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DKershner

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 30, 2009
Messages
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Location
Bend, OR
Category 14: Gluten Free Beer (13 Entries)
CELIA PALE ALE
The Alchemist
Waterbury, VT

GLUTEN FREE
Deschutes Brewery
Bend, OR

3R RASPBERRY ALE
New Planet Beer Co.
Boulder, CO

Gold, silver, bronze in order.

Has anyone tried the first or third ones? I have obviously had deschutes and it is the best I have had, including my own.
 
Nope, Nope, and Nope.

I really wish I could try Deschutes, I'll have to look again to see if it's available out here but I don't think it is.

It's only available here sometimes and only in the brewpub, they certainly dont make much. I may see if it's available when I send off your care package.
 
I went to Deschutes last year around November and got their GF beer. I was highly disappointed. While certainly better than redbridge, you could tell they only used extract, and most of it was sorghum.

I guarantee you that unless they changed their recipe significantly (which is totally probable), everything that comes out of your bottles is way better.

Haven't tried the other guys' though, so I can't comment there.

Also, I like that there's a GF category, I've heard in the past it just gets lumped in with all the other specialty beers, which isn't exactly fair competition.
 
Maybe they did change the recipe since I last had it.

The one I had tasted like an ESB, was dark amber in color and tasted like Hops and bitterness. I could taste very little sorghum. I had the beer right around the same time you did though. I thought they used chestnuts. I wasn't exactly in peak tasting posture either since I was drinking an inversion and eating a burger. ;)

Most of the gluten free beers I make are light on hops because that is what the lady asks for. I think I could make a great hoppy GF beer, but I would have no one to drink it, so I don't go there. For this reason, I guess saying it is the best I have had is a little biased since sorghum is pretty easy to hide with hops.
 
It's only available here sometimes and only in the brewpub, they certainly dont make much. I may see if it's available when I send off your care package.

man if it hard for you to find it in the same city as it is produced....


I am headed to Eugene this winter and if the wife is still gluten free at that time I will make her try it.
 
man if it hard for you to find it in the same city as it is produced....


I am headed to Eugene this winter and if the wife is still gluten free at that time I will make her try it.

Yeah, I think it was only here and in Portland. No Deschutes brewpub in Eugene to my knowledge. At least, there wasn't when I lived there.

Although, good news Casanova...looks like the brewpub is pouring it at the moment. I never go there because it is always packed with tourists. I wonder if they would pour it straight into a 12oz bottle and let me cap it on the bar...

http://www.deschutesbrewery.com/brewery/brew-pubs/bend-pub/bend-whats-on-tap/default.aspx
 
Yeah, I think it was only here and in Portland. No Deschutes brewpub in Eugene to my knowledge. At least, there wasn't when I lived there.

Although, good news Casanova...looks like the brewpub is pouring it at the moment. I never go there because it is always packed with tourists. I wonder if they would pour it straight into a 12oz bottle and let me cap it on the bar...

http://www.deschutesbrewery.com/brewery/brew-pubs/bend-pub/bend-whats-on-tap/default.aspx

Deschutes will fill growlers with any of their beers. I don't get down to Portland much, but anytime anyone I know is going, I give them two growlers, some money and they come back with 2 growlers' full of GF liquid heaven.

On a side note, I love St Peters sorghum ale - it has a completely different flavor than Deschutes GF ale. But I still think Deschutes takes the cake. Very little sorghum flavor, nice and hoppy...very ESB-ish. Best GF beer I've ever tasted.
 
Deschutes had a Crystal Weiss in Portland around mid-July last year that was GF and it was amazing.

I asked them for the recipe via email and they sent me a sorghum beer recipe. I suspect the Crystal Weiss was not sorghum but was either science-beer (had the gluten removed) or was Chestnut chips. I've never had a GF beer that tasted anything nearly as good as that Crystal Weiss.
 
Deschutes had a Crystal Weiss in Portland around mid-July last year that was GF and it was amazing.

I asked them for the recipe via email and they sent me a sorghum beer recipe. I suspect the Crystal Weiss was not sorghum but was either science-beer (had the gluten removed) or was Chestnut chips. I've never had a GF beer that tasted anything nearly as good as that Crystal Weiss.

I am now wondering if there is more than one. I have now read about an amber, an ESB, a golden, something called rootin tootin low gluten (another golden), and now a Krystallweizen.

They might just be experimenting on a bunch of styles or something and seeing what sticks.
 
Oh, and can you send me the recipe you got or post it on here? I can probably determine which beer it is.
 
Deschutes Brewery
Gluten Free Ale Clone

Specifics:

Recipe type: Extract
Batch size: 5 U.S. gallons
Original gravity: 1.048
Final gravity: 1.011
Boil time: 90 minutes
Fermentation temp: 65° F
Yeast type: English or German Ale
(Gluten Free yeast)

Extract:
White Sorghum syrup
Brown Rice syrup

Hops:
Cascade

**Note**
Temps, times and weights are the challenge.
Happy Brewing!
 
What's the 90 min boil for? Does that help break down the sorghum? I've wondered about the different times. I do 60min on the sorghum and BRS but have wondered if maybe that's too long for BRS.
 
