Gluten free recipe

I have a couple friends who want me to make a gluten free beer for the. One of them likes Red Bridge beer. Does anyone have a clone recipe for that or at least something close?
Also is brewing with sorghum much the same as barley?
BTW, I am an extract brewer as I haven't yet made the jump to AG yet.

I just did a GF extract batch, I usally do AG, but My boss wanted to try a Gf beer. It turned out much closer to the taste of beer than I thought it would. I could get used to it if I had too. Sorry but I have spoiled myself, I now know what good beer tastes like. just have at it, the recipe really doesn't make that much of a difference, it's not going to taste like beer anyway. I would pick an adjunct and a GF yeast and make a simple pale ale recipe.

The sorghum extract is exactly like barley extract.

beerguy2009 said:

I have a couple friends who want me to make a gluten free beer for the. One of them likes Red Bridge beer. Does anyone have a clone recipe for that or at least something close?
Also is brewing with sorghum much the same as barley?
BTW, I am an extract brewer as I haven't yet made the jump to AG yet.

Click to expand...

We can help you with a clone of redbridge, but before we do, do you have lagering capabilities? It is pretty much required for anything of the budweiser style of brew. Otherwise, we can help you make a nice blonde or cream ale which are of the same ilk.

Brewing with sorghum is the same as barley malt extract procedurally, but the taste is FAR different. Brewing with extract gluten free is pretty similar to non-GF, but brewing all grain GF is WAY harder than normal AG.

Let us know on these few points and we can be on our way to a good recipe for you and your friend.

Actually, I would love a recipe for a cream ale that is gluten free.

gguess said:

Actually, I would love a recipe for a cream ale that is gluten free.

Click to expand...

Cream ale is a bit tough gluten free because of a few things:

- We don't know if flaked corn is gluten free or not. It should be, but you never know with something that comes from a barley/wheat factory.

- Flaked corn or rice cannot convert itself, so you need additional enzymes in a mash.

If you are OK with the first and the second doesn't sound too bad, let us know and we can come up with something.

I can tolerate a moderate amount of gluten so I am OK with the flaked corn issue. I don't have a problem with adjuncts either.

I have tried brewing several batches of sorghum malt based beers. Unfortunately I can't stay out of them long enough to see if they will really develop the right flavor. They are drinkable, but I find they need salt added (again because are less than 4weeks old from brewing). This is a result of not being able to get a couple of batches going and then work interfering with brewing.

Also, most of the batches have stayed very cloudy as a couple of brewers have mentioned about their sorghum beers. I had previously attributed that to using rice and buckwheat to add character to the beer. As you said, Likely it needed amylase to work on the starches. I had no clue as to how much to use or when. OG=~1.045 with a FG=1.022, so there was a lot of starch in the beer. I really didn't mind since it gave the beer a good body (mouth feel). Interestingly, I found that half a shot of Jack Daniels really improved the flavor by smoothing it out and add a counter flavor. Quite nicely.

BTW: I checked some of your recipes on dkershner. They look interesting, but I did not see the cream ale recipe.

gguess said:

BTW: I checked some of your recipes on dkershner. They look interesting, but I did not see the cream ale recipe.

Click to expand...

That's because I am going to make it up off the top of my head.

As for your problems with waiting, you will be disatisfied with beer you create in general if you do not have patience. Clearing of beer is mostly solved with have a good, clean process and having patience, but so is making the best beer possible. With all that said...let's make a cream ale, shall we? Give me a second to type, recipe to follow.

4lb Brown Rice Syrup
2lb Sweet Potatoes
1lb Flaked Corn
1lb Minute Rice
.5lb Corn Sugar

1oz Willamette @ 60

S-05 Dry Yeast

Amylase Enzyme
Irish Moss
5tsp Yeast Nutrient

Take the sliced sweet potatoes and put them in whatever mashing vessel you are using at 150F Hold them there for 30min. Remove them and boil for 30min in a separate vessel. During that boil, add the flaked corn and minute rice to the mash, still at 150F. Also add the amylase enzyme at half the packages recommended level. If using a false bottom, rice hulls will be very necessary, use a ton. After the half hour, re-add the sweet potatoes to the mash. Mash for 1hour at 150F. Heat to 168F and hold for 10min. Strain off liquid into boil kettle.

