Noobs, Quinoa and Waiting until the last minute

Hey Guys,

I've been a lurker here for years and wanted to thank all of you for your great posts. I've learned a lot, but am about to embark on my first beer making journey which will be a gluten free one.

Although I've been reading about making beer for years I've never purchased the equipment. However, a friend with some equipment just asked if I wanted to put together a batch TONIGHT!

Anyway, I've purchased, from the local home brew store, sorghum syrup and rice solids which will be my fermentables. They recommended quinoa as a specialty grain to add some color and flavor, but I am not sure how to proceed with the quinoa.

Do I soak the quinoa first (let it balloon up as I've heard it does) and then toast it in the oven?
After toasting do you recommend I make a partial mash or just steep for a while, and if steeping how long and what temp?

Thanks in advance!

Oops, finally got the sticky at the top to work (I was clicking on the wrong link on the site exit page) so I will soak the quinoa for a couple hours then toast it.

NEXT time I will malt it to get more flavor out of it.

Seems like you are on the right track...but feel free to keep it simple on your first time out. It all seems easy till you are at the brewpot! The second time is where it starts to get easy AT the brewpot.

http://www.tedbrews.com/2008/02/quinoa-lager.html

good luck- and i don't know how well toasting it will go if its wet but i cant say i have ever done that. either way it doesn't have enzymes to convert itself fully.....should be fun though

Thanks for the help guys. I soaked the quinoa and roasted it to a nice caramel color. Love the chocolate smell that came out near the end. Smelled like I was baking brownies!

I'll steep it into the mix and hopefully get some taste and color.

you can prolly get away with using the quinoa right away if you just toasted it lightly. but i would suggest you give the quinoa a few days in a paper sack to waft out. i toasted up some quinoa and oats last weekend, with plans to brew this weekend. finals dictates brew day will start be wednesday. when you steep it, find a way to crack the grain, but dont make it into flour.