1st Gluten Free -Cloudy and tastes like Grapefruit

I can't find the post where I got this recipe but I know I had to sub Centennial for Amarillo and I didn't use Steel - cut oats or Maltodextrin


Here's the final recipe I used:
Volume: 5.00 gal
Original Gravity: 1.060
Final Gravity: 1.008
Style: India Pale Ale or American Pale Ale

Ingredients
Grain/Extract

LME - White Sorghum Syrup 3.0 lbs Boil for 60.00 min
LME - White Sorghum Syrup 3.0 lbs Boil @ flameout
Rice Syrup Solids 8oz. lbs Boil for 60.00 min
Candi syrup amber, D-45, 1.00 lbs Boil for 60.00 min

Hops

Summit (16.00%) 0.50 oz Boil for 60.00 min
Citra (14.10%) 0.50 oz Boil for 30.00 min
Citra (13.20%) 1.00 oz Boil for 15.00 min
Citra (14.10%) 0.50 oz Boil for 10.00 min
Centennial (9.30%) 1.00 oz Boil for 5.00 min
Summit (16.00%) 0.25 oz Boil for 5.00 min
Citra (13.20%) 1.00 oz Boil for 1.00 min

Centennial (9.50% ) 0.50 oz Dry Hop for 5-7 days
Citra (13.20%) 0.50 oz Dry Hop for 5-7 days

Yeast

S-05 Safale

My Wife hates it(and that is who it's for). It tastes like fermented grapefruit and she hates grapefruit!

I went ahead and put it in the Keg but I am afraid it's not going to get any better, i.e. loose the grapefruit taste.

Is there anything I can do to save this?
Why such grapefruit flavor?
Does the Sorghum make it so cloudy?

Sorghum often gives a bit of a sour flavor in large quantities. And you used a lot of citrusy hops. Maybe try different hops and less sorghum next time?

Although not as much as cascade or simcoe, citra and centennial hops are grapefruity (to many - obviously all hop varieties have different flavors to different people). Plus it's an IPA, so basically you used grapefruity hops to make a hop-heavy beer, and asked why it tastes like grapefruit. It's kinda like asking how your beer ended up having alcohol in it. It actually looks wonderful to me; sorry it doesn't to your wife.

Never used sorghum so not sure about the cloudy. My beers are cloudy occasionally; not that cloudy, but still, if you're not entering it in a competition don't worry. It should clear a little with time.

I've made some sorghum beers and they've turned out pretty cloudy at first, but cleared up a bit with time. They never got really clear, tho. Are you using the BriessWeet syrup?

Try gelatin. My first gluten free brew was super cloudy to the point I thought it was infected. Threw in gelatin, and the next day it was clear.

m_stodd said:

Try gelatin. My first gluten free brew was super cloudy to the point I thought it was infected. Threw in gelatin, and the next day it was clear.

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Can you use gelatin at any point and have it clear things up? I'll read up on that.

QuercusMax said:

I've made some sorghum beers and they've turned out pretty cloudy at first, but cleared up a bit with time. They never got really clear, tho. Are you using the BriessWeet syrup?

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I had 3 lbs Briess and then 3lbs from AustinHomeBrew.

bds3 said:

Although not as much as cascade or simcoe, citra and centennial hops are grapefruity (to many - obviously all hop varieties have different flavors to different people). Plus it's an IPA, so basically you used grapefruity hops to make a hop-heavy beer, and asked why it tastes like grapefruit. It's kinda like asking how your beer ended up having alcohol in it. It actually looks wonderful to me; sorry it doesn't to your wife.

Never used sorghum so not sure about the cloudy. My beers are cloudy occasionally; not that cloudy, but still, if you're not entering it in a competition don't worry. It should clear a little with time.

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I'll admit I have not used Citra before but I have used Centennial in NB Dead Ringer kit and it did not have this flavor at all. I mean, this tastes like grapefruit juice not beer(even kinda looks like it )

QuercusMax said:

Sorghum often gives a bit of a sour flavor in large quantities. And you used a lot of citrusy hops. Maybe try different hops and less sorghum next time?

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Yes, I will definitely be changing the recipe.

I never, ever use more than 3lbs of sorghum. If you brew this again I'd up the amount of brown rice and maybe throw in a pound of honey. When I use irish moss, or other such things, my sorghum beers are clear, when I don't, they are cloudy but get better with time. But you can't taste the cloudiness so I never cared to add anything to it.

ChasidicCalvinist said:

I never, ever use more than 3lbs of sorghum. If you brew this again I'd up the amount of brown rice and maybe throw in a pound of honey. When I use irish moss, or other such things, my sorghum beers are clear, when I don't, they are cloudy but get better with time. But you can't taste the cloudiness so I never cared to add anything to it.

