So Happy to be Here!

I can't tell you how happy I am to find this site. I've been brewing gluten free for a little over a year now. I used to just make wine but my wife (who was diagnosed with celiac disease about 4 years ago) mentioned how she missed beer, so thus started my experimental journey into GF brewing.

I've had a couple of successes (in the IPA, light, cirtusy style) and some unbalanced failures (although I've never made a beer bad enough that it would not be consumed...by me at least). So I'm looking forward to learning and sharing.

Thanks and have a great day!

Noontime said:

I can't tell you how happy I am to find this site. I've been brewing gluten free for a little over a year now. I used to just make wine but my wife (who was diagnosed with celiac disease about 4 years ago) mentioned how she missed beer, so thus started my experimental journey into GF brewing.

I've had a couple of successes (in the IPA, light, cirtusy style) and some unbalanced failures (although I've never made a beer bad enough that it would not be consumed...by me at least). So I'm looking forward to learning and sharing.

Thanks and have a great day!

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Welcome noontime. I'm probably too new here to welcome you properly, but I will anyway. I've been GF for a year or so now and have brewed maybe 15 or 20 GF beers now with varying success too.

Look forward to hearing about your experiences.

Oh, those silly yaks and their hatred for gluten.

Welcome aboard! I'm sure you can find some great gluten-free recipes around here, maybe even contribute a few of your own.

We are glad you found us too. Welcome to HBT!

I agree with Noontime. This site is wonderful. I have learned so much in the past few days from reading posts in this forum. The knowledge one can gain here is immense, and will certainly be beneficial to me as I embark on my home brewing journey.

Welcome, keep us posted on your trials and success

I'm hoppy to bee here too!

I think one thing that is interesting about this forum is that we are literally the forefront of the industry in here. There is no commercial brewery that has produced 90% of the beers we have.

Welcome to the R&D of gluten free beer!

Speaking of R&D, I know we all like to pat ourselves on the back using white sugar for priming due to it's consistency, but I'm going to all honey. I have learned that honey has enzymes (so don't boil it) plus it's an entirely different form of sugar than fructose (not good sugar), so it will help to make more healthy beer, by a good margin, that white sugar. Use a little more honey than you might otherwise, in order to compensate for fluctuations in sugar content, to make sure your beers carbonate. I put one of my Flowergardens into the fridge last night at about 10 days bottle conditioning. (hopping up & down for tonights trial!)

anemic said:

Speaking of R&D, I know we all like to pat ourselves on the back using white sugar for priming due to it's consistency, but I'm going to all honey. I have learned that honey has enzymes (so don't boil it) plus it's an entirely different form of sugar than fructose (not good sugar), so it will help to make more healthy beer, by a good margin, that white sugar. Use a little more honey than you might otherwise, in order to compensate for fluctuations in sugar content, to make sure your beers carbonate. I put one of my Flowergardens into the fridge last night at about 10 days bottle conditioning. (hopping up & down for tonights trial!)

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The amount of sugar or honey you use to carbonate 5g of beer will have such minimal health implications that it is not worth mentioning. Also, the sugar is either case has been eaten and turned into CO2 and ethanol, some enzymes might remain but both types of sugar are nearly 100% fermentable.

Now, if you use honey instead of corn or table sugar in the beer, it might be a different story. But then you have to contend with the taste differences too due to the much larger amount. Boiling or not boiling honey can have impacts on health, and definitely has LARGE impacts on taste. Just depends if you want your beer to have a honey flavor or not to me, but if you really like what honey has in it and want it to remain in your beer, go for it!

more good stuff kersh. strong. thanks. Still thinking carbbing w/honey is good; some enzymes, plus no boil & cool. But I may experience intermittent carbbing...will find out!

Would enzymes multiply, like yeast? Probably not, as I think of them as proteins which don't work that way. So you'd be correct in a negligible amount. Still, some is good.

Caveat noted on honey in the BK. I wish I had added the honey to my lager at the end of the boil, not at the beginning. Maybe even at pitching time, right into the primary. I think honey should be not boiled for max benefits. Brewin & Learnin.

anemic said:

more good stuff kersh. strong. thanks. Still thinking carbbing w/honey is good; some enzymes, plus no boil & cool. But I may experience intermittent carbbing...will find out!

Would enzymes multiply, like yeast? Probably not, as I think of them as proteins which don't work that way. So you'd be correct in a negligible amount. Still, some is good.

Caveat noted on honey in the BK. I wish I had added the honey to my lager at the end of the boil, not at the beginning. Maybe even at pitching time, right into the primary. I think honey should be not boiled for max benefits. Brewin & Learnin.

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Carbing with honey is a well practiced technique. Either pasteurize at 161F for 15min, or just dump it in, people have done both with success. Your carbing will be even so long as you mix it in, just like corn sugar.

I am no scientist, but I do not think enzymes multiply, but rather are more like nutrients, to be eaten by some type of organism for some type of benefit.

I am making the same lager (i think) on Saturday and am going to add the honey into the primary, mid way through fermentation, no pasteurization. Boiling it takes away any honey flavor, but you still get the same sugar in the beer. Sorry we didnt touch on that sooner for you.