The only decent commercial GF beer I have had is the Green's brand. I have never heard of the ones on the list.
 
The only decent commercial GF beer I have had is the Green's brand. I have never heard of the ones on the list.

I agree. I have been getting Green's at a macrobiotic restaurant in the East Village when I visit NY on business, and it is the best thing I have found.

Of course I have not been able to find much in my own area beyond the usual suspects (Red Bridge, New Grist, and Bards).
 
Greens tastes like sweet nasty crap to me. And my wife who is the one that can't have gluten agrees. We heard the hype about Greens and were so excited to finally try some. We bought each of the three kinds the store had in stock. Those are the last three we ever bought. Duara (sp?) is the most beer like of any GF beer I've ever tried. Of course it is beer that has had the gluten removed. My wife calls it "science beer." We often mix it with other GF things I've tried to make to get some malt characteristic into it.
 
For me a 90 minute boil is either to get more hop bitterness or to boil off more water for a higher gravity. But that's just me.

90min boil can also make beer darker and drive off more DMS.

I would say chances are very good that 90min is just Deschutes standard boil time and this beer is no exception. 60min should be perfectly fine guys.
 
it looks like they have a house yeast, too. i doubt they are pitching safale or coopers.
is it a chance a large part of their characteristics are from their yeast?
 
it looks like they have a house yeast, too. i doubt they are pitching safale or coopers.
is it a chance a large part of their characteristics are from their yeast?

Yes, deschutes has a house yeast. For this beer, they isolated one yeast cell and grew it up to as much yeast as they needed on Sorghum. I can recommend yeasts that are like Deschutes, but they are all Wyeast.
 
well, im working on a fermentation chamber. 3deep x 5 long x 3.5 tall. 2x4 skeleton, plywood ectoderm, at least 2in of foam insulation mesoderm, drywall endoderm. this should give me room for 2 primaries, 2 secondaries, 2 corny kegs, a wall heater with thermostat. and 2 shelves above it. ill have room to ferment. and since i work in a microbio lab. i have aquired some potato dextrose agar plates (yes they are GF) and i have several non-gf homebrewers around. so im going to start isolating different yeast strains and grow them up. if i can find a way to ship i might be willing to ship off starters, too.
 
well, im working on a fermentation chamber. 3deep x 5 long x 3.5 tall. 2x4 skeleton, plywood ectoderm, at least 2in of foam insulation mesoderm, drywall endoderm. this should give me room for 2 primaries, 2 secondaries, 2 corny kegs, a wall heater with thermostat. and 2 shelves above it. ill have room to ferment. and since i work in a microbio lab. i have aquired some potato dextrose agar plates (yes they are GF) and i have several non-gf homebrewers around. so im going to start isolating different yeast strains and grow them up. if i can find a way to ship i might be willing to ship off starters, too.

:ban:
 
well, im working on a fermentation chamber. 3deep x 5 long x 3.5 tall. 2x4 skeleton, plywood ectoderm, at least 2in of foam insulation mesoderm, drywall endoderm. this should give me room for 2 primaries, 2 secondaries, 2 corny kegs, a wall heater with thermostat. and 2 shelves above it. ill have room to ferment. and since i work in a microbio lab. i have aquired some potato dextrose agar plates (yes they are GF) and i have several non-gf homebrewers around. so im going to start isolating different yeast strains and grow them up. if i can find a way to ship i might be willing to ship off starters, too.

You might try to find some sort of maltose to grow stuff on. It will surely work either way, but having the yeast used to eating the tougher sugars is beneficial to lag time and attenuation. Other than that, it sounds like a great plan.

Your fermentation chamber is very big. I am wondering if you have that many things that require the same ferment temp, or if you are just using it as a giant yeast culture lab.
 
"the lab" is large.. ill post some pics of it soon. i still have to make doors for it. and paint the inside. i made it that large with the thoughts about being able to hold 2x 8gal primary buckets, 2x 6 gal carboys, 2x corneys, room to grow, enough space above to hold shelves for isolation and growing up starters, a small heater, and most importantly enough space to allow adequate air flow around everything.
in terms of isolation. i was chatting with the boss (micro phd) and were were discussing growth mediums. the industry standard is potato dextrose agar. we came to the conclusiong that for isolation and storage. the dextrose is simple to break down and should allow the buggers to last longer. and to use a prepared wort to stage up to pitching doses. once we inoculate the liquid media, the 3-4 stages it will take to grow up to pitching quantities, should work to acclimatize the yeast to the GF environment. theory is theory so well see how application goes. prolly starting next week... ill have a little bit of time during the thanksgiving school break.
 
and to use a prepared wort to stage up to pitching doses.

Prepared wort...do you mean dextrose or some sort of actual beer ingredient containing maltose?

I tend to agree that it would be easier on the yeast to feed em what they like at first, but at some point you have to switch em over to the right stuff for the job.

But hey, I'm no biologist...
 
for prepared wort, i brewed a 2 gal batch and canned it to mason jars. pop the top on a jar and dispense to culture tubes or flasks.. but the box has been put on hold till next week. my truck blew its fuel pump. so that has taken precidence. its taken me a week to find parts. last thing is putting a new fuel line on and put the tank back up.
 

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