All Grain, Self Malted GF Brew?

Hey guys, I've been reading all of the posts on this topic and seem to have a decent understanding of the process of malting GF grains.
My question is, is it possible to make a GF all grain beer simply using self malted grains, water, yeast, and some kind of sugar for the bottling process?
I watched this video and he uses malted barely but im wondering if its possible to use the same ratio and process (but instead bottle with sugar instead of the force carbonation he does) just with a mix of GF malted grains and GF crystal malt.
The recipe is:
11lbs of malted grains
1lb crystal malt
4 oz hops
7 gallons of water
- 4 for the initial mash
- 3 for sparging out
I know there is the issue of enzymes in GF beers, but if there is a high grain to water ratio would this work?
Thanks!
- Vince

See here, and good luck!

This is incredible!! Thank you so much for sharing, its much appreciated. One question I have about the article (I'm not sure if you wrote it and know or were just sharing it) is in regards to carbonating. It was my understanding that after the first fermentation the mixture needed to be mixed with some sort of sugar and then bottled. In this article it doesnt talk about this and just says bottle and let carbonate for a few weeks.
Am I missing something?

Hi,

Yeah, when bottling you still need to prime with sugar. It MAY work without it, but it would probably take a few months, if at all.

You should also check out a few of the writings on here about self malting and roasting. The one we have both been a part of recently is making a gluten free crystal. Since your recipe includes a crystal, you may want to check that out.

I don't have access to things like sorghum syrup here, so all of my beers are done with all gluten free grain. I usually add some brown sugar and some honey into the mix too. It helps to produce something like this...

is there a definitive amount of sugar:wort rato and a specific time that you need to add it in?

In my experience you get lower extract on gluten free grains, so you will want a little extra of both your base malt and specialty malts.

A few of us have discussed making crystal malts in this thread: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f164/just-made-gf-crystal-malt-376176/

The sugar:wort ratio will depend on your target gravity and how efficient your extraction is on the grains. What I do is start with the mash, take a hydrometer sample after lautering, let the hydrometer sample cool while I start the boil, then calculate my efficiency once the hydrometer sample has cooled to room temperature, then run over to hopville and see how much rice syrup, honey, candi sugar, sorghum (etc.) I need to add to hit my desired original gravity.

To calculate efficiency, I take the last two numbers of the hydrometer reading (if it's 1.035, that would be 35), then multiply by (volume at start of boil)/(volume at end of boil), which is usually (4 gallons)/(3 gallons) for me, so typically it'll be 35*(4/3)=47, meaning I ultimately got 3 gallons of 1.047 wort out of the mash. If I estimate 34 ppg for my grains, I can use hopville to figure my efficiency based on the weight of my grains and my calculated gravity. It's been seeming lately like I get 75-78% efficiency using unmalted grains combined with Promalt enzyme formula and a modified BIAB approach. So I calculate how much sugar I need to add based on how many gravity points I need to add to make it to my desired OG (which is usually between 1.052 and 1.060, depending on the beer). Hopville's great for that, it does all the calculation for you. I could probably work out the math on my own, but why go to the trouble?

Thanks for all of the helpful information. I totally geeked out on the last post. Am i correct that you add the sugar after the fermentation when you are bottling and then let the sugar ferment and carbonate in the bottles?

Well, I can't speak for the other guys and gals gathered here, but I use a pound of sugar during the boil for fermentation. Then use a teaspoon of sugar in each bottle for carbonation.

Primal_Vince said:

Thanks for all of the helpful information. I totally geeked out on the last post. Am i correct that you add the sugar after the fermentation when you are bottling and then let the sugar ferment and carbonate in the bottles?

Click to expand...

Oh, I must have misunderstood your question; if you're asking about how much priming sugar to add at bottling, then what you want is the calculator here:

http://www.northernbrewer.com/priming-sugar-calculator/

My previous answer was in regards to adding sugar during the boil in case you didn't hit your target gravity by mashing your malted grains. When you're bottling, it's not "wort" anymore, but finished beer. The term "wort" only applies prior to fermentation.