First Time Gluten Free Brew

[DKershner]

Hey Guys,

I was just asked a question by gmason4. He asked me what a good first time brew would be. After identifying his tastes for an amber, I pointed him towards my and David's pale ales, cause it is somewhat similar in taste and the recipes are pretty easy.

Beginner Recipes:
http://brew.dkershner.com/2009/gf-haus-ale/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f164/gf-pale-ale-148976/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f164/first-time-gluten-free-brew-159868/index2.html#post1846713

Does anyone have any similar or better suggestions for a newcomer? I remember getting a recipe from BYO, and it was terrible, so hopefully this will help the newcomers make something that tastes somewhat similar to beer.

Where to find the hard to find ingredients:
Brown Rice Extract: Whole Foods, Amazon

 

[IrregularPulse]

I have a gluten free friend. It'd be nice when I make beer for a music festival this year if I could make a gluten free one so she'd be able to drink it, but not if it would taste like there was obviously something "special" about it.
Do most Gluten free beers taste "gluten free"?

 

[DKershner]

I have a gluten free friend. It'd be nice when I make beer for a music festival this year if I could make a gluten free one so she'd be able to drink it, but not if it would taste like there was obviously something "special" about it.
Do most Gluten free beers taste "gluten free"?

Yes. That is the short answer.

Look around this forum and you will see we are getting closer to making GF beer that tastes like normal barley beer, but as of yet I am unsure there is a way without very expensive or complicated procedures. The taste you are describing is 'Sorghum'. You will see the word come up a lot, and sometimes notes will say the taste has faded nearly completely or completely. Realize that these are personal tastes though, and depending on the person they may taste it or not. Most people describe the taste as 'bitter' or 'citrusy'.

This process is very much in its infancy.

Note: Sorghum ages out well.

 

[IrregularPulse]

There is one sorghum beer at the grocery, Maybe I'll pick up the 6'er and try it out.

 

[DKershner]

There is one sorghum beer at the grocery, Maybe I'll pick up the 6'er and try it out.

It's probably Redbridge from Budweiser. You should be able to make something that is at least that good.

 

[gmason4]

Thanks dkershner for starting this thread. I am the guy he references. My buddy was asking me about a steeping of the grains step. Being an absolute beginner i had no idea what he was talking about and i did not see this step mentioned in your recipe.

Is this skipped due to it being a GF brew? Or am i missing something.

Thanks guys.

 

[DKershner]

Thanks dkershner for starting this thread. I am the guy he references. My buddy was asking me about a steeping of the grains step. Being an absolute beginner i had no idea what he was talking about and i did not see this step mentioned in your recipe.

Is this skipped due to it being a GF brew? Or am i missing something.

Thanks guys.

Beginning recipes, both gluten-having and gluten-free, skip this step.

The step is relatively easy for barley beers, but much more difficult for gluten-free ones. You usually have to malt or toast your own grain, which is MOST DEFINITELY not something you want to tackle on your first brew.

Here's what John has to say about it: http://www.howtobrew.com/section2/chapter13.html

 

[midfielder5]

it is not difficult-- and well worth it to toast malt at home [i am not talking about malting it].

But the one downside is time. You should wait 2 to 3 weeks for the home toasted malt to sit in a paper bag.
and if it is your first attempt, you are probably itching to do it. This is the only reason i can think of why you wouldn't buy some whole buckwheat at a health food store and toast it at home; for a steeping grain.


http://www.howtobrew.com/section4/chapter20-4.html

For me the sorghum has a crummy taste that i wouldn't want to drink it straight as extract. Steeping grains will add complexity & color (if you toast it dark) and make it taste better.
my two cents.

 

[DKershner]

it is not difficult-- and well worth it to toast malt at home [i am not talking about malting it.

But the one downside is time. You should wait 2 to 3 weeks for the home toasted malt to sit in a paper bag.
and if it is your first attempt, you are probably itching to do it. This is the only reason i can think of why you wouldn't buy some whole buckwheat at a health food store and toast it at home; for a steeping grain.


http://www.howtobrew.com/section4/chapter20-4.html

Agreed that it isn't actually difficult, but the process is a rather extended one for a new brewer. Feel free to read about it though for the future, midfielder is dead on.