Add BRS and Sugar to the liquid, stir well. Heat to Boil. Add Hops when boiling. Boil 60min.

Cool wort to 68F.

Add yeast and nutrient and hold at 68F for 3 weeks.

Bottle or keg, carbonate over 3 weeks.

Enjoy!

APPROXIMATE vitals of this beer (depends on mash efficiency):
OG 1.054
FG 1.010
ABV 5.5%
SRM 3.5
IBU 14.7

DKershner said:

4lb Brown Rice Syrup
.5lb Sorghum
2lb Sweet Potatoes
1lb Flaked Corn
1lb Minute Rice

Click to expand...

I like it, already pulling in the sweet potatoes for the enzymes. This is definitely going to be on my list of next things to try. Maybe not this exact beer, but definitely on the adding sweet potatoes for enzymes.

aggieotis said:

I like it, already pulling in the sweet potatoes for the enzymes. This is definitely going to be on my list of next things to try. Maybe not this exact beer, but definitely on the adding sweet potatoes for enzymes.

Click to expand...

Only place I know of to get beta, and you need beta to get the dryness needed for a cream ale.

I switched out the Sorghum for Corn Sugar since this thing needs to be pretty dry.

The directions say to add the BRS and Sorghum. The ingredient list does not have the amount of sorghum listed.

I'm curious why minute rice? Convenience?

gguess said:

The directions say to add the BRS and Sorghum. The ingredient list does not have the amount of sorghum listed.

I'm curious why minute rice? Convenience?

Click to expand...

I noted it in the post above yours, but I have now changed ALL the sorghum words to sugar.

Minute rice does not need to be precooked, it can be directly added to the mash. You can also precook rice, but I don't think it is as simple as sticking it in a rice cooker.

I found something the Sorghum users might finding helpful. My brews have been very sour at drinking time. Obviously, sour implies a high acidity. My pH paper stops at 4.6 so I don't really know what the pH of the batch is. However, to mellow the beer, I have tried calcium carbonate to reduce the acidity. I found that in primarily sorghum malt syrup beer that 2 teaspoons (8gm) of a fine powder of calcium carbonate (added at bottling) turns the beer in a pleasant drink. The pH is still off my paper's ability to read it (<4.6) so the pH is low enough to not be an risk for botulism.

If someone wants to give it a quick try, use a quarter of a Tums tablet finely ground in a mug of beer. To get rid of the mint favor, you can first fill the mug 1/4 with water to dissolve the sugar and flavoring, and then pour the water off leaving the calcium carbonate behind.

The high acidity of the beer will quickly dissolve most of the tablet. I found that Rolaids do not taste as good, likely because they also use magnesium carbonate.

Anyone know why sorghum beers are prone to be being so acidic?

I could not say it better, redbridge is the best in my opinion. I went gluten free 3 weeks ago, and for this reason, I am looking to make my own redbridge. Briess has a reciepe at

http://www.brewingwithbriess.com/Assets/PDFs_Recipes/Briess_HoneyofaGlutenFreeLager_Aug2007.pdf

Quantity Ingredient Comment
3.75 lbs BriesSweet(tm) White Sorghum Syrup 45DE High Maltose
1.5 lbs Honey (medium to dark color and flavor honey works best)
0.5 lbs Corn Syrup (medium conversion)
0.5 oz Hallertau Hops (6%AA) Beginning of boil
0.75 oz Cascade Hops 10 minutes before end of boil
0.75 oz Saaz Hops (End of boil)
2 pkgs Dry lager yeast or Wyeast 2206GF gluten-free yeast
1 cup Honey Bottling
Brewing Procedures:
Mix syrup and water and bring to boil. Add bittering hops. Boil 40 minutes. Add second hops. Add remaining hops
according to schedule. Quickly chill wort. Ferment for 2.5 weeks at 55-60º F. Transfer and lager at 32-35º F for two weeks
minimum. Force carbonate or bottle condition with honey (recommended).
OG 1.042
FG 1.008
ABV 4.5%
IBUs 16

I dont believe redbridge uses honey or saaz hops.

