No Barley, no hops

Hey all:

I ran into an old friend a few days ago, and it turns out my old drinking buddy is alergic to both barley and hops. Anyone have an idea of a good recipe I could make for him? He's had a few sorghum based beers (bard's was one he mentioned) that he liked. Thanks in advance.

Damn...that sucks. There's always wine!

Bard's has hops

hopsalot said:

Bard's has hops

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True - he tried a few barley free beers before finding out he was also allergic to hops.

I'm thinking of using something like this:

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/nb-sorghum-syrup.html

Maybe adding some homemade caramel syrup (deep amber, probably):

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/20-lb-sugar-jar-yeast-nutrient-114837/

and possibly boiling down some of the first runnings to give it some body and flavor.

No idea what to do for bittering though.

Before people used hops, they used lots of different things to flavour their brews. My best advice would be to pick up Randy Mosher's Radical Brewing Book http://www.radicalbrewing.com/

He gives a really good overview of lots of old processes and beers that were made through history.

You also might want to check Gruit out as a hop substitute.

I've made Brew Brothers Heather Beer. The recipe uses heather for bittering and heather/chamomile for flavor and aroma. It used malt extract, but I suspect the recipe would work well with sorghum because the beer is much tastier with a little extra sweetness.

Maybe look into a spruce type beer.

mead cider or wine... good time of year to pick up preservitive free cider. I've made a nice cider from s05 yeast & s04 for a bit sweeter. my meads have been kiwi & a rose hip... gruits are barley based but I've used mugwort heather sweet gale, & juniper... Coriander goes into my other herbal ale... which allergy is worse? hop or barley?

Lots of good GF ingredients like Honey Sorghum Corn Rice Chocolate

There is always mead. I'm looking for my sorghum recipe but you would have to do it minus the hops. Posted not long ago that you have to let it age to smooth out. Mine was better than Bard's in the end but it took a long time getting there. Bard's could spend more time in the tank as well. St. Pete's GF was a commercial brew I got in Atlanta, GA at a microbrewery there. Not sure where else you can get it.

http://www.stpetersbrewery.co.uk/artman/publish/article_49.shtml

Relax, Have a homebrew,
Kontreren

Ezekielsays said:

Hey all:

I ran into an old friend a few days ago, and it turns out my old drinking buddy is alergic to both barley and hops. Anyone have an idea of a good recipe I could make for him? He's had a few sorghum based beers (bard's was one he mentioned) that he liked. Thanks in advance.

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One GF Recipe (again you have to minus the hops)

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/gluten-free-american-brown-ale-279876/#post3469563

Ezekielsays said:

Hey all:

I ran into an old friend a few days ago, and it turns out my old drinking buddy is alergic to both barley and hops. Anyone have an idea of a good recipe I could make for him? He's had a few sorghum based beers (bard's was one he mentioned) that he liked. Thanks in advance.

Click to expand...

Another GF recipe - Still looking for my chocolate GF...

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/gluten-free-pumpkin-spice-ale-279878/#post3469580

Ezekielsays said:

Hey all:

I ran into an old friend a few days ago, and it turns out my old drinking buddy is alergic to both barley and hops. Anyone have an idea of a good recipe I could make for him? He's had a few sorghum based beers (bard's was one he mentioned) that he liked. Thanks in advance.

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try brewing a gluten free witbier. the hops profile doesn't factor in greatly to the style. leave out the hops, and for any bitterness, you could add a tad more coriander and a nice amount of bitter orange peel along with the zest from other citrus fruit

Just found this post, would like to hear what you brewed. I would definitely have gone the witbier. You can use a 100% malted & unmalted wheat grain bill, and use only bitter orange peel and coriander for the bittering. I have seen witbier recipes on the web with no hops, just not able to find one right now...

If you're brewing only extract recipes, you'll have to use sorghum. You still have a range of malted wheats and ryes to steep for a variety of recipes (Carawheat , crystal rye, chocolate wheat or rye), just not sure what you would use for bittering. As someone suggested, check out Radical Brewing for some suggestions.

@Bilby keep in mind that this is a gluten free forum so wheat and rye are a no go

I know I'm late on this one but...
As far as hop substitutions I've had success with dandelion greens as a bittering agent - they give you nice, soft, balancing bittering... We've used them both like a mash-hop and full 60 minute boil. Calculate your IBUs the same as if you were using an 8.5% AA hop.
Plus the price is right, and this is the time of the year!