Beer 101: Lesson #29 - Adulteration or Accent? The Adjunct Debate
Jason Foster
Check out more of Jason Foster’s beer news and views at onbeer.org
What distinguishes craft beer from commercial beer? There are a number of possible characteristics, ranging from size and marketing strategy to quality of the product and attitude toward brewing. One variable that regularly arises is the issue of the brewery’s approach to the dreaded “adjuncts”. Quite innocuously, my Oxford English Dictionary defines adjunct as “a subordinate or incidental thing”. An extra, if you will. However, mention it in the context of brewing ingredients and all hell breaks loose. So, let’s take a look at the world of adjuncts.
In brewing an adjunct is any non-malted addition to a recipe intended as a secondary component to replace or supplement a portion of the grain bill. Malted grain, whether it be rye, wheat or barley, does not count in the definition as they are primary additions. The range of possible adjuncts is wide, ranging from grains to sugars to fruits and vegetables. Similarly the purpose for adding the adjunct will differ significantly. Let’s walk through both pieces in turn.
The most common adjuncts are alternative grains, mostly corn or rice, which produce a lighter bodied beer because they ferment more completely (due to fewer residual starches and proteins). You might also see oats used as well. Next are sugar-based additions. This list will include honey, maple syrup and the specialized Candi Sugar for Belgian ales. Sugars also lighten the body and increase alcohol levels. Some, such as honey or tree syrup (I call it tree syrup because Yukon recently released a birch syrup beer), will also provide a unique flavour and aroma.
The final form of adjuncts are fruits and vegetables added in the mash or early in the fermentation process. Pumpkins are a popular trend these days. Crannog Brewing in B.C. uses potatoes for one of their beer. Fruit also will count, but not if it was added post-fermentation for flavouring. Basically any fruit/vegetable that has starches and sugars that can be converted by enzymes can be added as an adjunct. These additions are intended to alter the body and flavour of the beer to give it a unique character.
So, why do brewers use adjuncts? I think there are four possible reasons. The first is cost. Some adjuncts (corn and rice) are cheaper than barley, and can lower the cost of the beer. Second is that most common adjuncts lighten the beer’s flavour and body, making it more palatable (they believe) to the bulk of beer consumers in North America.
The third is historical or stylistic accuracy. Some styles call for adjuncts. This includes some British-style ales and historic American styles like Classic American Pilsner (both calling for corn). In Belgium the use of adjuncts is ubiquitous, as special sugars are used to push their strong ales up in alcohol without adding body.
Fourth, adjuncts might be used for experimental or creative reasons. A brewer might want to offer a beer with a unique flavour or aroma that comes from a non-traditional ingredient. Here is where the pumpkin, honey, tree syrup and vegetable additions would fit.
So why do so many people get twisted in knots at the mention of adjuncts? It is because not all adjuncts are created equal. The core of the issue is that for the past few decades the corporate brewers have used a high proportion of adjuncts in their beer (as high as 40%) to dampen the flavour, colour, aroma and character of the beer (and save some money). Adjuncts have become associated with the agonizingly long trend of dumbing down beer for the masses. The origins of the craft movement in the U.S. and Canada were, in part, a reaction to that. They committed to brewing beer more traditionally, which meant, for the most part, without adjuncts. Over the past twenty years, adjuncts have become something of a divide between the two worlds.
Except it is never that clear is it? Even the best craft brewers resort to adjuncts when appropriate, especially lately with increased experimentation. When brewing at home I use oats frequently and have been known to toss in some flaked maize in a cream ale or English summer ale. Plus, hasn’t North American lager become a legitimate style itself?
So when is using adjuncts okay? Should it define what is craft beer? To the first question, I think the answer is when it is justified by the beer and not by the market. The second question is more difficult. Clearly it can’t be an either/or categorization, however the regular use of corn syrup or rice legitimately demarcates non-craft brewers from the craft side. If you are tossing corn/rice into your lager to make it less flavourful, then we can probably categorize you as not a craft brewer. Beyond that things get murkier.
Myself, I argue that adjuncts need to be judged based upon which reason they are used. Numbers one and two deserve to be met with a degree of suspicion. Three and four naturally fit the craft ethos.