Clarity Ferm - Bottling Question

Kind of an obvious question that im pretty sure I already know the answer to, but for my peace of mind...

Im planning on brewing a batch of gluten free beer by using Clarity Ferm. This on its own is supposed to be able to bring the gluten to under 10ppm. My question is involving cane/corn sugar. Both are gluten free on their own, so there's no reason to believe that if the beer was gluten free before bottling, that these would create gluten, correct? I cant imagine they would, but it got my wheels spinning a bit and I could use some validation

I'm going to attempt a batch with clarity ferm soon. I'm about 99% sure the answer is no.

Cane and corn sugar will not add gluten. Be careful calling a clarityferm treated beer gluten free, better to say low gluten. 10ppm is low but some people may have a reaction to it. I know for myself, I can feel the effects if I have more than one treated brew in a day. There is a stickie that discusses the chemistry behind it.

A real important note that I received from WhiteLabs is to add Clarity Ferm immediately after the wort cools. I tried a few batches of adding when dry-hopping 7-10 days after start of fermentation and found that the batches do not pass EX Gluten test or my gut test. My lucky brother-in-law now gets 20gal of fine ale.

Info from WhiteLabs

The effectiveness of Clarity Ferm does depend on it's proper use. One parameter is the time of addition, which is the beginning of fermentation. This is very important because Clarity Ferm works by hydrolysing the proline proteins in the beer so that they don't react with each other to form long chain molecules which we view as chill haze. Once these bonds are formed (during fermentation), the Clarity Ferm will not break them, so it's a preventative measure, not a curative one. Therefore, adding the Clarity Ferm to finished beer will not have nearly as great an effect as adding it to wort. This is one reason we don't promote Clarity Ferm as an agent for producing gluten free beer, since we cannot control how it's used, and if used improperly it will not be effective. So to get the most benefit from the enzyme, add it just prior to pitching your yeast.

Something else that might help with the gluten levels is A journal article by Anita Van Landschoot "Gluten-free barley malt beers", Cerevisia, Volume 36, Issue 3, October 2011, Pages 93–97
Finds that tannin levels during brewing can reduce gluten in the final beer (per the abstract, I'm still trying to get the paper).

I did put the Clarity Ferm in when I pitches the yeast, so I should be good there. Im going to bottle this weekend and have the test kit on the way. Ill post my (hopefully successful) results when I crack the first bottle open in a few weeks.

Thought I'd update. The Clarity Ferm worked perfectly. It tested under 5ppm and passed the gut check on two of my gluten intolerant friends. Highly recommended. The beer tasted awesome too by the way

How many did your GF friends drink? 1 bottle? A few sips? Enough to get tanked? Do they normally get immediate reactions from non-GF beer? Just curious.

A bomber or half (split with their significant others). And they do have pretty quick signs. One even has signs with 'gluten free' beers on the market. I did the same thing Widmer does with their Ommision series (the Clarity Ferm). Your results may vary, but they showed no signs of having gluten in their system.

So your two GF friends split a bomber with their significant others, meaning four people drank the beer, with each person consuming on average 5.5 oz of beer? Or was it a bomber for each couple, with each person consuming on average 11 oz of beer? I ask because it takes at least two 12-oz bottles of Omission for me to feel the effects, and it sounds like none consumed that quantity.

Also, when you say one has signs with "gluten free" beers, what beers are you talking about? Sorghum beers like Bard's or New Planet, or beers like Daura and Omission? It's hard to imagine that a commercial GF beer would cause them a reaction while your homebrew doesn't, unless their problems are psychosomatic or misdiagnosed. Not to be a stick in the mud, but I have a hard time imagining how your homebrew could have a lower concentration of gluten than Omission or Daura, considering the greater sophistication of processing methods they have access to, and if these folks are reacting to a true GF brew, then it's definitely not gluten they have a problem with. All the commercial GF beers routinely tests below 5 PPM, too. If your friends react to any of them but not your homebrew, I'd say something fishy's going on...it does seem to be the case that many people mistakenly self-diagnose a gluten intolerance when really the issue is something else. How sure are they that they have gluten intolerances?

Not saying it's not a success, just trying to point out some other possibilities that can't yet be ruled out. Mostly because I'd really love some rigorous proof that clarity-ferm works...if I could brew safely with barley, it would change my life!

igliashon said:

So your two GF friends split a bomber with their significant others, meaning four people drank the beer, with each person consuming on average 5.5 oz of beer? Or was it a bomber for each couple, with each person consuming on average 11 oz of beer? I ask because it takes at least two 12-oz bottles of Omission for me to feel the effects, and it sounds like none consumed that quantity.

Also, when you say one has signs with "gluten free" beers, what beers are you talking about? Sorghum beers like Bard's or New Planet, or beers like Daura and Omission? It's hard to imagine that a commercial GF beer would cause them a reaction while your homebrew doesn't, unless their problems are psychosomatic or misdiagnosed. Not to be a stick in the mud, but I have a hard time imagining how your homebrew could have a lower concentration of gluten than Omission or Daura, considering the greater sophistication of processing methods they have access to, and if these folks are reacting to a true GF brew, then it's definitely not gluten they have a problem with. All the commercial GF beers routinely tests below 5 PPM, too. If your friends react to any of them but not your homebrew, I'd say something fishy's going on...it does seem to be the case that many people mistakenly self-diagnose a gluten intolerance when really the issue is something else. How sure are they that they have gluten intolerances?

