Food - Drink
Why Some Beers Are Brewed With Adjuncts
By MEGGAN ROBINSON
Beer is made with four basic ingredients: barley, yeast, hops, and water. "Adjuncts" refer to any other ingredient in beer besides the basics, from the corn syrup used in "light" beers to coffee, tea, chocolate, nuts, fruits, vegetables, and spices in more artisan brews, and each distiller has its own reasons for adding adjuncts.
American beers such as Bud Light and Miller Lite use adjuncts to create a clean, light, dry flavor that is characteristic of light lagers; Bud Light includes rice in the brewing process, while Miller Lite uses corn syrup. Other brewers use adjuncts to add flavor, create a distinctive texture, or to alter the color of their beer.
Many brewers add lactose to milk stouts and "milkshake" IPAs for "sweetness and a thicker mouthfeel," says Firestone Walker Brewing. Adjuncts are taken to extremes in brews like Sour Me Unicorn Farts by DuClaw Brewing, a sour ale flavored with fruity cereal, tangerines, limes, and cherries and finished with edible glitter.