Breakfast Gives Rise to a Fun Idea!

So... My oldest son (7-1/2) was eating his breakfast, and he was reading the cereal box as he often does. I was pouring a cup of coffee when he shouted out, "Dad! This cereal could be beer! It's got wheat, malted barley, and yeast in it!"

"You must be so proud," my wife said to me somewhat facetiously.

Actually I was. I read the cereal box while sipping my coffee... Whole grain wheat flour, wheat four, malted barley flour, salt, dried yeast, soy lecithin. Hmmmm... "You know what buddy, you are absolutely right!" I replied. "What ingredients are missing?"

"Just the hops, Dad."

Yep. I am proud. I explained to him that the yeast might not actually be viable, since it may have been cooked as the cereal was processed. When he asked me why it was in there, I explained that yeast has some nutritional value, including vitamin B. I could see the wheels turning in his young head.

"So... Beer is kind of like food," he finally said. "Could you actually make beer out of Grape Nuts?"

After some thought, I replied, "I don't see why not... The only ingredient that would have a negative affect, as far as I know, is the salt."

After the disapproving glances and pointed glaring, my wife's face formed into a devilish grin. My first thought was how much trouble I was going to be in now... "You know what you should do? You should make up a batch of beer for the family camping trip, and call it 'breakfast beer'. Then when everybody likes it and it's gone, you can tell them you made it from cereal - they just drank their Grape Nuts!"

This actually sounded like a fun way to do it... I have read many forum posts about Grape Nuts beer, and beer from cereals in general. But for me, this beer would have a back-story!

I have begun thinking about the cereal, trying to get a handle on how much extract I can expect... It is unlikely that I could steep it and expect to get much more than the malted barley out (I would assume that this would be a bit like crystal malts). I am thinking of trying a small cereal mash added to a normal mash with some pale malt. I might also just try adding it into the mash with some pale malt. The difference in extract probably depends on how much of the cereal is actually wheat - it is not listed as malted wheat. Maybe it is negligible? Maybe I could make do with the simpler mash? That's why I want to try both methods...