Easy Tesgüino

(5 gallons/19 L)
OG = up to 1.046 FG = ~1.006
ABV = ~3.3%

Ingredients

4.4 lbs. (2 kg) dry, large-kernel corn
11 cones piloncillo sugar (or ~44 oz./1.3 kg cane sugar)
Ale yeast (your choice)

Step by Step

Grind the corn and boil with 2–3 gallons (7.6–11 L) of water and 11 cones of piloncillo cane sugar, stirring so that the sugar dissolves. As an option, you can add a few pieces of whole cinnamon. Cook the ingredients over low heat for one hour; remove from heat, add 2–4 more sticks of cinnamon (optional), and let sit in pot for 20 minutes. Cool and transfer to fermenter, leaving behind as much of the corn solids as feasible. Top up to 5 gallons (19 L) and ferment with ale yeast for about 4 days. Throw a party and drink the entire batch immediately.

More traditional option: Some Latino specialty markets sell jora (malted corn) and you can substitute about 7 lbs. (3.2 kg) of this for the (unmalted) corn and sugar above. Heat mixture of 5 gallons (19 L) water and jora slowly to a boil. (Traditional tesgüino pots are heated over open flames.) Spend at least 1 hour ramping through the 140–162 °F/60–72 °C range. Simmer for 3 hours. Cool with immersion chiller and ferment in brewpot. (Traditional tesgüino pots cool in the cold mountain air.) Ferment with the yeast of your choice. (Traditional tesgüino is inoculated by stirring the mixture with grass leaves laden with suitable wild yeasts.) Serve lightly chilled (think cool mountain temperatures), unfiltered and uncarbonated with four friends. (Traditionally, most folks attending a tesgüinada consume around 4 quarts /~4 L of tesgüino.) In this version of tesgüino, your OG will be lower (around 1.034), but the “beer” will be stronger because it will contain less starch than the easy version above. The alcoholic strength will depend on how much extract you get from the jora and your yeast’s attenuation, but roughly 4% ABV is a fair estimate.