Kolsch with Bard's Malt

I ordered the Bard's kit from Midwest Brewing Supplies. I can't lager, so I planned on modifying the recipe before I even placed the order (it ships with lager yeast and tetnang hops).

I decided to do a Kolsch and used Wyeast Kolsch yeast (yes, I know this makes it technically non-GF, but from what I've read, as long as everything else is GF, the level of gluten in a 5gal batch should be less than 1ppm and my wife is not sensitive at that level - she's my GF beer drinker).

Soooo....

1/2 lb Millet - steeped 45min (no toasting)
6lbs Bard's white malted sorghum syrup - 60min
1lbs 5oz brown rice syrup - 60min
1oz Hallertau hops - 60min
1lb 6oz wild flower honey - end of boil
1tsp Irish moss - 10min
Wyeast Kolsch (2565)

Brewed today with a corrected IG of 1.068 (a little higher than I intended, but should be okay).
I'll transfer to a secondary in two weeks and bottle it two weeks after that.

That recipe sounds really good. Very curious as to how the Bard's malted white sorghum tastes in comparison to Briess' white sorghum.

We've been brewing with Briess white sorghum and neither of us likes the flavor at all. I am looking forward to the results. Our fingers are crossed.

Have you tried a 1:1 switch to compare? It'd be interesting to hear details on making two identical batches with the extract being the only difference.

And I wash my wyeast yeast with distilled water a few times to get as much of the original wort out while leaving the yeast.

This beer went into bottles on Saturday. Lookin' good:

IMAG0285.jpg by chilort, on Flickr

We tasted it and it isn't quite where I would like it to be but we'll see what time in the bottle does. My wife said it tasted like cheap white wine mixed with birthday cake. That isn't a huge improvement over what we were doing with brown rice syrup and rice solids. I was hoping that 1) the Bards malt would make a big difference and 2) using liquid yeast would make a big difference. But, we'll wait to see.

IMAG0295 by chilort, on Flickr

The above photo is just 1 week in the bottle. I'm sure that there will be much more head in 2 weeks.

I almost cannot believe how clear this beer is. I've never had a beer made with sorghum turn out this clear.

There is still a little cake flavor but I did use brown rice syrup that has caused a cake flavor before in other beers. It has subsided considerably in the week since I bottled the beer. I only got a sip before my wife took it out of my hands and I had just had a Halls cough drop, but I think this one is going to be a winner. The nasty sorghum bite is not evident at all. Finally, a nice lawn mower beer for my wife.

1) I will be using the Bards malt again in the future.

2)If my wife handles this beer okay, I'll be using Wyeast in more "gluten free" beers.

Chilort, now that you have had time to savor the batch can you give some more tasting notes?

I have tried the store brand GF Bards and really enjoyed it, the other brands on the market just taste horrible.

Does this recipe come close to Bards retail beer?

Thx!

Thanks for the interest.

This tastes nothing like Bards. I used an ale yeast rather than a lager yeast and I used a different type of hops.

My wife loves the beer. Friends that have tried it say that it tastes like beer to them too. I get a cake flavor, some have called it an apple flavor. It is light in flavor and easy to drink. I'm not a pro beer taster (no matter how much of it I drink) so I really don't know what else to say. It doesn't suck like much of the GF beer on the market.

I plan on trying something with Bard's malt again soon but with about 1/2 Bards malt, rice solids instead of brown rice syrup and a few other tricks.

Good to know. I am a fan of Porters and Stouts and I was looking to create/follow a recipe that would get me to the taste of Bards retail beer. I really like the light chocolate, medium ale taste they have. But at $10 a six pack in my area, most stores only have one six pack, I need to brew this one!

As a side note, since I am only slightly gluten intolerant, i can play a little more. Adding White Labs Clarity-Ferm has really helped turn regular beer to low gluten beer.

I will keep searching for a recipe...

I've only ever had Bards Tale. I've heard that they have other stuff.

There are a couple of decent stout recipes here on the board. I've been trying to work on one myself. The last thing I worked with I tried using some buckwheat goats and I toasted them and the beer came out awful. We're letting it age but I don't know if the flavor of the groats will ever die down.

philber said:

Good to know. I am a fan of Porters and Stouts and I was looking to create/follow a recipe that would get me to the taste of Bards retail beer. I really like the light chocolate, medium ale taste they have. But at $10 a six pack in my area, most stores only have one six pack, I need to brew this one!

