Malt
Flaked maize
Pre-gelatinised maize used to lighten body and colour — a defining ingredient of American and Mexican lager.
Maize has a reputation as a cheap substitute, and cost is often the reason it is used. But it does something malt cannot: it raises fermentability and drops body without adding colour or flavour, and several traditional styles use it deliberately for that effect.
What it does
Flaked grain. Grain steamed and rolled so its starch is pre-gelatinised and available to mash enzymes without a cereal cook.
Pre-gelatinised maize. Lightens both body and colour while raising fermentability, and needs a base malt with surplus enzyme power to convert it.
Specification
| Colour | 0.5–2°L |
|---|---|
| Grain | maize |
| Enzyme activity | none — needs a base malt to convert it. |
| Fermentability | high |
| Typical share of grist | 10–40% |
| Flavour | light sweetness, neutral, faint corn |
Used in
- International pale lager
The global mainstream lager: pale, clean, lightly hopped and built for consistency and refreshment above flavour intensity.
- American lager
A very light, highly attenuated pale lager brewed with a substantial proportion of maize or rice, prioritising drinkability and cold service.
- International amber lager
A light, commercially-produced amber lager, most familiar in its Mexican form, with gentle caramel over a crisp body.
- International dark lager
A commercially-produced dark lager, light in body and gently sweet, with colour contributing more than flavour.
- Pre-Prohibition lager
A reconstruction of the American lager brewed before Prohibition: fuller, more bitter and more characterful than what replaced it.
- Cream ale
An American hybrid: ale-fermented then cold-conditioned, producing a smooth pale beer close to a lager in character.
- Cold IPA
A lean, dry IPA fermented with lager yeast at higher temperature, using maize or rice to strip body and expose hop aroma.
- Kentucky Common
A quick-turnaround dark American beer brewed largely from maize, often lightly soured, extinct since Prohibition.