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So, is it the sorghum that's adding the twang? If it's the hops, that should mellow out after a while but if it's the sorghum I doubt that will fade.

I don't mind the cloudiness either but next time I will add some irish moss to see the difference.

Duly note on the amount of Sorghum. Would you add it at all at flame-out?

Sorghum prominently accents the citrus character of any citrusy hops (Cascade, Centennial, Columbus, Chinook, Citra, Galaxy, Simcoe, Super-Alpha, Sorachi Ace even!), and I've brewed a good few beers that came out tasting like Squirt or Orange Crush at first. It mellows over time--give it a good 3 months or so and see how it does. In the future if you want to use those kind of hops and not get alcoholic fruit soda, use at least 50% rice syrup, and DO NOT LEAVE OUT THE MALTODEXTRIN. In GF beers, maltodextrin is NOT optional, it is MANDATORY. Every beer I've brewed without it, I've wished I had added some. It really significantly improves mouthfeel and head retention, I use at least 4 oz in a 3-gallon batch, and often as much as 8 oz. It never does anything bad, and it seems to always do good. Adding yeast nutrient to get some extra FAN in there also seems to be worth it; the yeast works fine without it, but I do believe adding it helps to cut the cidery/sour taste that can develop.

As for the cloudiness: use Whirlfloc tabs in the boil. Every time. Doing a secondary can help too, but if you dry-hop, there will be some residual cloudiness until the bottles have cold-conditioned for a while due to something from the hops.

I think your "twang" is primarily coming from the choice of hops. Sorghum adds a "twang" though I've never actually tasted it. I second Igliashon, it will mellow with time.

igliashon said:

Sorghum prominently accents the citrus character of any citrusy hops (Cascade, Centennial, Columbus, Chinook, Citra, Galaxy, Simcoe, Super-Alpha, Sorachi Ace even!), and I've brewed a good few beers that came out tasting like Squirt or Orange Crush at first. It mellows over time--give it a good 3 months or so and see how it does. In the future if you want to use those kind of hops and not get alcoholic fruit soda, use at least 50% rice syrup, and DO NOT LEAVE OUT THE MALTODEXTRIN. In GF beers, maltodextrin is NOT optional, it is MANDATORY. Every beer I've brewed without it, I've wished I had added some. It really significantly improves mouthfeel and head retention, I use at least 4 oz in a 3-gallon batch, and often as much as 8 oz. It never does anything bad, and it seems to always do ...

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All good things to know. I think the hardest (or the most exciting) part of learning how to brew is waiting 3-4 weeks to find out how your 5 hours of work turned out.

Thank you for the tips.

cank said:

All good things to know. I think the hardest (or the most exciting) part of learning how to brew is waiting 3-4 weeks to find out how your 5 hours of work turned out.

Thank you for the tips.

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Yep, that's why I switched to kegging. Brew, chill, forecarb start drinking

If you've got the space run two fermenters.

I have almost the same issue. I didn't even use citrusy hops!

I noticed you used US-05 also. I wonder if that is the culprit?

It ain't the US-05, guys. That's my go-to yeast, I've used it in plenty of gluten-free beers that have turned out superb (though I like S-04 a little more for most purposes). Sorghum just naturally has kind of a citrusy/sour taste to it.

Us-05 ferments about as clean as anything else. If your fermentation temps were high that cold also produce some serious citrus flavors, especially with a full sorghum base.

Yeah, as I was looking last night through some of the recipes I noticed that US-05 was used successfully on several recent posts.

My temps were about 65-68. Is that too high for Gluten Free? I've used it at that temp for regular brews and it came out very clear.

No. Your temps shouldn't determine cloudiness too much. Give it more time to clear. I always use Irish moss or whirlfloc tabs to clear. They work great. 65-68 is fine for most. I've even used s04 around 78 and it will clear but have higher ester levels. The two additions I make to EVERY beer I make are at least 8 oz of maltodextrin to 5 gallons and Irish moss. Yet to have a beer that wouldn't clear in time.

I agree sorghum just has the twang, I say lean into it, although I admit I haven't brewed with rice syrup, was never impressed with new grist which seems to rely on it heavily.

So, I needed the keg that this was in tonight and went to dump it.
Whoa, what a change! As I poured it out I got myself a big glass. when the foam settled, it was clear and tasted less grape-fruity but still citrusy. A nice strong IPA. No twang! I even left a few sips for my wife when she got home and she liked it!

As I got to the bottom of the keg it was real cloudy and thick. Not sure how long this settling would have taken to clear the lines but I imagine a while. I probably should have racked to another smaller keg but it was too late.

Anyway, this was a success after all and if anyone wanted to try this recipe I would recommend it. I might even have to try it again but make sure I could crash until it's totally clear. I also suspect that this settling held those flavors but that is just a thought.

Mine has come around too.