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What Bard's are you drinking? The only Bard's I've ever seen is a light lager, which I would not remotely describe as "light chocolate, medium ale". Their website only lists the one kind, their golden lager, so I'm real curious what you're drinking!

As a follow up to this excellent thread, I thought I'd post some thoughts. I'm new to GF brewing but have been trying to make some that are drinkable or even better for some GF-intolerant and Celiac friends.

1) I'm currently preparing to make a Gluten Free "Kolsch" for a buddy who is Celiac. Although Kolsch yeast (2565) do not come GF, I have made mine GF via 4 serial 1:20 passages (1:160,000 dilution) using some 1.030 Sorghum wort that I quickly boiled up. I recommend this approach if making a GF Kolsch for someone of unknown sensitivity to Gluten or anyone who has Celiac.

2) I'm using the Briess Sorghum syrup. I agree about the taste that it produces not being much like beer. I tried a Sierra Pale Ale clone with it last month and so far it tastes like grapefruit juice mixed with rocket fuel. I'm hopeful that it will mellow in the bottle.

3) Related to point #2 above, 1.068 (as produced by the OP) is very high for a lawnmower beer like Kolsch. I'm shooting for something much closer to 1.045, which is what I try to hit exactly in my true "to style" partial mash Kolsch recipes that I drink for myself. I'm wondering if making lower gravity beers with Sorghum syrup might actually allow for a slightly better, less bitter beer. I'm definitely interested in others experiences in this regard.

Thanks,
The Dude

JeffLebowski said:

3)I'm wondering if making lower gravity beers with Sorghum syrup might actually allow for a slightly better, less bitter beer. I'm definitely interested in others experiences in this regard.

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I've gotten my best results in the lawnmower style doing a 2:2:1 or 1:2:1 sorghum:rice:honey blend. Honey is a really important addition in gluten-free brewing, as depending on the variety used, it can add complexity, depth, and either sweetness or dryness. Use the high-quality raw/unfiltered stuff for the best effect. I doubt I will ever brew a GF lawnmower-type beer without honey ever again.

I'm about to experiment with Briess High-Maltose Brown Rice syrup, next week probably, doing a clone of mloster's "Hop-Bursted Pale Ale", which uses no sorghum. I've heard good things about this stuff both from mloster himself and from the proprietors of highgravitybrew.com, the only place I've been able to find the stuff. My spider-senses tell me it's gonna be great for lighter-colored beers.

igliashon said:

I've gotten my best results in the lawnmower style doing a 2:2:1 or 1:2:1 sorghum:rice:honey blend. Honey is a really important addition in gluten-free brewing, as depending on the variety used, it can add complexity, depth, and either sweetness or dryness. Use the high-quality raw/unfiltered stuff for the best effect. I doubt I will ever brew a GF lawnmower-type beer without honey ever again.

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Thanks for the insights. Actually, I was planning a "honey Kolsch" with 4:1 sorghum:honey. Maybe I should consider increasing the proportion of honey or replacing some of the sorghum with rice. I haven't tried that previously. I'm also planning to add the honey late, ~15 minutes before flameout. I assume you're doing the honey as a late addition also?

I also appreciate the tip about the raw honey. I've been using the Safeway brand, which is filtered but will now pick up some of the raw stuff from the honey guy at the Montclair Farmers Market.

JeffLebowski said:

Thanks for the insights. Actually, I was planning a "honey Kolsch" with 4:1 sorghum:honey. Maybe I should consider increasing the proportion of honey or replacing some of the sorghum with rice. I haven't tried that previously. I'm also planning to add the honey late, ~15 minutes before flameout. I assume you're doing the honey as a late addition also?

I also appreciate the tip about the raw honey. I've been using the Safeway brand, which is filtered but will now pick up some of the raw stuff from the honey guy at the Montclair Farmers Market.

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Whoa, didn't realize you were Bay Area, too! I'm in Oakland, let me know if you ever want to trade bottles! My stash is a little low right now but I do have plenty of my GF stout on hand.

And yah, I do honey at 5 minutes to flameout, or right at flameout if I really want its aroma. Be warned, though--the raw stuff can sometimes be overpowering, depending on the source. Some honey is really mild and you can use up to 1/3-lb per gallon; some honey, like chestnut, is so assertive that even 1/8-lb per gallon could be too much. Taste and smell the honey first; if it's got a real strong aroma/taste, go easy at first.

I put honey in my lake beer. 6lbs white sorghum 4 white rice and some toasted millet hand full of oats 115/15 mins 125/15 mins 154 for 60. Honey at flame out.