Gluten Free Brewing Observations
 

I brewed up a Gluten-Free beer over the weekend and thought I would share some of the differences I noticed while brewing it. It was an extract recipe as I used the Sorghum Malt Syrup from Northern Brewer. I brewed this for a friend of mine who is gluten intolerant.

- The malt syrup was extremely thick! It was definitely thicker than regular LME. I even kept a little pot of warm water on the oven to try and warm up the syrup so that it would flow easier into the kettle.

- When I got the water boiling, I added the malt syrup and it barely made a dent in color. Seriously this was lighter than Bud Light in the kettle. The 60 minute boil didn't darken too much either. The color came from the Succanat sugar I added.

- I had three attempted boil-overs that I quelched each time. I have never had that many boil-overs in a batch.

- Aerating the cooled wort was a real chore and it never seemed to hold any head on top. I shook the bejesus out of it and it just wouldn't foam up on top. It quicly settled into the wort.

- Its been fermenting 3 days now, very vigorous bubbling through airlock, but krausen is barely there. Again, it won't hold a head. I'm kinda concerned for bottling...

I grabbed a sample before pitching the yeast and it tasted fine. I'm very curious for the overall outcome of the beer.

Good post....I think you're the first among us to actually attempt doing one...I'll look forward to hearing how it finally turns out.

The commercial sorghum beers I've had don't have much of a head either.

What style were you shooting for & what was your hop schedule?

I have been meaning for awhile to try one since my friend has Celiacs disease. Thought it would cool to surprise her for her birthday with gluten-free beer. She wasn't always gluten intolerant, she developed it about a hear and half ago.

I didn't have the recipe earlier at work, but here it is if anyone is interested:
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Recipe Type: Extract
Yeast: Nottingham Dry Yeast
Batch Size (Gal): 5
Original Gravity: 1.054
Est Final Gravity: 1.014
IBU: 23.1
Boiling Time (Min): 60
Color: 5

Ingredients:
6 lbs White Sorghum Extract Syrup (Northern Brewer - 37 ppg, 2-6 deg L)
1 lbs Succanat Sugar
.75 lbs Orange Blossom Honey (At Flameout)
1 oz Spalt (4.5%) - 60 min
1 oz Spalt (4.5%) - 20.0 min
1 oz Hallertauer Select (1.5%) - 5 min
1 pkg Danstar Nottingham Dry Yeast
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I adapted the recipe from the BYO article for the Simple Simon recipe. I couldn't get Tettnang at the time so I subbed in Spalt and I had some of the Hallertauer Select so I threw it in last minute and threw in some succanat sugar. Overall, like I said, it tasted fine before pitching...

A balanced ale - Not hoppy or malty...

Ok so I have to ask how much did this cost for the 5 gallon batch?
I have a guy here that I told I would brew a batch for and I like the looks of you recipe. Where did you get the succanat sugar?
JJ

How would fruit go with this recipe? I have a friend with celiac's as well and she loves wine. She would be interested in how it would taste with Rasperries, etc. It'd get her to try some decent beer for a change.

I'd be interested to hear your opinion of the sucanat. I got mine at the local hippie grocery store...they have it packaged and bulk.

I put 1.5 lb in what was supposed to be a Belgian Tripel http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f73/belgian-strong-ale-63627/. It contributed far more color and darker flavors than I expected, so I ended up calling it a Belgian Strong Ale. For a beer with 14 lb of other stuff, the sucanat just comes screaming out in the flavor profile.

In my "tripel", the sucanat lends a rum-like sweetness that really comes out as the beer warms up. I think the ingredient could really be great in dubbels, stouts, perhaps porters, or it would really add interest to a winter seasonal. IMHO, I think sucanat is quite a bit different than some of the other sugars.

Curious to hear how this turns out. I also have a friend with Celiac who came down with it about five years ago. She was a beer lover as well and I'd love to make her some gluten free brew.

I ordered the ingredients (malt syrup, hops and yeast) from Northern Brewer. The syrup, hops and yeast is $18-$20. I ordered stuff for my wheat ale at the same time so I had it all shipped for the brew saver special of $7.99 (I think that is the cost?). So not bad on the cost from NB.

The succanat sugar I got from the health food store in town. I want to say that was $4 - $5 for a 2 .lb bag. And then the Orange Blossom Honey I got from the local supermarket at $3 for a 12 oz plastic bottle. Worst case, without shipping costs, is $28 - $30. Not bad...