Corn starch to sugar

andrew101

I have several 2 lbs containers of Argo corn starch (like what you'd buy at the store to thicken stuff). I'm wondering if there is anyway to make this starch fermentable sugar?

doug293cz

You can "mash" corn starch by adding amylase enzymes. Heat the corn starch dissolved in water to about 140°F, add the enzymes, and wait a couple of hours. If you want to have residual dextrins in the resulting "wort", then use alpha amylase enzyme. If you want maximum fermentable sugar, then use amyloglucosidase (gluco, gluco amylase) enzyme. It may not take two hours. If you don't want to wait, then do an iodine test to determine that there is no starch remaining, but the iodine test does not insure that you have reached maximum fermentability.
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RM-MN

Sure there is. Mix it in cold water, add that cold water/starch mixture to the mash with malted barley. Make beer. The enzymes in malted barley will convert nearly equal amount of starches by weight. You can do the same with flour.

Hopalong

Yes, just the way RM recommends. I have used corn starch, but I bought the corn starch from a health food store because it wasn't supposed to have anti-caking chemical in it.

andrew101

Well, ive never done beer, only meads and wines. Do yall have a good, easy recipe?

doug293cz

See post #2 in this thread. The result from fermenting sugar from corn starch may not be palatable, it might make better feed stock for distillation (which is what I originally thought you had in mind.)
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