Gluten Free American Brown Ale

Ingredients:
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6 lbs Sorghum Syrup (15 min)
1 lb Buckwheat, roasted (40 SRM)
1 lb Millet, Roasted (40 SRM)
1 oz Fuggles, pellet 4.8% (60 min)
.75 oz East Kent Goldings, leaf 4.2% (15 min)
1 tsp Irish Moss (10 min)
8 oz Maple Syrup (60 min)
8 oz Blackstrap Molasses (60 min)
4 oz Dark Candi Sugar (60 min)
1 pkg SafAle English Ale (S-04)

I roasted the grains separately starting at 225 for 30 minutes, then increase temperature 25 degrees every 30 minutes until I got the color I wanted. I cut the millet off at 425 and the buckwheat off at 400. You will want to let these sit in a paper bag for at least 1 week before using.

Carbed with 4 oz of corn sugar.



Sorry for the bad resolution, I'll take a better picture when I get a chance.

Here's a link to the main thread- Includes brewday pics.

I've noticed that in a few of the recipes for GF beer in here that it says after roasting the buckwheat and Mullet, it says to let them sit in a paper bag for one week. What does this do to the grains when it sits in a paper bag?

Thanks
Steve

Sdragon980 said:

I've noticed that in a few of the recipes for GF beer in here that it says after roasting the buckwheat and Mullet, it says to let them sit in a paper bag for one week. What does this do to the grains when it sits in a paper bag?

Thanks
Steve

Click to expand...

Letting them sit in a paper bag for a week or more allows some of the harsh aromatics to "waft" away. I think if you compared a grain that was roasted to one that has been allowed to "waft" one would be more mellow and preferable.

Hey I'm thinking of brewing this up in a few weeks.

A couple questions on the recipe

-Do you crush the grains after roasting them? Or after they sit in a bag for several weeks?

-How did you steep the grains? I see a lot of different times and temps., 150 for 30 min.?

Looks like a good one.

Thanks for your help.

mrtree said:

Hey I'm thinking of brewing this up in a few weeks.

A couple questions on the recipe

-Do you crush the grains after roasting them? Or after they sit in a bag for several weeks?

-How did you steep the grains? I see a lot of different times and temps., 150 for 30 min.?

Looks like a good one.

Thanks for your help.

Click to expand...

I don't know what the practice is on that but I've always let them sit in the bag to waft for at least two weeks and then I crush them before I brew. I steep my grains in a grain bag at 150 for 30 minutes.

Hope you like it.

Thanks for the quick reply Lcasanova. I've been away for several days. Looking to get back to the brew projects shortly.

Also, why is the sorghum added late, 15 min? Most recipes have the sorghum in the full 60 min. boil.

The late addition of the extract gives you more hop utilization. If you added it for the full 60 the IBU's would be a little different.

Planning on brewing this again sometime in October. In addition to doing a full boil, here is the updated planned recipe

6 lbs Sorghum Syrup (15 min)
2 lb Buckwheat, roasted (40 SRM)
1 oz Fuggles, pellet 4.8% (60 min)
.75 oz East Kent Goldings, leaf 4.2% (15 min)
1 tsp Irish Moss (10 min)
1 tsp Yeast Nutrient (10 min)
12 oz Maple Syrup (60 min)
1 lb Blackstrap Molasses (60 min)
4 oz Dark Candi Sugar (60 min)
1 pkg SafAle English Ale (S-04)
8 oz Maltodextrin (added at bottling)

OG- 1.052
IBU's- 26.3

I'm hoping to get some nuttiness from the buckwheat and some more color and flavor from the molasses.

Oh man! I forgot how much I liked this beer. I re-brewed the original to use as the control for a few experiments and it turned out great. Clear as glass and tasty. I was way too excited to drink this so I didn't take any notes. The molasses covers up the sorghum well and I might say that there is only a hint of sorghum but it is pleasant in this beer. It had no head to speak of but that might have been due to the bad pour. I don't think the nuttiness from the buckwheat came through at all but I did get a little roastiness. It's one of those beers that makes you want another and it didn't smell like any of my other typical GF beers. Looks like I'll try to keep this one around and give you some serious notes at some point in the future.

