First ever brew

So im pretty excited about my first batch. This was supposed to be a 3 gal batch of a honey of a gluten free ale. Sorghum extract. However it is now a 2.5 gal with some minor changes due to hops not being available and not having a scale to properly measure and forgetting about boil off. I moved it to secondary last Saturday.

OG 1.046

Reading from Saturday 1.020

The tough part of this is the waiting for the batch to be drinkable.

*Edit* I forgot a picture. as well recipe below.



View attachment Honey of a Gluten Free Ale Ryan Medernach version.xml

Being the first batch I'm thinking this is probably on the road for bottleing this weekend. (I will take another Hydro measurement as I'm expecting a FG of 1.01

Anyone who happens upon this thread can you confirm my suspicions of being able to bottle ? Will it clear up more then it has...seems a little cloudy still.

rmedernach said:

So im pretty excited about my first batch. This was supposed to be a 3 gal batch of a honey of a gluten free ale. Sorghum extract. However it is now a 2.5 gal with some minor changes due to hops not being available and not having a scale to properly measure and forgetting about boil off. I moved it to secondary last Saturday.

OG 1.046

Reading from Saturday 1.020

The tough part of this is the waiting for the batch to be drinkable.

*Edit* I forgot a picture. as well recipe below.

Click to expand...

My beers only occasionally clear fully in primary; most clear in the bottle, or a secondary if I'm not too lazy to do one. I have definitely bottled beers as cloudy as that, though they do end up with a fairly thick cake of sediment at the bottom!

So first brew done cracked one Friday night. Why is there no head on the beer ? Do I need to let it sit longer ? When I cracked it there was definitely carbonation. Im sick so I wont describe a taste right now. My wife said it tasted like a light beer.

The lack of head is really a condition of Gluten Free beer. Seems to be a protien deficiency in the wort. There are various methods to improve it, Malto, oats, some have said bananas help.

Next time try cold crashing (place in a fridge for about 48 hours at 3-5C/38-42F), that should help it clear. I've had really good success with that. Irish Moss added into the boil will help also.

Maltodextrin gives the best head-retention in my experience. I intend to add at least 2 oz per gallon to every batch I make in the future, as I just cracked one of the first beers I've brewed in a while that didn't use maltodextrin and it seriously has no head retention at all. Really frustrating, because it was basically an all-grain batch with millet, buckwheat, and flaked amaranth, all of which I expected to contribute to good head retention.

Presuming this is the white, could it have been your schedule?

Thank you for all the responses. I'm hoping to brew another batch this weekend and learning from my mistakes. I think I will try Irish Moss & Maltodextrin this time and maybe cold crashing if I can get a small fridge in that time.

Cainepolo12....can you elaborate more on your question I'm not fulling understand.

Sorry that was not clear at all. I was actually asking if igliashons mash schedule could have been the problem with his head retention.

Yeah, perhaps--I may have mashed at too low of a temperature, or not done a long enough protein rest, or done too long of a protein rest...I really don't have a clue how these all-grain mashes with enzymes and unmalted grains are supposed to go. I'm following the general instructions for the enzyme formula, but there's a lot of potential for error, I think. Barley mashes I know are sensitive enough, I imagine what I'm doing is probably even more sensitive!

TBH, I haven't really been floored with the results so far. I haven't been getting a ton of grain flavor in these brews. I'm finding that millet, quinoa, and the varietal rices (like black rice, red rice, and wild rice) seem to be very thin and mild in flavor, and perhaps not worth the extra effort over just using extract. But I've yet to experiment with buckwheat and chestnuts--I've got several brews planned with them in mind. My latest (and maybe final) big idea to nail a good malty flavor is to combine chestnuts, buckwheat, sweet potato, banana, and rice syrup in some proportion. If that doesn't get me where I want, I'm out of ideas.