Gluten-Free Imperial Cream Ale

Here is the recipe I will be using for my first run at a gluten-free beer.

Thoughts and comments?

Gluten Free Imperial Cream Ale


Size: 5.24 gal
Efficiency: 100.0%
Attenuation: 75.0%

Original Gravity: 1.067
Terminal Gravity: 1.017
Color: 7.1 (1.0 - 50.0)
Alcohol: 6.66% (2.5% - 14.5%)
Bitterness: 27.73 (0.0 - 100.0)


Ingredients:
6.0 lbs White Sorghum Extract
1.5 lbs Yellow Corn (Pregelatinized Flakes)
1.0 lbs Jaggery (palm sugar)
1.0 lbs Home Roasted Gluten-Free Rolled Oats


22.0 g Centennial pellets(10.0%) - 60 min
10.0 g Centennial pellets(10.0%) - 0.0 min


White Labs Pacific Ale yeast

While I don't have that disease, the idea of gluten free has me interested. We grow a lot of millet, milo, etc down here. I'd hate to have to malt some then try it out. I emailed a couple of ag type companies today to see if there is some malts I can buy.

This is a great idea!

I am curious about your abv%

At this rate we may need a gluten free recipe thread.

Brew-Happy said:

This is a great idea!

I am curious about your abv%

At this rate we may need a gluten free recipe thread.

Click to expand...

The ABV just happened!

I agree a Gluten-Free recipe thread would be great. I also think the AHA needs to add the category to its style list.

It sounds good except for the liquid yeast would contain gluten

sounds interesting to me. how are the starches in the corn and oats getting converted?

I imagine if you have yeast culturing equipment (petri dishes, inoculating loop) you can make an agar plate/slant with sorghum syrup instead of malt extract and inoculate it with any liquid yeast from the inoculating loop, growing this on a agar gluten free plate then making a gluten free starter should allow to use any yeast in a gluten free beer.

k1v1116 said:

sounds interesting to me. how are the starches in the corn and oats getting converted?

I imagine if you have yeast culturing equipment (petri dishes, inoculating loop) you can make an agar plate/slant with sorghum syrup instead of malt extract and inoculate it with any liquid yeast from the inoculating loop, growing this on a agar gluten free plate then making a gluten free starter should allow to use any yeast in a gluten free beer.

Click to expand...

I am not worried at this point about the small amount of gluten in the yeast. I don't have an issue and am really only working to see what the ingredients taste like so I can try further experiments. That being said, I am planning to dump the barm off the yeast prior to pitching, I will be saving the yeast to use as a purer culture the next time.

As for the corn and oats, they are both rolled and so I will just be cooking them in a gruel like mix to get them to work their magic. The corn is gelatinized already, and the oats are being used in the same way roasted barley would be used for color and character. I am not counting on it for extract, although it will add some.

I'd be tempted to use some alpha enzyme concentrate to convert the corn & the oats.

Brewpastor said:

As for the corn and oats, they are both rolled and so I will just be cooking them in a gruel like mix to get them to work their magic.

Click to expand...

Brewpastor can you please explain this to me. What is a "gruel like mix" ?
Cheers
JJ

If you want to carry the experiment all the way through, Wyeast does offer its American Ale II (Anchor strain) in a gluten free version. They also offer their Bavarian Lager strain in a GF version, too.

I'm intrigued with this beer. I'm eager to hear how it turns out for you, BP.

Chad

I have decided that this is as stupid a recipe as I have made in a long time. I will end up with a nasty, gloppy mess. Alpha amalaze (sp?) would help, but even stil I need to start simpler if I am going to learn anything useful for down the road.

In short, I am not brewing this recipe!

Definitely keep at it though Brewpastor!!

I was unhappy about my GF brew turn out, but my friend with Celiac's likes it. She has thanked me so many times for brewing it for her. I may not like it and it may not be the best brew around, but it gives her some homebrew to enjoy without getting sick. And she likes it!

I want to explore the avenue with the corn and other grains. I like the idea of the jaggery sugar. There's always honey too!

With your mad skills BP, I'm sure all of the GF brewers will appreicate your efforts. You'll figure it out.

I am going to go all extract, sugar and syrup this time and avoid the mini-mashing and steeping. I want to see what flavors come from what extract so I can get a sense of the palate I have to work with. The players at this point (round 2 of recipe design!) are white sorghum extract, palm sugar, Amber Agave Necture and dark corn syrup. I will use my Centennial hops with their citrus character, the Pacific yeast with its fruity esters and see what happens.

Here is round 2:

Gluten Free Amber Ale

Original Gravity: 1.066
Terminal Gravity: 1.017
Color: 11.4
Alcohol: 6.56%
Bitterness: 43 IBUs

Ingredients:
6.0 lbs White Sorghum
1 lbs Jaggery (palm sugar)
16 oz Dark Corn Syrup
23.5 oz Agave Necter

25.0 g Centennial (10.0%) - 60 min
19.0 g Centennial (10.0%) - 15 min
20.0 g Centennial (10.0%) - 0.0 min

1 White Labs Pacific Ale

I can see I'm very late to the game but my brother in law is Gluten Free and I would love to brew him some beer for his birthday. How did your Amber Ale turn out?