Pea Protein
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Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:
I've seen a couple of references to using tofu in GF beers for body/head retention (about 8 oz. for a 5 gallon batch). I started a thread here about it some time ago, but no one who replied had ever tried it. So, I have decided to experiment. I am currently about half way through the boil of a GF Rhubarb Ale, and have mashed up some tofu and thrown it in the kettle.
I will keep you posted on the outcome of my experiment.
I will keep you posted on the outcome of my experiment.
DirtbagHB
Well-Known Member
rhubarb ale? sounds delish. can you post info about that?
I will, but not yet. I only started brewing this yesterday, and don't wish to post my details until I know whether it is drinkable or not. If it turns out, I will be very happy to share the knowledge. Generally, though, I am making a sorghum-based ale, SG 1.050, approx. 25 IBUs. I will add 1.5-2.5 lbs of rhubarb, cut up and frozen, to the secondary for a few weeks before bottling. I hope for it to be a crisp, refreshing and quaffable brew.
Early results on the tofu experiment are not encouraging - I pitched the yeast last night about 11pm, and it was bubbling like crazy this morning at 6am when I checked on it. However, no krausen. A few little bubbles on the top of the wort this morning, and still the same when I came home from work tonight. I would expect that head retention and krausen are related. I will try some maltodextrine for the next GF beer.
spaced
Well-Known Member
I'm thinking an extract of pea protein or soy protein might work, as it would be very a concentrated amount. Will watch your tests with interest.
I sampled my first bottle of my tofu-enhanced GF beer. It was very light in body, as I kind of expected. It required a fairly vigorous pour to get a nice head on the beer, but the bubbles were small and dense and a thin layer of head lasted throughout the entire glass, and even a bit of lacing. The beer itself was very quaffable, but there was very little rhubarb flavour other than a bit of tartness. I could detect no taste or odor of tofu - in fact, I almost forgot that it had tofu in it until the last few ounces.
The beer itself was pretty straight up with sorghum syrup and I added a bit of Roger's syrup to boost the alcohol. I added some roasted buckwheat and quinoa for colouring (obviously not roasted enough), and lightly hopped. I threw in about 12 oz. of mashed up medium tofu for about 20 min of the boil. Most of it remained in rather disgusting chunks and I ran the wort through a sanitized sieve before pitching the yeast. Any larger chunks remaining have settled out in fermentation. After about 2 weeks, I added in about 2.5 lbs. of frozen rhubarb. At the end, I have a very clear, dry and light coloured beer with decent head.
If I were to try my hand at it again, I would probably:
1. Leave out the quinoa and buckwheat, as I don't think they add much to the beer.
2. Either leave out the fruit, or try something different like apricots or sour cherries.
3. Work on finding some way to add some colour to the beer.
4. Grow a GF starter for a hefeweizen strain to give the beer more hefe yeast character.
The beer itself was pretty straight up with sorghum syrup and I added a bit of Roger's syrup to boost the alcohol. I added some roasted buckwheat and quinoa for colouring (obviously not roasted enough), and lightly hopped. I threw in about 12 oz. of mashed up medium tofu for about 20 min of the boil. Most of it remained in rather disgusting chunks and I ran the wort through a sanitized sieve before pitching the yeast. Any larger chunks remaining have settled out in fermentation. After about 2 weeks, I added in about 2.5 lbs. of frozen rhubarb. At the end, I have a very clear, dry and light coloured beer with decent head.
If I were to try my hand at it again, I would probably:
1. Leave out the quinoa and buckwheat, as I don't think they add much to the beer.
2. Either leave out the fruit, or try something different like apricots or sour cherries.
3. Work on finding some way to add some colour to the beer.
4. Grow a GF starter for a hefeweizen strain to give the beer more hefe yeast character.
spaced
Well-Known Member
3. I'd recommend using amber candy syrup. There are a few really good articles on how to make it at home, and then you can really control the final colour.
4. I've used WB-06 in a beer and it was great, although I have no way of comparing it to the real thing.
WB-06 is the closest dry thing to hefeweizen yeast, but it is very mild. It compares OK to something like a 3333, but is very, very mild when compared to 3068. A GF culture of 3068 is a great idea IMO as a yeast forward beer could hide much of the other flavors.
