DFH's Blood Orange Hefe- Gluten Free Style

[Noontime]

Yeast flavors are the first to go, followed by hop flavor, followed by malt flavor, followed by bitterness (basically never goes away).
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I'm not sure I agree about the bitterness...I've had a few beers I've made that have mellowed out in all respects over time, including the bitterness. Maybe it depends on the hops? But these were 6 months to over 2 years old (ones I put away to see how they age). I think the analogy to food is a fantastic one; a good chili is always better after a few days. I would imagine alot of the same things are happening...not only are things braking down and integrating, but then those things are connecting up with other things to make completely different flavor compounds over time.

I haven't brewed a beer in a while (focusing on wine these days), but the next time I do a GF beer I'm going to go a little overboard on the hops and try and compensate for the mellowing effect, but let it age a while to get the integration, smoothness, and complexity.

Good luck with the GF beers doodlebug! I didn't have much success with darker "malty" beers, but made some fantastic IPAs, hefes, belgians, and hoppy citrusy concoctions.

 

[Riddei]

Doodlebug, I know what you mean in attenuation. Mine did the same thing. It tasted great, and even better after it sat in the bottle for an extra week after carbing. There was a slightly warm feeling from the alcohol, but it wasn't that big a deal. My wife was excited to have a good beer to drink. Did you actually use blood oranges? I ended up using navel and I would happily do it again. Also I have Seemingly great head retention for a gf brew

Up next is an easy recipe. Honey, sorghum and one ounce of cascade.

 

[Vance71975]

Here's the deal- I like to take some recipes I've read about that sound tasty and modify them so that they are celiac friendly...I've no idea how this will turn out but here's the recipe as it stands. Im brewing this next Saturday (April 10, 2010)...any recipe changes are welcome, but here it is. This is for 5.5 gallons


Ingredients:
------------

6 lbs Sorghum Syrup (60 min)
1 lb Dextrose (60 min)

.50 oz Hallertauer, pellet 4.8% (60 min)
.50 oz Saaz, pellet 4% (20 min)
.50 oz Saaz, pellet 4% (10 min)

4 blood oranges, preparation: Peel oranges and separate sections of fruit. Discard half of the peels. Cut fruit into small pieces. Grate the peel and save the rind only! Heat fruit and peels in 1/2 gallon water to 160-F and then turn off heat. Let it steep as it cools. Pour into fermenter when cooled.

I'll be using T-58 and doing a partial boil.

4 day primary 7 day secondary, carb with 4.2 oz of corn sugar.

This is my last brew until I move into my own place. I'll be living with SWMBO and her family until I find a place to buy. Not sure how they feel about my drinking and whatnot but I guess I'll find out

Anyways, here's the recipe as it stands, if it turns out good I'll post it in the recipe section as well.

Only change i would make is double up or more on the oranges.

 

[doodlebug]

Doodlebug, I know what you mean in attenuation. Mine did the same thing. It tasted great, and even better after it sat in the bottle for an extra week after carbing. There was a slightly warm feeling from the alcohol, but it wasn't that big a deal. My wife was excited to have a good beer to drink. Did you actually use blood oranges? I ended up using navel and I would happily do it again. Also I have Seemingly great head retention for a gf brew

Up next is an easy recipe. Honey, sorghum and one ounce of cascade.

Blood orange season is apparently more towards March/April, so I used some other sweet orange. Probably going to bottle on Saturday and I'll report back in a few weeks! Thanks guys :rockin:

 

[DKershner]

I'm not sure I agree about the bitterness...I've had a few beers I've made that have mellowed out in all respects over time, including the bitterness.

Yeah, what I really meant was that it never goes away entirely. A hefeweizen after 2 months? What banana flavor? An IIPA after 3 months? What hop flavor? Literally gone. Bitterness mellows by maybe...10-20% over the course of 2 years? Quite the difference.

 

[DKershner]

I haven't brewed a beer in a while (focusing on wine these days), but the next time I do a GF beer I'm going to go a little overboard on the hops and try and compensate for the mellowing effect, but let it age a while to get the integration, smoothness, and complexity.

Hop aroma is the first to go, remember, then the flavor. I generally compensate for the aroma by dry hopping after aging. As in, let it sit 6 months and THEN dry hop for a week.

Just a thought, overcompensating on hop flavor is a good call too.