Simply Celiac Recipe

[Riddei]

Ok, so I wanted to throw my wife into the world of hoppy beers:rockin:
I figured I would ease her into it with a GF Pale ale. I welcome any critiques or changes. I am also hoping to do this for the least amount of $ as I am going to try and brew this every month and have it as a house brew and hopefully perfect my techniques and learn by repetition.

Simply Celiac
6# White Sorghum Syrup
1# Corn Sugar
1# Honey (I may try and "burn" the honey to darken it up a bit)

.5oz horizon 60m
.5oz horizon 45m
1.00oz Cascade flameout

I'll ferment for 2 weeks@ 68 with nottingham
prime with 4.75oz of cornsugar

IBU: 37 SRM 4(wanted to have it around 6 or 7)
OG 1.055 FG1.014 ABV 5.5%

Well, rip on it or praise it or be indifferent. I'm here to learn
Cheers

 

[Gengis]

Hi Riddei,
Are you not using any grain at all, just to add taste? I'm no expert, but your recipe sounds more like a nice hopped mead rather than beer. Plus, instead of 'burning' your honey, why not add a bit of toasted gluten free grain for color and taste (i.e. flaked oats, quinoa, amaranth, millet, etc.)? (Flaked oats are less expensive than honey, so than shouldn't be a concern)

Cheers

 

[Riddei]

Oats are actually out of the question. My wife can't eat them without experiencing symptoms similar to when she consumes gluten. Yes, even the gf stuff from Bobs Red Mill. I could probably toast the quinoa an then steep it. Does that provide flavor or any sugars, or just color? I've seen quite a few recipes that are just the sorghum and sugar for the wort

 

[KevinM]

There will be taste, it won't be like a mead, because the sorghum syrup will be like malt extract. True that other grains could help with flavor, but without mashing, it'll add starch too.

Looks decent to me. You can potentially think of exchanging the dextrose with rice syrup.

 

[Riddei]

I have 10# of dextrose in my pantry, I will definitely think on that before ordering and play with the recipe some.

What do you suppose the mouthfeel on this would be, dextrose vs rice syrup?

 

[DKershner]

I have a bunch of thoughts, ill just list em.

- You have 2 bittering additions. Just add whatever you want to bitter with at 60 and be done with it. I would also suggest targeting closer to the teens or twenties for a new hop drinker, not 37.
- You need a hop flavor addition (20-5min). Cascade would work great for this.
- Aroma hop looks good.
- Grain complicates things to a great degree, I would not recommend it in a hop-forward beer for someone starting out.
- I like the use of honey. Cook it a bit if you like, but realize that the longer you cook it, the less fermentable it will be. This might be OK depending on your answer to:
- Corn sugar will dry out the beer more than brown rice syrup. Brown rice syrup also adds a very slight pineapple flavor.

 

[Gengis]

I find brown rice syrup gives a faint 'boiled grain' and mild butterscotch taste, and a more persistent mouthfeel than dextrose. Brown rice syrup has a little bit of non-fermentables that will contribute to the body of your beer. Though, I don't know if you are looking for a crisp clear and watery beer...

 

[Riddei]

A half ounce of horizon at 60 an then a half ounce of cascade at twenty minutes should put me mid twentyish IBU. I'll have to check my notes on the orange hefe to see what that was. My wife really likes that one. Though the age is starting to show through. The sorghum tang came back. I digress

I have a nice bag of xanthan gum I use to make pizza crust. Would adding that to the boil increase body? I'll be working on my simple recipe tomorrow during lunch and I'll post the revision. Thanks for all the input guys

Another off topic question. Normally you dont want to ferment five gallons in a five gallon Carboy, but noticed and have read that gf brews don't produce a significant krausen, if that's the case I wouldn't need a blow off tube, just an airlock. Any experiences with this.

 

[spaced]

I wouldn't ad xantham gum, no idea what it would do.

Just use maltodextrine to increase the mouthfeel. Check where people have used it to guess how much to add.

No idea what horrizon hops are like, will be intersed in how you find this completed beer.

I'm yet to get lots of krausen from my brews. I think I get around an inch of it.

 

[KevinM]

True, there will be a difference between corn sugar or rice syrup. It's really up to what style you're looking at. I've used corn sugar when I wanted a less body.

I'd avoid the xanthan gum, at least for now, until you've tested without it or with maltodextrin. Then I'd start trying out xanthan gum as a thickener. It could be worth trying as a thickener without being a sweetener, but too much and you'll get a thickness like salad dressing.

From pictues (but not experience) it does seem that gluten free beers have less krausen, and I'd guess that it has something to do with the protein. (Gluten free beers have less head during the pour too.) The most krausen that I've seen on mine (in one gallon glass jugs) has been fairly low, 1-2 inches in height with a lager yeast at 60 degrees. I've been using kegs for all my ferments afterwards and haven't had any issues so far despite me filling up to within an inch or two of the lid. Even using a blowoff tubes, just in case.