For me the sorghum has a crummy taste that i wouldn't want to drink it straight as extract. Steeping grains will add complexity & color (if you toast it dark) and make it taste better.
my two cents.

Agreed. But that's what the hops and sugars are for in the above recipes!

 

[midfielder5]

hmmm... I'm not sure sugars do a very good job to mask sorghum. Sugars ferment out and are used to lighten the beer, dry it out and increase ABV. (see, belgian beer for example).
I do agree on the hops. i always add a s#&%t load

 

[DKershner]

hmmm... I'm not sure sugars do a very good job to mask sorghum. Sugars ferment out and are used to lighten the beer, dry it out and increase ABV. (see, belgian beer for example).
I do agree on the hops. i always add a s#&%t load

I have had good luck with getting some brown rice extract to hide it fairly well. And then using malto-dextrin to un-dry the beer.

Basically you are just using sorghum as LESS of the fermentables and stealing the enzymes from the sorghum to ferment the other sugars. So it's not covering the taste like buckwheat or hops, but never introducing it to begin with.

ON topic: Anyone have anymore good beginner recipes??

 

[midfielder5]

Basically you are just using sorghum as LESS of the fermentables and stealing the enzymes from the sorghum to ferment the other sugars.

that is a good example! thanks.

 

[Lcasanova]

I have had good luck with getting some brown rice extract to hide it fairly well. And then using malto-dextrin to un-dry the beer.

Basically you are just using sorghum as LESS of the fermentables and stealing the enzymes from the sorghum to ferment the other sugars. So it's not covering the taste like buckwheat or hops, but never introducing it to begin with.

ON topic: Anyone have anymore good beginner recipes??

I plan on trying to use 100% brown rice extract in a beer this summer to see how it compares to the others I've made thus far. I always use maltodextrin in my brews, but I didn't use it on my brown ale and it turned out fine.

For a beginner recipe...well- my first beer (after a crappy 1 gallon test brew) was the Brown Ale in my drop down. It has a lot of ingredients but it's pretty easy. I documented it in this thread here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f164/gluten-free-american-brown-ale-140888/ shameless plug

I think spice beers turn out well with gluten free beers...

 

[aggieotis]

I have had good luck with getting some brown rice extract to hide it fairly well. And then using malto-dextrin to un-dry the beer.

Every batch of GF beer I've done doing exactly that has been a great one. Every batch of GF beer I've not done that with has had some issues. A ration of 5 or 6 to 1 of Sorghum to Rice has proved to be the sweet spot for good beer.

ON topic: Anyone have anymore good beginner recipes??

Here's one I really like, super easy & delicious. It's the simplest recipe I know that will still produce a great beer, it's similar in taste to Mirror Pond Pale Ale by Deschutes:

Fermentables:

• 6 lbs Sorghum Liquid Malt Extract
• 1 to 1.5 lbs (1 jar) Brown Rice Extract (I found it near the molasses in the grocery store)
• 8 oz of maltodextrin powder

Boil water, turn off heat, add all extracts & powders, disolve completely, bring to boil again and start hops schedule.

Hops Schedule:

• 60 min - 1 oz Cenntenial
• 15 min - 0.5 oz Cascades
• 0 min - 0.5 oz Cascades

Yeast:

• White Labs WLP001 - will have about 2ppm of Gluten, safe enough for my wife, but not for every celiac)
• Can use SafeAle - 05 yeast. Not as good of a flavor profile, but will be 100% gluten free
• Also, since GF beer is low in FAN you will want to get some GF yeast nutrient such as di-ammonium phosphate.

Batch size 5.25 gal

OG ~ 1.054
FG ~ 1.013

Can leave only in primary if you want, since extract will produce little to no sediment. Wait 2 weeks or until FG is appropriate, then bottle or keg.

Really produces an excellent and clear beer.

 

[DKershner]

I added yours aggieotis, it is very similar to mine, but a good addition nonetheless.

I think you started out a little more advanced than most of us casanova, I would like to keep these first timer recipes grain roasting free for now...if we can't come up with much maybe we can add em in.

