OnTap Magazine

MASHING IN WITH MOPANE WORMS I decided to add a total of 10kg of ground insects to the mash, made up of half mealworms, and 25% each of black soldier fly larvae and mopane worms. We started with pale malt making up 80% of the bill, diastatically freeing us to work the rest of the palette unencumbered. Malted oats, a lightly kilned and unflaked version of the more common “rolled oats” (or Jungle Oats) was used at a conservative 3% to be the main delivery mechanism of the insect flavours and aromas, taking advantage of its proclivity towards tempering astringency with a silky addition to the mouthfeel. The husks that remain on the oats provided some assistance in the run-off. When it came to crystal malts, I knew we wanted something to go beyond the typical caramel/toffee sweetness; this was a job for a highly kilned raisin bomb. Used at 6%, Special B provides a responsibly sweet, dark fruit contrast to the generally nutty, edging on savoury profile. While Special B did make a fair effort towards the brown colour target, Carafa 3 Special was called in at 1% to finish the job. We added this dehusked tribute to German malting perfection at mash-in, taking advantage of the roasted flavours without suffering bitter astringency. Biscuit malt, added at 3%, gives the beer some context for the earthy and nutty flavours by contributing pleasant toasty notes, designed to enhance and seamlessly blend together the roast of the Carafa 3, the raisin of Special B and the savoury of mopane. We mashed in the ground insects with the rest of the grist, and hit our beta amylase rest for 45 minutes, followed by a brief alpha amylase rest before mash out. We added equal parts of whole bugs to the lauter during transfer, then carefully ran off the protein-hazed wort. These relatively gentle temperatures would allow us to extract the insect flavours while mitigating unpleasant tannins. TASTING TIME Adding the bugs at the mash and lauter stages allowed us to naturally filter out much of the fats and oils that threatened to stifle head retention and shelf life. We then boiled the beautiful brown wort, adding 18 IBUs of bittering hops, followed by 2 IBUs of centennial at five minutes. The cool in was stopped just slightly short, so the residual non- polarised oils that floated atop would not enter the fermentation vessel. The results were fantastic; a creamy white head sits atop a ruby/brown, filtered, medium bodied ale, whose aroma carries itself into the olfactory senses with grace just moments before it washes over your tongue. Its creamy mouthfeel and low bitterness serve to let the insects shine through, giving this unique brew all the familiar qualities we love in a nut brown ale from this unexpected and delightful source. The blend of raisin and toast back up the nutty, earthy insects while simultaneously disguising the alcohol content (5.5% ABV). The perfect hint of savoury mopane does its job and beckons the captivated consumer from their state of disbelief, directly onto their second pint. This project was, for both the Drifter team and Gourmet Grubb, an adventure in experimentation, a window into a sustainable future, and a chance to change common preconceptions over one of the most universal languages of all time, beer. TECH TALK MADORA WILL BE AVAILABLE IN THE DECEMBER LEAGUE OF BEERS MIXED CASE. Not your average grist Black soldier fly larvae headed for the mash tun A juicy mopane worm ready to fulfill its destiny as a beer ingredient Mopane worms 50 | Summer 2019 | ontapmag.co.za