? ;)

I have a recipe for pizza dough that calls for malt liquor (with the alcohol boiled off) as the liquid. The idea is to give the dough a pronounced malt flavor (which it does.)

However, the only malt liquor I can find comes in HUGE cans, which is way more than I need for a single batch. I’ve been trying to make double batches and freeze the remainder, but that hasn’t worked out at all well. I'm tired of wasting a half-can of the stuff, especially at the price!

So my question is this: is there a beer in a normal-sized can that will have a similar flavor profile to the malt liquor? I don’t drink either, so I have no idea what I’d even be looking for, but I’ve got to believe there’s a good substitute out there.
 
Grant, you can get most of the way using just dry malt extract (commonly available online,) but that won't have the hops that malt liquor generally has. Personally, having been brewing beer for 15 years now, I prefer dry extracts to liquid extracts. Both are made by mashing in malted barley, but reducing it down and no hop additions. I've heard that liquid hop extracts have been making their way into the market, it might be worth using a TINY bit as a trial. Personally, I'd start with just malt extract added to your dough.

Red Wing Brewing (Red Wing, MN) has an absolutely wonderful pizza dough made with spent grain from their brewing process, it makes an outstanding pie.

Back to your recipe.... you said reduced malt liquor. Can you give us the details of how much reduction, how much dough, etc.?
 
Hey, wait a sec. Grant, you're out in OR. There has to be a homebrew shop or two near you. Stop in and ask them about malt extract, and possibly hop extracts. I doubt you're going to want more than just a smidge of the hop flavor, if at all. I'd suggest starting with just a basic malt extract addition to the dough. I also don't think it's going to matter all that much if you go with a light or dark extract. Dry extracts will store much better than liquid, but they are very hygroscopic so you're going to want to keep them sealed air tight.

Re: hops in malt liquor..... from a quick look around at home brew malt liquors, I'm seeing only about an ounce of hops in a 5 gallon batch. That's pretty light, and I'll refrain from poking fun at the big commercial brewers. My point is that you might not even notice a lack of hop flavor.

The other thing that you might possibly consider is spent grain. Look up spent grain bread recipes, and maybe talk to your local craft brewer about maybe getting a couple of lbs. of spent grain after they mash. You would want to portion that out and freeze it immediately, it'll turn rather quickly as it's damp and a fertile bacterial breeding ground. As this is before the boil, there also wouldn't be any hops in it either. I'd suggest a fairly light colored beer for this, as you probably don't want the flavor characteristics from a crystal malt (or maybe you do, I shouldn't assume,) like is used in a stout or a porter.
 
Putting the "Way Back" Machine on 10

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Practically any malt extract should work for Grant's purposes. Kilning temps (light to very dark) shouldn't matter much for this. It also won't matter if it's diastatic (can convert starches to sugars,) or non-diastatic. My issue with stuff on a grocery store shelf is that it's like to be old (in the case of liquid extract,) and expensive. Dry malt extracts should be added into the dry ingredients and mixed in prior to liquids, they should integrate into the dough better & faster than a very thick liquid extract.

As I've got some unexpected free time, and everything here in the house, I should try this.
 
JKalchik said:
Hey, wait a sec. Grant, you're out in OR. There has to be a homebrew shop or two near you. Stop in and ask them about malt extract, and possibly hop extracts. I doubt you're going to want more than just a smidge of the hop flavor, if at all. I'd suggest starting with just a basic malt extract addition to the dough. I also don't think it's going to matter all that much if you go with a light or dark extract. Dry extracts will store much better than liquid, but they are very hygroscopic so you're going to want to keep them sealed air tight.

Re: hops in malt liquor..... from a quick look around at home brew malt liquors, I'm seeing only about an ounce of hops in a 5 gallon batch. That's pretty light, and I'll refrain from poking fun at the big commercial brewers. My point is that you might not even notice a lack of hop flavor.

The other thing that you might possibly consider is spent grain. Look up spent grain bread recipes, and maybe talk to your local craft brewer about maybe getting a couple of lbs. of spent grain after they mash. You would want to portion that out and freeze it immediately, it'll turn rather quickly as it's damp and a fertile bacterial breeding ground. As this is before the boil, there also wouldn't be any hops in it either. I'd suggest a fairly light colored beer for this, as you probably don't want the flavor characteristics from a crystal malt (or maybe you do, I shouldn't assume,) like is used in a stout or a porter.
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Thanks, I'll see if I can find a homebrew shop nearby!
 
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