my first GF beer = fail

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I can see why it dried out, with almost 1/3 of the fermentables being sucrose. Had the same thing happen with a GF IPA. I suggest you add the missing MD back in (that was there for body and mouthfeel). Maybe go as high as another 8 oz. You also left out two important flavor notes. My personal policy (even after ten years of brewing) is to brew a recipe as-is, then experiment if I liked it enough to make another batch.
 
i figured i'd let the yeast give me the flavors i was looking for, but didn't expect it to attenuate THAT much.
 
Yeah, I read that the sorghum syrup was only 70% fermentable, but it turned out to be much more than that and I had to add MD to raise the FG to 1.008. Took 12 oz.

Without much in the way of residual sugars, the other flavors aren't going to come through.
 
bummer... so, the beer in the keg is already carbed. perhaps i'll get .5# of MD, boil it, add it to an empty keg, flush with co2, then transfer the beer onto it. maybe get some bitter orange peel and ginger and put it in there too. the bottled half, however, is doomed to a flavorless existence.
 
I agree with David 42- I like to brew a recipe as is and experiment from there. That said, most of my recipes have been adapted and changed to be gluten-free so I guess I don't really follow that.

Anyways, Dkershner tried one of my saisons and my recipe was pretty similar to the one you made. He recommended that I lighten up on the spices (or maybe ditch them altogether- I'd have to go look), switch to a different yeast strain, and ferment at a higher temperature.

I don't think this beer was a complete failure- now you know what the beer is like if you don't add some MaltoDextrine :cross:
 
I dont see a problem with this drying way out...it's a saison. I think I am shooting for 1.000 on mine I just brewed. I think the problem is you just forgot some spices to make the beer taste correctly.

If you read what the guy who made the original recipe said, he mentions it being pretty dry as well.

As for the Sorghum = very fermentable thing, I did have that problem with Brewcraft Sorghum, but not with Briess Sorghum, so I think it depends on the brand you are using.
 
so would you guys suggest adding some ginger and bitter orange to some vodka and throwing it in the keg?
 
so would you guys suggest adding some ginger and bitter orange to some vodka and throwing it in the keg?

Well, couldn't hurt! The beer doesn't really seem to be pleasing you.

You can also add some maltodextrin if you want some more body, but I like my saisons very dry.
 
first GF = WIN!

friend really likes the beer! i force carbed half and bottle conditioned the rest. the bottle conditioned is actually much better.
 
first GF = WIN!

friend really likes the beer! i force carbed half and bottle conditioned the rest. the bottle conditioned is actually much better.

This is probably due to you leaving the bottle conditioned at room temp longer.

Glad to hear your friend likes it. Let us know what you changed and how it affected it.
 
i never added the ginger and orange to the keg. may still. but, yes, the bottle conditioned half actually tasted more like a saison, with the spicy and phenolic flavors you'd expect.

kicking around the idea of bringing out the other half, degassing, add ing a bit of yeast then transferring it to another keg that's got priming solution in it, shake it up, then filling bottles with the primed beer. i dunno, may backfire.
 
kicking around the idea of bringing out the other half, degassing, add ing a bit of yeast then transferring it to another keg that's got priming solution in it, shake it up, then filling bottles with the primed beer. i dunno, may backfire.

I do not suggest doing this in any way, shape, or form. The only difference between bottle conditioned and keg conditioned is the way the beer was carbonated, which has very, very little effect on flavor. Exposing your beer to potential contamination just to uncarbonate and recarbonate is a bad idea. ANY other change in flavor would be due to differences in your process...differences that you may no longer to be able to combat.

I would say the chances are good that the keg conditioned half has been in warmth less long than the bottle conditioned half. If this is the case, just put it outside the kegerator for awhile and see how it changes.

Or, yeast is important to a saison, maybe a cold crash has lessened the taste. Maybe just a good shake will solve the problem.
 
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