Not saying it's not a success, just trying to point out some other possibilities that can't yet be ruled out. Mostly because I'd really love some rigorous proof that clarity-ferm works...if I could brew safely with barley, it would change my life!

Click to expand...

I'm just here to report the news man. Believe what you want and try what you want, but this is a legit (tested on gluten intolerant people) alternative to sorghum wheat and lets you use 'normal' ingredients to make beer. My results were good; you're may not be.

This process really isnt that difficult; neither is Widmers process; it's just about control. And to say that a homebrewer cant do something that a commercial brewer can is a little demeaning. I totally get that you dont believe me, and you have no reason to and I dont think I can convince you without you trying it (I'm the same way), but I think it's worth a shot. It's easy/cheap enough to try a one gallon batch - or just go all in and do a 5 gallon batch (assuming you have friends that wouldnt mind drinking the rest if it doesnt work out ).

Both friends had at least 11 ounces of the beer (bombers are 22oz - one of them may have split 2 bombers in one night) and typically show with a beer pretty quickly. Both friends are also clinically diagnosed, not self diagnosed.

Listen, like I said, I really do understand where you're coming from. I'm personally not gluten intolerant, so I cant completely understand your perspective, but I get it the skepticism. The person who first got me into craft brewing is one of the people who recently (in the past few years) was diagnosed as gluten intolerant. It really did affect me that the person who's more or less responsible for me getting into homebrewing cant drink the brews he loved anymore, which is why I set off to make a GF brew; and for me it worked.

I hope i'm not coming off as offended or defensive, but I'm very confident in my results (and process to get to the results) and have become a believer. I definitely think you should try it and see if it works for you; everyone's body is different, so your results may vary (and do proceed with caution), but isnt it worth a shot?

Hey, I hope I'm not coming off as overly skeptical or offensive; I'm just trying to do due diligence here. The more details you can give about your friends and their experiences, the more compelling your case may be--consider this "peer review"! I know this isn't a scientific journal, but until the scientists catch up to us and do some double-blind controlled trials, we're all we've got for research. So I hope you'll forgive my incisive questioning--I'm just trying to learn as much from you as I can!

That said, I'd love to know more--like what gluten-free beers they've reacted to in the past, what your beer recipe looked like (specifically, the grain bill and gravities), and what happens when they drink enough to get intoxicated. As I've said, a 12 oz bottle of Omission often doesn't trigger a reaction in gluten-intolerant folks, leading them to think it's safe, but then they down a few more, and spend the rest of the evening in the loo (it's been my personal experience with Omission, as well, though I can't rule out the nocebo effect at this point).

Absolutely. My tests were not vast and extensive. I did the gluten test (twice), it tested under 5ppm, and said "Here ya go, good luck!". The only gluten free beer that one of them reacted to (that I know of) is Redbridge I think (one of the AB gluten free brews). Ommission doesnt effect him, though I dont know how much he drinks when he does (we dont live in the same state anymore). I do know that normal brews do affect him (that loo thing) in small quantities (one 12oz bottle). The other friend drinks gluten free beer somewhat often, and I havent heard of any reactions. The beers are from a NW brewery (WA or OR), and has a tractor on the label I believe; they're a dedicated GF brewery (I cant remember the brewery name). Friend #1 sounded like he got well intoxicated, friend #2 did not.

Here's the grain bill I used (American Brown):

10lbs - 2-row
2lb Munich
.75lbs Crystal 80
.75lbs - Chocolate malt
.75lbs - Special B
.75lbs - Biscuit Malt

O.G. 1.078
F.G. 1.013
Primed with table sugar
I did add cacao nibs and vanilla (extract) to the secondary if it matters.

Ah, thank you...very good data points. Interesting that one friend reacts to Redbridge (AB-Inbev's sorghum-based gluten-free beer, which is processed in dedicated facilities and is gluten-free from start to finish), but not Omission. My guess is he didn't actually react to the Redbridge, but to something else he consumed with it, because if he did react to Redbridge, it was not a gluten-caused reaction. The beer your other friend drinks would be Harvester, and they use sorghum, oats, and chestnuts rather than barley (some of their brews are quite tasty, actually). I would definitely be curious to see how either of your friends fare with larger portions; your recipe is quite malty, and higher gravity than Omission.

I am considering doing a brew using mostly GF grains but either steeping some crystal or using some 6-row to convert the mash, and then using Clarity-Ferm. Based on my experiences with Omission I don't think an all-barley beer will be tolerable for me, but it might be worth my while to see if I can safely incorporate a little barley into an otherwise-gluten-free brew.

Yes, Harvester is the brewery. And I think you may be correct on the Redbridge, I do seem to recall that he had GF pizza that night too, which may have had cross contamination (which is unfortunately all too common in restaurants). I'm working on another GF beer, and IPA, that i'll be sending out as well, so we'll see if it was a fluke or if it really doesnt react with those friends. Shipping's expensive, so I dont think I can send enough for him to get plastered (unless he drinks both bombers by himself) and the other local friend doesnt drink a whole lot, so i'm not sure such an experiment can/will be done.

I think adding crystal/specialty malts will go a long way to give the beer a proper taste, and it's a good experiment if nothing else. I really hope the Clarity-Ferm with grains works out for you; I couldnt imagine not being able to have the brews I love.

I am a celiac that uses clarity ferm. I've been through probably about 25 gallons of beer that I brewed treated with it and get no symptoms.