I know so little about home brewing but, I had planned on ordering my kit last night, but got to late at work, then, today, but needed to talk to one guy that has been working on gf beers, so I think tomorrow or monday is the day I will order, my kit. I actually am planning on making a batch from above and another minus the honey and the saaz hops. Redbridge I guess is a lager, so that will be 8 weeks out from what little I know about it. So was going to try "clarity" and see about that. If anyone comes up with anything that tastes like redbridge, PLEASE LET ME KNOW...........its my favorite........

Mr. DKershner
Senior Member

I tried to pm you, but you have to many messages.......

Hello there
No clue who you are, but you seem to know what your talking about. I dont have a clue what I am talking about, but I would like to make something close to redbridge, any suggestions?
Also, what do you think about "clarity"

and what is your suggestions on a 6 gallon bucket versus a plastic carboy, versus glass carboy?

Thank you in advance

Kevin from ND

Here is a page that I found on redbridge.


http://www.epinions.com/review/Red_Bridge_6pk_2404b/content_467303173764?sb=1

I guess to me, from what I have found, tastes like budwieser, well not even close in my opinion. Like I say I started this beer 3 weeks ago, tried it a few months ago before I decided to go gluten free. (I have been scratching for almost 4 years and no doctor can fix me. Beer is a great alternative for me and since I went gluten free, until yesterday, all of my sores have just about healed....and I like the beer, but at $32 to $42 per case of 24 bottles, I am a consumer, and a big consumer, this area, drinks lots of beer. There are bumpers stickers, "we are a drinking community with a farming problem") There are atleast 3 of us at work that are interested in home brewing. I am the only one that is gluten free, the rest all drink whatever, busch light, bud light etc.....we even have Schmidt up here. And we have a few that prefer that. 4 years ago, with the people I worked with, "schmidt" beer was the prefered beer, we have since changed to busch light at the shop and bud light or coors light at the bar. Boss mans son told me a few days ago, he can not understand why North Dakota dont have a brew house of their own. I guess there is no brew house in North Dakota at all. And I believe North Dakota is either number one or number two in drinking beer per capita. In a farming comunity, my job more then once has been, "grab a thirty pack from bar, charge it to boss man and start delivering beer, 2 to 4 per person. We farm in 10 miles every direction but north. So I have driven over 30 miles, just to deliver beer to everyone. Gets him to have us work 2 more hours. Yes it has been at midnight before, since we start typically at 8am, but have been known to start at 5 am, typically shut down at sundown, but have been known to run 24/7. So when the "beer goddess" what we call whoever is delivering, we know we gots less then 2 hours to call it a day........so if I dont learn how to make beer close to redbridge, I will be SOL spring and fall. Cause boss man would send someone to my house to get me beer, but doubt he would send someone to the next town over that carries redbridge, and the local bar, well they are trying to sell the bar and wont carry a new beer...anyone want to buy a bar that is supported very well locally, ITS FOR SALE, THEY DROPPED THE PRICE TO $25,000.

Kevlee--don't take this the wrong way but I'm not sure if anyone on here has ever tried to make a redbridge clone. So you are blazing a new trail there but please do post recipes and tasting notes from what you end up finding!

kevlee67: I think I am going to give the recipe you provided a try. It looks like a good starting point from which to experiment. Maybe I will try a 2.5 gallon batch to start with.