Deglutenizing my brew, any tips?

[brujoand]

So, I've been brewing gluten free grains for a year. And now I've tried deglutenized beer with success. So I'm ditching sorghum for clarity ferm.

Does anyone have any tips on optimizing the process? Longer in the fermenter? 2 row vs 6 row (since 2 row has less proteins)? Pitching rate of clarity ferm? Mash schedules?

Have any of you used any gluten detection kits? Any tips on which ones work best?

And yes I saw the stickied thread on clarity ferm. But that thread feels like a political rabbit hole. And I thought a new slate was needed.

 

[glutarded-chris]

You should get Homebrewtalk to open a new forum section for "gluten reduced" and go there.


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew

 

[brujoand]

You should get Homebrewtalk to open a new forum section for "gluten reduced" and go there.


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew

http://beerandwinejournal.com/tag/clarity-ferm/

If you can't use Brewers clarex then it sucks to be you. Both the US and the EU will label beer treated with it as gluten free.

But that doesn't really matter, the reason for me posting in this particular forum was to get the attention of other celiacs. Not just people with celiac friends. I will not make this mistake twice.

 

[BrewDrinkRepeat]

My girlfriend is a medium-sensitivity Celiac, and I've been using Clarity Ferm on every batch without any other special processes -- I pitch the 10mL vial when I pitch yeast, and that's pretty much that. No problems with the beer (flavor, aroma, head retention, etc.) and no problems with her intestines. Not to mention, the beer is completely normal in every other respect, no weird sorghum flavors, no trying to hide or mask the non-barley fermentables, etc.

She's also had no problems with the local breweries (such as Village Idiot and Yards) who use Clarity Ferm. Now we just need to get more (all?) breweries to start using it!

 

[Yooper]

http://beerandwinejournal.com/tag/clarity-ferm/

If you can't use Brewers clarex then it sucks to be you. Both the US and the EU will label beer treated with it as gluten free.

But that doesn't really matter, the reason for me posting in this particular forum was to get the attention of other celiacs. Not just people with celiac friends. I will not make this mistake twice.

This is a perfect place to post your question- don't worry about that!

I think most gluten-free brewers will have more knowledge about things like reducing gluten that more "traditional" brewers like me, although I'm becoming more interested myself in reducing gluten in my regular beers.

I haven't tried clarity ferm but am very interested in doing so.

 

[Osedax]

My girlfriend is a medium-sensitivity Celiac, and I've been using Clarity Ferm on every batch without any other special processes -- I pitch the 10mL vial when I pitch yeast, and that's pretty much that. No problems with the beer (flavor, aroma, head retention, etc.) and no problems with her intestines. Not to mention, the beer is completely normal in every other respect, no weird sorghum flavors, no trying to hide or mask the non-barley fermentables, etc.

She's also had no problems with the local breweries (such as Village Idiot and Yards) who use Clarity Ferm. Now we just need to get more (all?) breweries to start using it!

Actually, a lot of breweries use an enzymic clarifier. Trick is to know which ones. I haven't had any success yet. I actually talked to the head chemist at Yards about it. I can't drink Yards on a regular basis or I feel sick.

 

[BrewDrinkRepeat]

Actually, a lot of breweries use an enzymic clarifier. Trick is to know which ones. I haven't had any success yet. I actually talked to the head chemist at Yards about it. I can't drink Yards on a regular basis or I feel sick.

Interesting... I will have to talk to them again, but last time I asked I was told they were using Clarity Ferm specifically, in all of their beers (regular and seasonals). I will certainly want to make sure, as she is thinking to come with me to our homebrew club's holiday party @ Yards.

 

[Osedax]

Interesting... I will have to talk to them again, but last time I asked I was told they were using Clarity Ferm specifically, in all of their beers (regular and seasonals). I will certainly want to make sure, as she is thinking to come with me to our homebrew club's holiday party @ Yards.

Yeah, Yards is almost 2hrs away from me so I have been there many times. I live out in Harrisburg. I talked to the head chemist last year and he told me they use Clarity Ferm but, only in their year rounds. Granted, that could have changed. I wouldn't mind risking a headache to try their saison. Love Stout would be ideal though. Clarity Ferm doesn't work 100% with me but, it does reduce gluten hangovers.

 

[BrewDrinkRepeat]

Yeah, Yards is almost 2hrs away from me so I have been there many times. I live out in Harrisburg. I talked to the head chemist last year and he told me they use Clarity Ferm but, only in their year rounds. Granted, that could have changed. I wouldn't mind risking a headache to try their saison. Love Stout would be ideal though. Clarity Ferm doesn't work 100% with me but, it does reduce gluten hangovers.

I might end up there on Friday (a buddy and I are doing a Black Friday pub crawl in the city), but at worst I'll be there on 12/19 for our holiday party. I'll post back with more info when I get it!

 

[celiacsurvivor]

As someone with coeliac disease and a home brewer I stay away from the clarity ferm. I'm also a molecular biologist and follow the scientific literature on this topic closely.

Clarity ferm is an enzyme that breaks up the gliadin proteins into small chunks and as a result of this it appears that the gluten levels have been reduced when you carry out a detection test. These tests rely on the presence of certain portions of the protein that may have been chewed up by the enzyme and so are no longer present.

This is great news for people who want to call their product "gluten free". However, the problem for people with coeliac disease is that they may still be sensitive to the small chunks of the gliadin protein that remain in the beer.

This is one of those hot potato topics as many people will say just try it and see if you feel bad afterwards. However, this is another problem for people with celiac disease as not all of the harm caused in your GI tract is translated into an outward sign - like bloating or stomach aches.

If you are gluten intolerant rather than CD then this might be OK for you, but if you are giving it to someone with CD make sure you tell them that it has been de-glutinised and is not necessarily 100% gluten free.

If you read some of the comments at the link you posted, you will find more links with information on this problem. There is also the problem that hordeins (the gliadin proteins in barley) might not be able to be detected with the standard gluten detection kits that are designed for wheat protein.

http://beerandwinejournal.com/tag/clarity-ferm/

I can point you in the direction of some of the primary scientific literature and reviews if you want more information.

 

[yeahfairly]

I really know nothing about the process or how the beer tastes but I stumbled across this company a few weeks back...

http://www.grouseco.com/

 

[BrewDrinkRepeat]

As someone with coeliac disease and a home brewer I stay away from the clarity ferm. I'm also a molecular biologist and follow the scientific literature on this topic closely.

...

I can point you in the direction of some of the primary scientific literature and reviews if you want more information.

I'm not a molecular biologist (but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night!), so some of it might be over my head, but please do post anything you feel might be of interest to the gluten-free brewers! Perhaps a new thread on this topic might be best... thanks!