helping a celiac friend drink beer again...

Howdy all,
I have a friend with celiac and ran accross a GF extract kit at homebrewers.com. Has anyone tried it? I told him if he bought it, I'd brew it. I get from him that celiac afflicted people learn to eat crappy GF food or go with out and based on that I'm not expecting a fantastic brew from the kit. I told him we'd start with that kit and if its even remotly drinkable we could try some of the exciting recipes you guys have posted. I'm just getting in to HBing so i'm trying to get the gear and skills to do proper partial mashes then I can do the all grain with buckwheat and such. Are there any perticular hops that work well or is it kind of what your personal favorite is? My friend is from england and loves true bitters, if that helps. I was thinking kent goldings. He and I would appreciate all the help we can get.

Haven't tried the kit, but until you start experimenting with the grains, any combination of sorghum & rice syrup should work.

I've been using primarily WGV and Kent golding for my EIPA, my last one was more of an AIPA though and it used both WGV and Kent together (just cause I had them onhand) with 7 pounds of sorghum syrup. Sure it's not very exciting, but drinkable. I'm doing a minor gelatin test on a portion to compare something.

I had some good results with a sorghum extract based lager recently, I think I used Saflager W34 on it with Saaz hops.

I'm also enjoying a variant of the Lcasanova's chocolate stout.

I don't think an english ale would be very difficult.

Grab a pretty basic recipe. Replace the barley extract with a 50/50 mix of sorghum and rice syrup. English hops to the IBU you want, whirlfloc tablet, yeast nutrient and at least one packet of S-04.

Make sure you keep everything used for Gluten Free brewing seperate from your regular brewing. Cross contamination can occur and it's just easier to keep them seperate.

BEWARE, if you brew both GF and NON-GF and your using the same equipemnt you might run into contamination issues

DirtbagHB said:

BEWARE, if you brew both GF and NON-GF and your using the same equipemnt you might run into contamination issues

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This is true only if doing it at same time or you don't follow propper cleaning and sanitzing protocals.

When I brew GF stuff, I do not make other beers until completed, and when I am done with any of my brew equipment I clean complletely and sanitze it, nothing is left on for bacteria to grow on.

We're not talking about bacteria:

Taken from any number of gluten free info sites.
Dedicated/Non-Dedicated Production Lines
This classification applies to the production line on which a particular product is manufactured. When a product is manufactured on a dedicated line, the equipment used to produce that product will only come into contact with elements that are explicitly included in that product's ingredients (i.e. if "product A" is produced on a dedicated line, then there is no chance of contamination from the ingredients explicitly contained in "product B.") Even if a different product is run on this dedicated line, the line will be thoroughly cleaned between production runs to ensure that there is no possibility of cross-contamination.

If a product is not run on a dedicated line, this means that a chance of contamination by foreign elements (not explicitly contained in the product's ingredients) is possible. In this scenario, potential contaminating substances may or may not be present in trace amounts, depending on the ingredients contained in other products run on the same line. When making a decision on whether or not to eat a product that is not run on a dedicated line, one should carefully consider one's allergies, taking into account the severity of the allergy/allergies. Since contaminating elements are potentially only present in trace amounts, the product in question may be suitable to an individual with only mild allergies/sensitivities. Individuals with more severe allergies/sensitivities should avoid products with potential contaminants altogether.

Click on the "allergen" tab for any individual product for detailed information on that product's allergen profile.


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Also: http://www.fda.gov/Food/LabelingNut...ComplianceRegulatoryInformation/ucm106779.htm
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That said, I think there tends to be less of a problem in homebrewing for cross-contamination following cleaning & sanitizing because there is less equipment involved, and much of it is easily cleanable.

While best to keep a separate filling line, autosiphon and filler, due to crevices, the other components are:
Brewpot, fermenters (bucket/carboy/keg), wort chiller.
Three things with fairly smooth surfaces that will clean easier than multiple tubes, multiple nozzles, etc.


And really... it all depends on the recipient's tolerance level. Some people have to avoid products that share a line since they may be ultrasensitive. Some people are fine with a shared line since if they get a tiny bit, they're ok, and its when they have a significant amount that they have a reaction.

Now if the malting houses would get a dedicated line for GF oats
then i might make a GF beer for one of my friends too

For me I have a seperate fermentor, but my SS pots and spoons for brewing are used for all batches. I use bottles and not keg so no lines to worry about (As stated seperate fermentor stuff for GF only)

Yeah I'm not as worried about glutten contamination as making a delicious beverage for him to enjoy. On another thread i heard people talking about washing yeast. I strictly use liquid yeast because I have always gotten great fermentations from them. Does anyone have a lnk to a thread on how to wash my yeast to a level that won't effect him? And I asked him the other day what level of intollerence he was and he is extremely sensitive to gluten. Was hopping for a more mild intollerence but we have to play the cards we are delt. Thanks

MrWibble said:

Yeah I'm not as worried about glutten contamination as making a delicious beverage for him to enjoy. On another thread i heard people talking about washing yeast. I strictly use liquid yeast because I have always gotten great fermentations from them. Does anyone have a lnk to a thread on how to wash my yeast to a level that won't effect him? And I asked him the other day what level of intollerence he was and he is extremely sensitive to gluten. Was hopping for a more mild intollerence but we have to play the cards we are delt. Thanks

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I would get a GF yeast and activate it prior so like having liquid yeast.

