Recipe: Saison of love (GF)

I had previously posted about wanting to make a beer for a friend whose almost-wife (wedding in two weeks) has celiac disease. After looking at a lot of material and asking a lot of advice, this is the recipe I created. As of today (4/2/13) I haven't yet tasted it fully carbonated, etc., though I have had a sample after checking the gravity, and I'm very pleased with the results. That is to say I don't normally brew GF, so I'm very new to this, but I think it's good! I figured I'd post it here in case anyone wants to make something similar. (As part of my research into GF beers, I have had the Alchemist's Celia beer, and I don't remember precisely how similar this is.)

One important note: I did use WLP566, which is not technically gluten free, but instead is extremely low in slurry form (12 ppm). My understanding is that when used in beer, any gluten is sufficiently dilute that the beer that results would pass government standards for GF (< 2ppm). (See http://www.whitelabs.com/faq/beer-professional) I had planned to use Danstar's Belle Saison yeast but couldn't get any of it in time; I imagine that would be best practice.

3 GALLON BATCH RECIPE

link is here: http://hopville.com/recipe/1691863

partial mash
OG ~1.052
FG ~1.010
IBU ~33
SRM ~6

MASH:
.5 lb gluten-free oats
1 lb chestnuts
Mash with amylase at 150F for 60 minutes.

OTHER FERMENTABLES:
2 lbs Briess sorghum syrup
10 oz orange blossom honey
8 oz maltodextrin
8 oz (home made) amber candy sugar

BOIL:
This recipe uses only a 35 minute boil, since hop usage is pretty simple. From what I've read, it's also good to add many of the sugar/syrup ingredients close to the end of the boil. So:

35 mins: 1 oz Styrian Goldings pellet (4.5% AA)
10 minutes: 1/3 a whirlifloc tablet
7 minutes: add all of the "other fermentables" above
5 minutes: add zest of one Seville/sour/bitter orange, and 1 tsp crushed Indian coriander; also add yeast nutrient


FERMENTATION
As mentioned above, I used WLP566, though 565 would also work if you have time and patience and/or it's going to be hot enough for that yeast to work. I pitched the yeast with wort in the high 60s, and allowed temperature to free rise; mine hit 75F. Fermentation was very quick (566 is known for that).


I will bottle shortly; might use turbinado for priming.

 

That looks like an excellent recipe. I did not know that Danstar made a dry saison yeast; I was actually contemplating trying some White Labs just to make a saison as summer approaches, now I don't have to. Let us know how the finished beer comes out!

 

Thanks!

Yeah, they do: http://www.danstaryeast.com/products/belle-saison-yeast I would have liked to try it, but I wasn't able to get it in time for brew day. Seems like a good option though. People have had good experience with it: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/new-danstar-belle-saison-dry-yeast-359806/

I will definitely post again once I've had it in carbonated form.

 

I bought some belle Saison to t in my next batch, but I want to wait for it to get hot so I can ferment it in the hot garage. Can't wait to try it. I also just brewed a pale ale using Mosaics hops, and it smells amazing! Igliashon, I haven't forgotten you, we just had some issues with the family so it's on the burner. Waiting for this pale to finish up.

 

The thing about most saison yeasts is that even though they CAN get very hot, they don't HAVE to get very hot to produce good results. I'm pretty pleased with the level of funk that the 566 threw just from pitching at 68 and letting it rise to 75F. The flavors and aromas are noticeable, with a bubblegum taste on the finish, and some vaguely "wild" character--but not overwhelming. So unless you have another batch you're working on, I say go ahead and make a saison now. You can save the yeast to repitch as the temperature keeps rising, of course. Remember that a vigorous fermentation will up the temperature over ambient by a fair amount.

 

I still have pkg of the belle-saison yeast waiting to be used, but I was pleased enough with my last beer (3 gallon batch/3lbs of sorghum, 2lbs popcorn + enzymes) that I'd like to repeat it. Keep us posted on how your saison turns out. I haven't decided on a recipe for the saison yet.

 

Looks great to my limited experienced eyes!

One question for you all though: Dont you need to have something in the boil along with the hops right from the beginning, otherwise you wont get much hop utilization?

My understanding was that the hops needed something in there to help actually extract the oils (forget what that process is called). Which is why with regular extract beers (which also recommend adding most fermantables at the end) you still have to add some (+/- a third) at the start of the boil.

 

Ah, I don't know. This beer does have the sugar and whatever else from the oats + chestnuts in there from the mini-mash step; In my 3-gallon batch, I think I wound up with a gravity of about 1.015 from just those. And actually, when I made this, I added the maltodextrin right away, and then candy sugar pretty early in the boil too, because that's when I was ready with it. Anyway, I guess I may have to read up on when to use the extracts.

 

Oh damnit. I totally forgot about your mini mash step when I wrote that question. That would have given you enough to get at the hops, I'm just scatter brained obviously.

 

As an update, I tried this beer two days ago. Wow! I'm very pleased. So is the intended recipient, who wrote me an effusive email. I myself am not gluten-intolerant, so I'm not totally familiar with the landscape of GF beers. But this one really came out tasting like a saison. The citrus came through just the right amount, as did the yeast notes (I fermented in the low 70s).

The beer also got rave reviews from its intended recipient--she said she likes full-flavored beers but has had a hard time finding them since she found out she couldn't tolerate gluten.

