Not Just Gluten Free - Need Help With A Recipe

[HighD]

Hello,

I have been here for some time trying to figure out how to make my first beer. Sadly I found out I now have a barley allergy. My airways start to swell and anything I consume with it my body will try to purge immediately. My wine and beer supply place told me to give up on making beer. I still think it is possible. My husband gets calcium oxalate kidney stones so that is also a problem with barley and other alternative grains. Sorghum, malted sorghum, and white rice are the only things we have to work with to my knowledge. I know I can toast the white rice to change flavors. We are limited in herbs/spices and I would have to experiment. I read that in Africa they make sorghum beer so I was hoping somewhere there would be a recipe that isn't too complicated. If I can get a base recipe to make my first beer I would greatly appreciate it. Is there hope?

 

[glutarded-chris]

Lots of info on this forum. Extract brewing is certainly possible but very limited for gluten free. Most of us that begin in this end up very quickly in all grain which is a more involved process. My recommendation would be to first procure some commercially available GF beers to gauge what will be remotely acceptable for you. If you are in Kennerdell, PA you may have more options available to you but I would sample Redbridge and Glutenberg (multiple offerings, but at least the pale ale and IPA).
You can brew better GF beers than either of these but they give you a good idea of where you will end up. If you spit out Redbridge and absolutely hate it, then you might want to go straight for all grain. Glutenberg is closer to what you will get from all grain but you will still do better.
If you have never brewed before and can tolerate Redbridge, then I would get a basic bewing and bottling system kit with a better bottle and maybe one of the basic ale kits. Brew it and start to get comfortable with the process.

It has been a long time since I have done sorghum extract brewing, but one of the best sorghum brews I did was a Brewer's Best Ale kit. That batch taught me a lot about the importance of maltodextrin and secondary sugars in sorghum extract brewing.

 

[madscientist451]

Brooklyn Brew Shop beer making book has 4 gluten free recipes (out of 52 total). Some of the ingredients used are carrots, rice, quinoa, buckwheat, pumpkin, and sugar. Recently a facebook group I'm on had a "beer-mead" with no barley at all, it used Avocado honey, coffee and chicory to make a mead taste like a porter beer. So yes, you can make gluten-free beer or beverages that are similar to beer at home, it will just take some time and patience to work out how to do it. Note that cider is also gluten free.

Here's an older podcast where gluten free brewing is discussed:
https://hwcdn.libsyn.com/p/1/a/8/1a...13618977&hwt=85b203925d5e563f0deda4eb0b1b496a

 

[HighD]

Thanks! I will look into all of these things. I have the equipment needed just need to figure out the recipe and do it!

 

[beekgeek]

Next online meeting of the Zero Tolerance GF group will be on the topic of planning & troubleshooting. May be an opportunity to talk through your recipe and questions with other gluten free brewers (you don't need to be a member of the Facebook group to join these Zoom calls). More details here: Planning & Troubleshooting