Quinoa Pale Ale

First off, hi everybody! First time posting. I have been following this forum for awhile now but, now I wanna get involved. Great forum with great tips. I've used most of the info here to help create my recipes.

I have been brewing all grain gluten free for a little bit now (still new to it). Thought I would share a recipe and see what you guys think.

Depth Charge Pale Ale
Style: Pale Ale / IPA (it borders both)
Yeast: US-05 dry
Batch Size (Gallons): 5
Original Gravity: 1.050(Efficiency is all over the place with GF)
Final Gravity: 1.010
IBU: 45ish
ABV: 5.3%
Boiling Time (Minutes): 60

Primary Fermentation: 14 days @ 63 F (My Basement is chilly in the winter)

Dry Hop 1 oz Amarillo Leaf for 7-10 days after vigorous fermentation has ended


Ingredients Amount Item Type
4.00 lb Quinoa
2.00 lb Munich Roasted Quinoa
2.00 lb Buckwheat
2.00 lb Red Millet
1.00 lb Eucalyptus Honey
4.00 oz Lactose
1.00 oz Citra
1.00 oz Simcoe
1.00 oz Amarillo


Step Mash
Beta Glucanase rest at 113 F for 20 min
Beta Amaylase rest at 140 F for 20 min
Saccharification rest at 152 F for 60 min


Mash Notes
I haven't tried a single infusion mash yet. The recipe could work just as well with just a sacc rest. I would mash high. Higher then I did.

60 min Boil
FWH- .25oz citra and .25oz simcoe
60- Lactose
20- .25oz citra and .25oz simcoe
5- .25oz citra and .5oz simcoe
FO- honey and .25oz citra
Dry hop- 1oz Amarillo Leaf for 7 days

All the grains are from Colorado Malting Co. There are a few revisions I will make the next time I do this but this is the recipe I used.

Quinoa- 34ppg
Millet- 21ppg
Buckwheat- 20ppg
(Quinoa is probably close. CMCs millet is definitely that low. Buckwheat just isn't gelatinized at that low of a temp)

Hopefully this helps. I'm open to any questions, suggestions, or criticisms.

This is a pic from my first attempt. My current revision looks and tastes much better.

So the quinoa has the best extract potential and DP out of the bunch, eh? Maybe I should order some of it, too. I've been processing 25 lbs of pale buckwheat malt from CMC to make crystal, munich, and brown malts, expecting to cereal-mash it and add enzymes, but if their quinoa can self-convert with a normal step-mash process, I might give that a shot. How does it taste, in comparison to other beers you've made (particularly extract-based beers)?

Quinoa has the best extract and it can self convert at the correct temps. However, millet has better DP and I use it all the time with adjunct grains. I always put millet in all my brews. The hops pretty much dominate this beer and its hard to pick out each flavor. Its definitely better than all my other beers. No twang, just a slight saltiness. No where near as salty as foxtail. That stuff tastes like sweat and hops.

Watch out with buckwheat. Its a great grain and I love using it but its very strong and has almost no complexity. Quinoa on the other hand tastes like starch and that's it. Fairly similar to rice. Its almost necessary to use a combo of grains. Just like in GF breads. The best breads use multiple grains.

Take my words with a grain of salt tho (that is one awful pun), I'm still learning.

Have you checked out the IBD journals yet?
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/j.2050-0416.2010.tb00430.x/abstract
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/j.2050-0416.2006.tb00708.x/abstract