I think if I did it again I'd make the candi sugar slightly lighter in color (there was a slight caramel note, especially on the finish, that didn't totally mesh). But otherwise, I recommend it!

 

edit: whoops! double post.

 

Thinking about making another batch of this. My boss believes (though I think erroneously, since he eats bread without trouble) that the gluten in beer is causing him problems. I'm probably going to use panela/piloncillo instead of the homemade sugar, but otherwise will follow this recipe again.

 

It seems actually almost everyone is allergic to gluten in one way or the other.

To test your tolerance, go completely gluten free for a week or two, then consume gluten again and see how you feel after a few days. I notice when I stop consuming gluten my sinuses are noticeably better, and I don't wake up with sore joints and swollen achy feet.

Something like 90 percent of the population likely has gluten allergies, but so many people consume it without ever stopping they wouldn't know the difference. That being the case, I would like to explore this option of making a GF beer, and save the real stuff for special occasions.

 

I am looking to make a GF beer and this recipe looks like a good place to start, especially with the rising temperatures in my brewhouse.

My question for motorneuron, what was your grist ratio for the chestnut mash? Did you sparge at all?

I'm thinking of upping this to a 10 gallon recipe and would like to have my volumes in order.

thanks

 

Or you could just continue to consume gluten until you have a test done by a doctor as you should do. If you stop consuming it before the test, it cannot be clear one way or the other. Then once you have had a test done and been confirmed Coeliac, then stop consuming it altogether. Otherwise you run the risk of delightful stuff such as bowel cancer.

 

^^This, please.
If you're going to "test" yourself, get it done professionally, under the direction of a medical professional.

The test looks for signs that your immune system is reacting to the proteins. If you're not consuming gluten, you won't have the antibodies and the test is worthless. You can't expect to test yourself because it's an automatic conflict of interest.

Even after a happy accident led me to suspect that I had issues with wheat (I ran out of bread and lived on leafy greens and meat for a month, and my gut and asthma problems resolved), I still had to go to a doctor to confirm, and it was a long process to weed out the compounds I was reacting to.

I see Gluten Free growing into a religion like fat free. Gives me shivers.

 

Hey, great! Yeah, I was very pleased with this recipe (my first GF attempt, though!).

I don't remember exactly what the mash ratio was now. I think I went pretty thin--about 1 or 1.5 gallons for the 1 pound of chestnuts and half pound of oats--because the oats get very thick and goopy. I didn't properly sparge this batch, either (I didn't want to use my mash tun, because I was afraid of contaminating the beer with gluten), so I just passed the mash through a strainer twice, and poured hot water over the grist. Obviously a real setup, or even brew in a bag, would probably yield better efficiency.

But I guess one nice thing about the recipe is, since it's only a partial mash, you can basically use however much volume you want to get very high efficiency from the chestnuts+oats.

Last thing, I would recommend using a semi-refined sugar (panela/piloncillo, jaggery, turbinado, etc.) rather than candi sugar. I found the caramel notes not at home in this beer.

 

There is a difference between being mildly allergic to something and having celiac. Most people are allergic to gluten, most people do not have celiac.

 

Most people are following a fad and experiencing a strong placebo effect;
Many are improving their quality of life by avoiding wheat and replacing it with more nutritious foods like fresh vegetables and nuts.
Some have an allergy to gluten, as evidenced by blood test results showing a reaction.
Few have that allergy manifested as celiac.

Motorneuron,

It's awesome that you brewed up something your friends like. If your boss likes it too, all the better. And tell him to enjoy a sammich for me

 

See, it really annoys me when people use it as a fad. Mostly thanks to these worthless 'celebrities'. After 27 years of having Coeliac, I still feel embarrassed by it. I live in a country where it is more acceptable to choose not to eat something, rather than those people who CAN'T eat something. I would still rather find something in a restaurant that I know will be gluten free, rather than 'pestering' somebody.

But when I see the same people from school who basically bullied me about it now saying they are "going gluten free" and asking for advice, now that really annoys me. Mostly doing it for 'weight loss'. I can tell you now, it doesn't not help you to lose weight. I have no problem with doing stuff because they want to, but I am tired of being made to feel like an outcast or because I am doing it as a fad.

 

Yup, I feel the same way. You can actually lose a lot of weight with it. Cuts carbs way down. Gluten is also an inflammatory.

Most people with headaches, joint pain, and digestive issues can benefit greatly from a gluten free diet. However, everyone on here knows how hard it is to do.

 

Get off your high horses children. More people wanting gluten free stuff means more availability and better restaurant options for coeliacs.

I get really sick and tired of sufferers bitching and moaning about the fad. Honestly it makes you sound like you are upset because you are no longer 'special'.

OP, really glad your beer turned out well, I'll be giving your recipe a try in the near future.

 

Well, thanks for the productive and not at all patronising comment, there. Much appreciated.

We were more referring to the fact that we get classed the same as the people with the fad. So much so that people don't actually realise it is a real condition, and believe you can still eat gluten as you are "just doing it to lose weight".

 

My high horse only eats certified gluten free oats. She is worth it.

 

On the contrary, I'm pissed off that I'm not normal. As for more gluten free "options", I have to wade through even more crap with the nutritional content of styrofoam to get something worth eating. I am served contaminated food at restaurants because waitstaff assumes I'm just "on a diet" when I say I'm allergic to wheat.

The fad dieting has marginalized the disease.

 

Seconded.