Brewed something similar last night with my Dad, his first brew and my first gluten free brew. After chilling and measuring the gravity I tasted the wort and it tastes awful, very bitter and sour. Is this a by product of the sorghum? Does this nasty taste go away over time? Hope this changes cause he is celiac and was hoping I could make him a nice drinkable beer. Dont remember any of my other brews wort tasting this bad. Here’s the recipe I followed

Approx 1lb roasted millet
Approx 1oz roasted buckwheat
Steep the grain at 150-160 for 40min
Boil with about 3 gallons in the pot.
3lbs sorghum @ 60 min
15oz Blackstrap Molasses (60 min)
1oz centennial pellets @ 60 min
1oz centennial pellets @ 20 min
3lbs sorghum @ 15 min
1 tsp Irish moss @ 10 min
1 tsp Yeast Nutrient @ 10 min
1oz centennial pellets @ 7 min
.8oz maltodextrine @ 5 min
1oz centennial pellets @ 2 min
Cool and top up to 5.5 gallons
1oz centennial pellets in secondary for 10 days
1 cup Honey (for bottling)

My worts are usually sweet and bitter and the flavors aren't really melded together. Let it ride and see how it turns out, I've been pleased with each verison of the brown ale that I've brewed.

Mine have been both sweet and bitter in the past but this was just sour and bitter, no sweetness at all. Maybe I didn't add enough fermentable sugars in the boil, the OG was only @1.045 most my beers have been @1.65. Thanks for the info, I'll just have to wait it out.

Well you aren't THAT far off from the gravities I've had with this beer. Maybe you are tasting the sorghum? It's probably done by now though- any updates?

This beer turned out really good, it had nice carbonation, good head retention and was much heavier compared to Bards and New grist. I'm not sure if the centennial's really fit this brew, I was going for a Brown IPA and will probably try a mixture of hops instead of just one kind on the next batch. There's still a certain bitterness that is a little off but I'm not sure if its the hops, molasses, sorghum or grains I steeped, to many variables, all in all it holds up against the Brown IPA i get from my local brewery. I just bottled another version last night using the same recipe except I used white and red quiona for the steeped grains, and added the sorghum for the full 60 min boil. OG on it was 1.085 and FG is 1.015. Taste is similar but a little sweeter and maybe less bitter.....had a few while bottling so my pallet is off. Thanks for the recipe!

Here's a pic, it looks darker in the picture but its actually a nice amber color.

Success! Glad it turned out well! Keep on brewin.

Just cracked open a bottle of the same beer but brewed with dark roasted Quiona, and dark roasted Millet instead of the Buckwheat, this one is AWESOME! I put the sorghum and molasses in for the full 60 minute boil so the OG was @1.085 and ended @1.016 it is really strong but it fits the style so well. Its a lot darker and the hops are not nearly as up front as the buckwheat version but the head disappears quickly. Overall its a very good beer.

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I just started a batch of this. Went with two pounds of buckwheat. I'm really looking forward to trying this. Its a gift for my brother in law. Thanks for the recipe!! I will post an update when it's bottled.

I hit the OG spot on. Used the 2 lbs buckwheat. I can see why all grain with this would be rough. Started to make oatmeal by the end of the steep. Pushed the Kent goldings to a full ounce. Should be good, smelled awesome.

Well. It fermented for like a month total. The FG was 1.01. Forgot to add this shot during the boil. Beautiful color. Tasted good. Just need to wait a few weeks for a taste test. Thanks again.

I brewed this beer up a little while back - First thing I noticed was that the fermentation held out far longer than any other beer Ive ever made - Including all the others I had fermenting under the same temperature conditions - After 3-4 weeks there was still airlock activity - I took a gravity reading, which seemed to indicate that it was done fermenting - In any case...Its been about 2-3 weeks since I kegged/carbed the batch - The beer looks great, but doesnt seem to stand up to the description that most have offered...Im getting some strong cider flavors which completely overpower anything else which might be in there - Anyone else encounter this? Did the flavor mellow? I used to encounter this back in my early amateur brewing days, but Im sure that warm fermentation was not the issue...The liquid temp was reading at 18/19C - Any thoughts?

I am going to attempt to make this as my first gluten free beer. Just wondering if the maple syrup and molasses is fluid ounce or by weight. Thanks!