Beer and Cereal — Together at Last?

beer and cereal

Unlike gansie, I’m a serious lover of cereal. Like gansie, I’m also a pretty big fan of beer. Unfortunately, societal norms prevent me from pouring beer over my breakfast cereal. But I still haven’t given up on finding a way to unite these two favored food groups of mine. So I was pretty intrigued when I stumbled upon this post over at Accidental Hedonist:

I’ve either been reading way too much beer research of late, or there has to be a workable beer recipe found in the cereal aisle of your local grocery store.

In perusing the ingredient list of a box of Grape Nuts cereal, I read the following:

Whole grain wheat flour, wheat flour, malted barley flour, salt, dried yeast, soy lecithin

So, am I crazy, or is there a basic beer ingredient list in here?

Beer from cereal? Is it really possible? Because if so, I may have found my new calling in life: home-brewing batches of rice krispies beer, cinnamon toast crunch beer, and fruit loops beer.

Let’s hear from all you amateur brewers. Is cereal-brew the wave of the future? Or a sad bachelor’s pipe dream? And what’s the craziest thing you’ve ever tossed in a home brew?

(Photo: Slightlynorth)

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9 comments

  • gansie July 22, 2009  

    i would be all over cinnamon toast crunch beer

  • Tim July 22, 2009  

    Simply put, beer is made of water, barley, hops, and yeast. But for as long as beer has existed, different variations of this basic recipe have been tried. A lot of brewers, like cereal manufacturers, have replaced barley with other, cheaper, grains to save money or create a different flavor. Rice and corn are most common in the American macro-brews. Pay close attn to a budweiser and you can literally taste the corn in it. Yeungling is brewed w/ a significant amount of grits (corn mash). IMHO, these adjuncts are added for cost savings, not taste, and I hate them. But, to each their own. All of this said, I love rice cereals. But I haven’t found any beer and cereal that I love together. Maybe a oat bran cereal with a good breakfast stout. No pun intended.

  • gansie July 22, 2009  

    maybe a stout smoothie with frosted flakes?

  • BS July 22, 2009  

    Guinness + vanilla ice cream + frosted flakes?

  • miked July 22, 2009  

    i think you could pour a nice chocolate stout over a bowl of cocoa krispies. young’s for instance. also old rasputin is thick enough too. you could also brew a chocolate stout with cocoa krispies… at least the added sugars would be fermentable. itd probably impart some chocolate flavor. god knows what effect all the chemicals and additives would have on it tho.

  • Jens July 22, 2009  

    See here: http://southernfriedscience.com/2009/04/26/how-to-brew-beer-in-a-coffee-maker-using-only-materials-commonly-found-on-a-modestly-sized-oceanographic-research-vessel/

    “You need a simple grain to release the tannins, starches, and enzymes. The best bet is common cereals – Raisin Bran, Cracked Wheat, Kashi, whatever you can find. The fruit and nuts will add flavor, but are not important.”

  • LF July 22, 2009  

    Tim, the funny thing is, Budweiser is quite proud (or at least pretends it is) of their use of rice, at least. I went on a brewery tour, and they just wouldn’t shut up about all the rice they use and the “drinkability” that it imparts and how it’s such a great ingredient for high quality beer.

  • tony February 23, 2010  

    excellent I knew it I knew it I knew it you could use cereal in place of that expensive malted barley garbage thank you tony from R.I.

  • lance December 26, 2010  

    Ba M’BA “33” Vietnam has in its ingredients. Water, Malt, Cereal, Hops. I know very little about how beer is made but it says Cereal lol not sure what type etc etc! but hey it taste pretty good!

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