 

[DKershner]

I think spice beers turn out well with gluten free beers...

I think you are right, I have a nice pumpkin beer, but mashing a pumpkin might be a little too advanced for a first timer.

I wondering how your brown rice extract beer will turn out...I think you will really need the maltodextrin as the extract is very fermentable. Also, not to discourage you, but I think it qualifies as hooch unless you get some sort of grain in there...I would be interested to see how it turns out. You can always add maltodextrin later.

 

[anemic]

I have a lager recipe which calls for 12.5 weeks and an ale which calls for 1.5 weeks. They don't say anything about racking into secondary. What would you recommend? please & thank you

 

[aggieotis]

I have a lager recipe which calls for 12.5 weeks and an ale which calls for 1.5 weeks. They don't say anything about racking into secondary. What would you recommend? please & thank you

If your FG is down near where you want it then feel free to transfer to a secondary for lagering. Check out the opinion of somebody smarter though like John Palmer over at How to Brew (www.howtobrew.com)

 

[DKershner]

ale which calls for 1.5 weeks.

The ale can go right into the keg or bottles, but I would wait 3 weeks, not 1.5, just to be safe.

 

[DKershner]

I added a 'where to find' section the to OP. I remember not having fun finding that brown rice extract. Let me know if you guys have other places or other ingredients that should be on there.

 

[anemic]

thanks otis. I don't see where JP differentiates for sorghum. I would like to clarify that I would expect to rack a normal fermentation using barley based LME's and my question is actually: do we do things the same as far as racking, when we use sorghum, because the directions dont mention it (on the breiss recipes)

 

[aggieotis]

thanks otis. I don't see where JP differentiates for sorghum. I would like to clarify that I would expect to rack a normal fermentation using barley based LME's and my question is actually: do we do things the same as far as racking, when we use sorghum, because the directions dont mention it (on the breiss recipes)

In practice the use of Sorghum LME is identical to that of Barley/Wheat LME.

The only difference (besides some taste) is that Sorghum is GF, whereas the others aren't.

One final difference. Sorghum LME has slightly lower levels of FAN, so you will want to add some yeast nutrients to help those yeasties going strong.

 

[anemic]

so as a standard practice with every sorghum brew, one might add 5 to 8 oz maltodextrin for body and 1# of rice extract, to assure success?

 

[aggieotis]

That's what I do and it's been very successful in helping to make a beer with proper body and a good balanced flavor.

 

[DKershner]

so as a standard practice with every sorghum brew, one might add 5 to 8 oz maltodextrin for body and 1# of rice extract, to assure success?

Those two are simple ways to fill in some gaps that cause differences between barley and GF beers.

GF beers typically are drier than the barley counterpart, so maltodextrin helps with that.

Sorghum tastes funny, so rice extract helps with that.

There are probably better ways to combat these, but this is a good place to start.

 

[midfielder5]

this is a good thread. keep 'em coming. *prosted*

 

[rflinn68]

I have my first gluten free beer in the fermenter for a friend of mine. I used this simple recipe I found online from BYO http://byo.com/component/resource/article/1401-simple-simon-gluten-free Instead of using 6lbs 11oz of sorghum I used 6lbs and added 11oz of extra honey. The OG was a bit higher @ 1.055. It doesnt say how long to leave in primary or to do a secondary. I will be bottling this and want to make sure I have yeast left to carbonate. Any ideas or suggestions?

 

[anemic]

rflinn
post#1 in this thread says the BYO recipe turned out terrible so you may consider adding maltodex, rice extract & dry hop it at secondary

 

[rflinn68]

rflinn
post#1 in this thread says the BYO recipe turned out terrible so you may consider adding maltodex, rice extract & dry hop it at secondary

how much of each? I have 1/2oz of the tettnang left. Would rice syrup solids be good to add at secondary?

 

[DKershner]

how much of each? I have 1/2oz of the tettnang left. Would rice syrup solids be good to add at secondary?

Don't add the rice extract that late in the game, will only screw things up and increase chance for infection.

At this point, I would take what comes of the beer, but I did not have a good experience with that recipe. Age it a LONG time and it could be ok.