Belgian Strong Gluten Free

[manoaction]

Friends, Americans, Obsessive Homebrewers lend me your ears...

I am posting to give you a truly fantastic GF beer.

I am not celiac, gluten intolerant, vegetarian, paleo diet or whatever. I'm a child of the 20th century that loves beer and beef. I grew up on a cattle ranch, I'm a homebrewer for my hobby, and I'm a gun lobbyist by trade.

My mother in law, however, is gluten free and my wife has a touch of the hippie to her. I don't hold this against them whatsoever.

To that end, I've brewed a gluten free beer that I find delectable, and they enjoy as well.

My fundamental concept was that sorghum doesn't taste that great. So a malt dominated style was out of the question. Hop bombs already were everywhere, so I came to the conclusion that a yeast and spice dominated flavor was the only road for a red-blooded American to take.

With that in mind, I give you this beer.

The flavor is of ginger, yeast and, after a month, a lot of banana. The head looks great in the beginning, but it fades pretty quick.

Gentle readers, I want you to know that I love this beer as I love few beers. It's tangy, yeasty, and tasty in ways that I wasn't expecting. After gelatin and a month in conditioning, it's as clear as a bell, and the flavor keeps mutating and evolving along into something better each day.

Here's my recipe.

  4lb Tapioca Syrup
  2lb Sorgum Syrup
  1/2lb Beet Sugar (Cane will work too, but if you're in the West, beet is generally more common)
  1/2lb Candi Sugar

  1 oz Styrian Goldings (60 minutes) 15.6 IBU  
  2 oz Saaz (15 Minutes) 12.9 IBU
  
  Wyeast Belgian Saison Yeast (Critical to Flavor)
 
  10 minutes to flameout add

  8g Coriander, 3g Fresh Ginger, and 2.5g Grains of Paradise

  Cool to 70, pitch yeast, then warm to high 80s.  I went all the way to 90 with this in August.

As I said, the flavor changes over time, but at a month it is a clean yeasty flavor with banana, coriander, and ginger. If you like Belgians, this beer is great.

 

[DKershner]

I haven't used the belgian saison myself, just the beasty french. But I could absolutely see Saison being a great style for GF.

 

[DougmanXL]

Is that yeast gluten free? If not, can I substitute Safale S-33? Or is there a way to reduce the gluten without killing it?

 

[DKershner]

Is that yeast gluten free? If not, can I substitute Safale S-33? Or is there a way to reduce the gluten without killing it?

While not completely gluten free, it is under the guidelines to be called gluten free. Just make sure not to smash the nutrient pack open.

S33 would not even be close.

 

[manoaction]

I bottled this in two different phases, and I would recommend letting it sit longer in the fermenter before cooling and carbing. You get more of that mellow banana taste to it.

I have to say rather arrogantly that this really is a great tasting gluten free beer. After discovering that they made gluten free beers I like trying them out (I'm not celiac myself), and this one has least amount of odd tang without being a hop bomb.

I think the secret is the tapioca. It has a really mild honey flavor that goes well with the banana.

 

[andrewdell19]

where do you get the tapioca syrup?