Bottling a GF today

I'm getting ready to start bottling my latest creation and I can't wait to taste it.

5 galllons
Partial mash 1 lbs. toasted whole grain Bhutanese red rice with amylase
4.5 lbs. Amber agave nectar
1 lbs. soft candi belgian sugar
.5 oz sweet orange peel
2 Tbsp ground coriander
2 bananas
4 oz Maltodextrine
4 oz Lactose
3 oz Hallertau (preboil with rice)
1 oz cascade (flameout)
1 oz amarillo (flameout)

2 tsp yeast nutrient
Safale WB06

When did you add the bananas?

I usually add a couple of bananas to all my beers (and some wines). I added them at the boil after being frozen then thawed then mashed (liquified). If they go in at the boil there's really no taste after fermentation, but it adds some body and mouthfeel. It may also help with head retention due to the proteins; between the bananas, lactose, and maltodextrine I get a very good head on my GF beers (for gluten free that is...it's not like an oatmeal stout or anything). I like a little unfermentables in my beer so it all works out, especially the citrusy style I've been successful with lately.

I also use a large grain bag because there's always some pieces of banana that don't disolve in the boil or get eaten by the yeast.

That is one insane beer.

Have you used agave before as the main fermentable? What does it end up tasting like?

dkershner said:

That is one insane beer.

Have you used agave before as the main fermentable? What does it end up tasting like?

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This is the first time using a significant amount. It's a lot like honey only thinner and doesn't have quite as much flavor. This beer has mostly all new ingredients for me so it will be a complete surprise how it turns out, but I have a pretty good palate from drinking wine, so hopefully I'll be able to pick out the things I like and don't like about it.

I chilled and opened one just a week after bottling just to satisfy my curiousity and I enjoyed it. It seemed a little thin and was barely carbonated, but it had a very nice flavor with a good amount of hopiness with not a whole lot of bitter. I'm going to open one up tonight now that it's had a few weeks.

With my beers I have noticed a significant change in flavor as they age. This is obviously something very well known about wines, but my beers seem to get better and better with time as well. Just not something I ever thought about till I started making beer as well as wine.

Noontime said:

With my beers I have noticed a significant change in flavor as they age. This is obviously something very well known about wines, but my beers seem to get better and better with time as well. Just not something I ever thought about till I started making beer as well as wine.

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While I myself don't have any that last a significant amount of time, midfielder5 sent me a GF ESB that was 5-6 months old and boy was it fantastic. I think she posted the recipe in the forum and I have it on my list of things to brew. I think aging these beers improves them greatly and even makes the cloudiest beers come clear (my pumpkin ale).

I now take 2 bottles of everything I make and put it away for extended aging. Some beers and wines end up lasting longer just because of a slower rate of attrition, but it's nice to know the more popular ones are there when I want to see what an 18 month old beer tastes like or a 5 year old wine (which in south Florida without an appropriate cellar/refrigerator is bit too long by the way).

Nice, I usually bottle a couple 22 oz's and keep those, I hope I can age them all at least 6 months to a year.

I sit mine on the yeast in the fermenter for at least 3 weeks, then I bottle and try to forget them, but they usually don't last 5-6 months!
that ESB I sent to lcasanova was just 'lost' way in the back of my stash. the ESB did go through a 2 month period where I thought it was oxidized, so it is tough to figure out.

Noontime said:

I usually add a couple of bananas to all my beers (and some wines). I added them at the boil after being frozen then thawed then mashed (liquified). If they go in at the boil there's really no taste after fermentation, but it adds some body and mouthfeel. It may also help with head retention due to the proteins; between the bananas, lactose, and maltodextrine I get a very good head on my GF beers (for gluten free that is...it's not like an oatmeal stout or anything). I like a little unfermentables in my beer so it all works out, especially the citrusy style I've been successful with lately.

I also use a large grain bag because there's always some pieces of banana that don't disolve in the boil or get eaten by the yeast.

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Im interested in this banana thing, the head on my beers is hit-or-miss and I'd like to see what I can do to improve it. It just so happens that I've frozen some very ripe bananas (for a banana wine) but considering that I have to move in a month, the wine is on hold for now...so- I am going to add some to my next brew and count on it settling out in primary.

Have you had a beer you've brewed with and without the bananas and noticed a difference?

lcasanova said:

Have you had a beer you've brewed with and without the bananas and noticed a difference?

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Not a beer, but I did with a couple of wines. Most of my wines don't have any skins, so I'll "tweak" them with bananas and/or raisins among other things to add body and mouthfeel. Bananas are also my favorite food, so even if a little hint of banana flavor came through I wouldn't mind (but I haven't detected any). I made a few wines with and without and preferred the ones with. Nothing extreme, and really too subtle to pick out, I just liked them better and they seemed to get a bit for viscous after a year or so. So when I started making GF beer and they were coming out REALLY thin, I started using bananas in there too.

The style of beer, addition of lactose, malto dextrine, etc has changed over time so I really don't have a direct comparison...I just like having them in there!

I'm very interested in the banana thing too. I always freeze bananas when they go brown/black for cakes etc as the kids won't eat them, so I have a lot available.

Would this still have an effect in the secondary? I've just brewed a few 5L batches that I am experimenting with and would be keen to try this out. I would probably boil it in a cup of water and then rack onto it.

What do you think?

celiacsurvivor said:

I'm very interested in the banana thing too. Would this still have an effect in the secondary? I've just brewed a few 5L batches that I am experimenting with and would be keen to try this out. I would probably boil it in a cup of water and then rack onto it.

What do you think?

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Going into the secondary might give you more banana flavor depending how long you boil it. I usually throw them in during the boil and after 60 minutes or so most of the flavor and aromatics have been boiled off. And if you like the flavor of banana then maybe that's not an issue. Keep in mind that if the fruit is brown (the fruit, not necessarily the skin) that means it's oxidized and that oxidized flavor will be in your beer or wine as well.