Gluten-free Witbier buckwheat questions

Hi, all. I'm helping a gluten-intolerant friend of mine brew a batch of sorghum beer this weekend. We're going for a wit style--we're gonna dress it up with bitter orange, coriander, grains of paradise, maybe even cardamom and heather tips--and we know the proper precautions (separate equipment, dry yeast, etc.). Thing is, I've seen advice to throw buckwheat flour into the boil to help fill out the witbier style. I've also seen advice for toasting buckwheat to make a dark wheat style. The thing is, I never see how much flour, when in the boil, whether it should be i a grain bag, etc. The same for the toasted grains.

Any advice/experience?


Thanks,

CB

No replies on this huh? Wish I knew the answer. I'd like to try a dark buckwheat wit... Did it ever come out?

if you just toss flour into the boil you're going to end up with a bunch of unconverted starch in your beer, aren't you? If all you want is flavour and aren't concerned by a starchy beer, then I would just toast some buckwheat, crush it a bit and steep it in a grain bag for a while. Ideally, you would malt some buckwheat and do a mini-mash with it...

Well, we couldn't find whole buckwheat, but we did find cracked buckwheat (for hot cereal...all broken up, but not powder), so we're going to toast that and steep it. I'm just trying to do anything to give it more body, as I've heard sorghum beers end up really thin, which is why adding the flour made sense...I also thought about boiling millet or quinoa in there as well for the starches. Malting buckwheat is a great suggestion, but a little more involved than we want to get right now...plus we can't find the whole buckwheat.

climateboy said:

Well, we couldn't find whole buckwheat, but we did find cracked buckwheat (for hot cereal...all broken up, but not powder), so we're going to toast that and steep it. I'm just trying to do anything to give it more body, as I've heard sorghum beers end up really thin, which is why adding the flour made sense...I also thought about boiling millet or quinoa in there as well for the starches. Malting buckwheat is a great suggestion, but a little more involved than we want to get right now...plus we can't find the whole buckwheat.

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How did toasting the cereal work out? Toast time and temp? Flavor?

I know, it was a long time ago, but any input on this would be great.

I too would be interested in the results!

I'd be interested to know more about the cereal too - was it brand or generic or what? I know this was really long ago, but curious to know how it worked out.

Hey, everyone. Sorry for being away for so long. Thankfully I remember this. We toasted it in the oven--just kept checking it by sight and smell, and put it in a grain bag to steep. I think it added some nice color, flavor, and body to the beer. Steeping GF grains really helps the flavor of these brews, as does judicious use of spices. Sorghum can be bitter, and you want something to counteract that.

One of the most important things you can do, in my experience, is use a Wit yeast, one that is meant to stay in the bottle, and be swirled up and drunk along with the beer. Does wonders for the flavor.