Roasting non-malted GF grain?

[sumbrewindude]

So, on a whim I'm considering trying to make a GF beer just for fun. I found a local place that has reasonably priced organic GF grain, but it's not malted and in main cases de-hulled.

I've been doing some reading/research on GF mashing (AG) with a cereal mash and step mashing, but I'm used to using roasted/some crystal grain in my regular beers. I don't really want to make the commitment to order a few pounds from CMC as this is just for a trial run (I'm not GF, wife's not GF, don't know anyone that is that would share it with), can I roast the unmalted grains and expect the same results as roasting base malted GF grain?

I understand if crystal won't work, but as I'm looking to add a little color/flavor to the base grain I'm wondering if it's an acceptable path?

 

[C-Rider]

bump

 

[billl]

Not an expert by any stretch - but nobody else answered so far.

My limited experience roasting grain is that you can get some quality toasted, malt, and biscuit flavors. Think caramunich. I don't detect any of the sweet/caramel flavors you might get from crystal or even a plain base 2row. The color was different story for me. I roasted about 20% of my grains to various levels from munich through to brown but got limited color contribution. I think you have to go pretty darn dark before you get any real roasted color or flavors. Of course, I might just suck at roasting grain. But I suspect the lack of hull/husk limits the color contribution.

Another route is to buy (or make) some dark beligian style syrup. It's cheap and pretty easy to make. Up to the amber type level will give some nice caramel flavors and some color. Some medium roasted grains and some amber syrup might get you closer to what you are used to.