Gluten Free Newcastle Brown Ale Clone

[delcosansgluten]

Hi All,

Yesterday (12/26/2019) I had my first brew day with the Brewers Edge Mash and Boil. The unit has raised my beer brewing game - now I just need to iron out some inefficiencies with my process.

As a big fan of GFHB.com, I used this recipe:

https://www.glutenfreehomebrewing.com/recipes/showrecipe.php?recipeid=208

One thing that was not clear to me was the mash instructions. I chose to do a single infusion mash using a mash tun (not BIAB) and it was not clear to me if I should or should not use enzymes. I ended up not using enzymes based on how I interpreted the mash instructions. Pasted below:

Mash
Mash Tun Instructions: Perform a Single Infusion Mash at 163.4 F for 90 to 120 minutes; or Step Mash at 155-165F for 90 to 120 minutes followed by 140-150F for 90 to 120 minutes with SEBAmyl BAL 100 or Termamyl, and SEBAmyl L enzymes. Use the appropriate amount of rice hulls to ensure circulation and filtration.

Aside from not hitting the OG, having the M&B simplified things, kept my kitchen clean and will be the centerpiece of my basement brewery for years to come. I will update this thread as I move through the brew. Here is some picks of the grains, post sparge and wort as it warmed to a boil.

 

[skleice]

You definitely need the enzymes. He listed Sebamyl Bal 100 & Sebamyl L in the recipe.

What did you hit for OG?
What temps did you mash at?

Congrats on the new rig! I use a grainfather and it makes things very easy!

 

[JMath]

Great pictures!

 

[delcosansgluten]

Here is a shot of wort which drained from the grain basket overnight.

 

[delcosansgluten]

@skleice My OG was 1.040 unfortunately. The mash temp on the unit oscillated between 155 - 163 for 90 mins. I am going to add an insulator so hopefully it will reduce the oscillating temps.

I should also call out that I did the full 16 pound grain bill. Next time I will use a grain bill for a 4lbs batch size. Mixing the mash was like mixing sand.

 

[skleice]

@skleice My OG was 1.040 unfortunately. The mash temp on the unit oscillated between 155 - 163 for 90 mins. I am going to add an insulator so hopefully it will reduce the oscillating temps.

I should also call out that I did the full 16 pound grain bill. Next time I will use a grain bill for a 4lbs batch size. Mixing the mash was like mixing sand.

You'll get it dialed in as you go. I generally add 1-2 qt of water over what grainfather recommends for the mash. Making sure you have rice malt or hills will definitely help too.

The enzymes will get you better efficiency. You need them to break down the gf grains and release those sugars. Most people get best reults with adding Termamyl at 170-180 for 15-20 minutes and then drop to 150's and add Sebamyl L (or other enymes) for 60-90 min.

 

[delcosansgluten]

You'll get it dialed in as you go. I generally add 1-2 qt of water over what grainfather recommends for the mash. Making sure you have rice malt or hills will definitely help too.

The enzymes will get you better efficiency. You need them to break down the gf grains and release those sugars. Most people get best reults with adding Termamyl at 170-180 for 15-20 minutes and then drop to 150's and add Sebamyl L (or other enymes) for 60-90 min.

I am fermenting in the mash and boil but am already stoked for the next brew.

 

[delcosansgluten]

Bottling day. Happy with the color and smell, really bummed about missing the OG. As such I ended up with a FG of 1.021which also missed the target of 1.013. I have to assume that missing the OG is what caused me to miss the FG?

 

[skleice]

I think it just comes down to not using the enzymes. Missed the OG because you didn't get the sugars from the grains. Missed the FG because you didn't get a fermentable wort.

 

[delcosansgluten]

Cracked open the first brown ale last night. It bottle conditioned in my 70 degree basement for two weeks. Very pleased with how everything turned out with the exception being its 2.5% alcohol lmao. Nevertheless, it is a brown ale I that I will brew again and recommend for folks here. Very nice nutty, toasty flavor.

 

[delcosansgluten]

Liked this one so much I decided to do it again. This time I properly used the Termamyl & SEBAmyl L enzymes properly. Some miscellaneous photos of brew day. Work but fun at the same time. Cheers!

 

[delcosansgluten]

Cracked open the first two bottles and I’m very pleased with this batch.

 

[delcosansgluten]

Now that it is chilly enough for ales to ferment in my basement, I wanted to kick off ale season with the most tried, trusted and true recipe I brewed over the years. This marks my third or fourth time brewing this one and I'm hype to bottle it. I didn't want to open a 5lbs bag of munich millet so this time i omitted the millet and substituted pale millet.

This time I wanted to try and make a proper yeast starter so, without being able to use DME, I took some of the extra sparge/wort (pic 4) and boiled it, cooled it (pic5) before adding the M36 yeast. Next time, I will do this plus add yeast nutrient to it.