John Palmers way

Preparing Dry Yeast
Dry yeast should be re-hydrated in water before pitching. Often the concentration of sugars in wort is high enough that the yeast can not draw enough water across the cell membranes to restart their metabolism. For best results, re-hydrate 2 packets of dry yeast in warm water (95-105°F) and then proof the yeast by adding some sugar to see if they are still alive after de-hydration and storage.

If it's not showing signs of life (churning, foaming) after a half hour, your yeast may be too old or dead. Unfortunately, this can be a common problem with dry yeast packets, especially if they are the non-name brand packets taped to the top of malt extract beer kits. Using name brand brewers yeasts like those mentioned previously usually prevents this problem. Have a third packet available as back-up.



Figure 34 and 35: Dry yeast that has been re-hydrated and the same yeast after proofing.

Re-hydrating Dry Yeast
1. Put 1 cup of warm (95-105F, 35-40C) boiled water into a sanitized jar and stir in the yeast. Cover with Saran Wrap and wait 15 minutes.
2. "Proof" the yeast by adding one teaspoon of extract or sugar that has been boiled in a small amount of water. Allow the sugar solution to cool before adding it to the jar.
3. Cover and place in a warm area out of direct sunlight.
4. After 30 minutes or so the yeast should be visibly churning and/or foaming, and is ready to pitch.

Note: Lallemand/Danstar does not recommend proofing after rehydration of their yeast because they have optimized their yeast's nutrional reserves for quick starting in the main wort. Proofing expends some of those reserves.

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https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f164/how-make-any-yeast-gluten-free-170919/
And Alchemist42 just posted about his results in yeast washing https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f164/gluten-free-beer-ingredient-list-172558/index9.html
And mentioned washing here today as well:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f164/gluten-free-specialty-yeasts-244487/

Heh, and I'm doing a washing of a Czech lager yeast too, to do the same thing.

as far as i have looked. there are NO gluten free liquid yeasts available there used to be one from whitelabs or wyeast, but it has been discontinued. i would boil up a little wort. and put it in some mason jars and sterilize it. i plate out non-gf yeasts on to potato dextrose agar plate, then i isolate single colonies into test tubes. then dump test tubes into the mason jars with an air lock and make starters that way... you could put a SMALL amount of a smack pack into the mason jar with an air lock and ferment up that. then transfer it again..that would be another way.

sounds good. I wanted to culture my regular yeast anyway. If i used petri dishes, can i use a whitelab yeast and just not scape where the initial sample was placed? That way i can have all of the variaties available and just have test tubes ready for starters? My buddy said he'd buy the pressure cooker to autoclave all the stuff for yeast cultivation. This hobby can get very serious!!

Yessir

MrWibble said:

I get from him that celiac afflicted people learn to eat crappy GF food or go with out and based on that I'm not expecting a fantastic brew from the kit.

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I think the other guys are helping you out very well, but this line really struck me as funny. The best foods in the world are gluten free, its the crappy food that has gluten in it.

Trollby said:

I would get a GF yeast and activate it prior so like having liquid yeast.

John Palmers way

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Palmer hasn't updated that online version, well, ever. That was the case years ago when most brewers were using kits with dry yeast taped to the bottom of the can and had been on a shelf at room temp or worse for two years. Fresh, dry yeast is readily available and inexpensive.


Do not "proof" your dry yeast. Rehydrate in warm (100F), previously boiled tap water and pitch. Don't use distilled.

DK, I'd argue that the GF pasta is horrible, taste and texture.
I will say that Cassanova's Orange Hefe recipe is coming along great. Just plopped the oranges in last night OG was 1.057 and in 3 days it dropped to 1.017. My wife is excited for this.

Riddei said:

DK, I'd argue that the GF pasta is horrible, taste and texture.

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Agreed, except maybe for pad thai noodles. And in no way would I call any type of pasta the best food in the world.

Now sushi, steak, crab, lobster, hawaiian kahlua pig, bbq ribs I could make compelling arguments for. All naturally gluten free.

Anyway, , and I have made my point, carry on!

For anyone brewing gluten free beer I would recommend checking out www.thehomebrewconnection.com and give them a call. The owner actually has Celiac and loves to brew GF beers.

They actually have a new product (might not even be on their website), which is a GF millet which supposedly tastes way better than sorghum or other alternatives. I've yet to brew with it, but will soon.