Trying something different

[No_Party]

I am planning on making my first GF brew this weekend. I made a bunch of regular home brews years ago and just finished up my first home brew since then, not GF. I live with someone that has celiac so I want to focus on making a good GF for her. Of the store bought GF beers, she enjoys Bard's and St. Peter's the most.

Anyhow, I'm going to try something a bit crazy and try to brew a 3 gal test batch using Sorghum Molasses instead of extract. Here's the recipe I'm thinking about using, if anyone has any input I'd be more that happy to hear it:

.5 lb Oat Malt (Steeped for 30min)
.5 lb Roasted GF Steel Cut Oats (Steeped for 30min)
3 lbs Sorghum Molasses (60min)
.5 lb Dark Candi Sugar (60 min)
.67 oz German Perle, pellet 8.3% (60 min)
.33 oz German Perle, pellet 8.3% (15 min)
1 tablet Whirlfloc (10 min)
S-05 SafAle Yeast or Nottingham Ale Yeast
(still on the fence on which would be better for this)

I have and not sure if/when I should use:

Yeast Nutrient
Maltodextrin
Lactose

How does this recipe sound? Am I way off base here trying to use the Sorghum Molasses instead of extract? I figure it'll be on the sweeter side, but hopefully not too sweet.

 

[KevinM]

I don't believe Sorghum Molasses is an odd item to use. I've heard that it's pretty much like sugar cane molasses in taste and behavior though and that extract was lighter. (Dark, mineral like, etc). And since I can find moasses cheaper than sorgum molasses, I haven't tried it out myself.

 

[Lcasanova]

I think BBBF used sorghum molasses in a brew without success. That post is around here somewhere.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f164/brewing-molasses-141355/#post2590239

Post #6

 

[No_Party]

Well that does not bode well for my experiment.

 

[Lcasanova]

Why not order some sorghum syrup and brew it another time? If anything, it IS an experiment so just use the sorghum molasses.

Cut out the lactose though and you can hold off on the maltodextrine until bottling- give it a taste and decide then.

what part of Nashville are you in? I was raised in Murfreesboro.

 

[No_Party]

Yeah, I'm just going to throw caution to the wind with this. I just really want to see if a drinkable brew can be made from it. Further experiments will be limited to 1 gal batches in the future. We have a few Mennonite/Amish communities within an hour or so drive of here and they make the sorghum molasses. That's why I want to see if I can do something with it besides put it on my pancakes

I'll take your advice and hold off on the maltodextrine.


I live in the Brentwood area. I moved here about 10 yrs ago from Gainesville, FL. I don't make it out to the Boro much these days, though one of my bands should be playing a show out there soon. It's been built up quite a bit since I moved here, lots of urban sprawl.

 

[No_Party]

I brewed the sorghum molasses beer tonight. My neighbor saved the day when he let me use his propane tank, as mine ran out of gas with about 20 min left in the boil. I didn't realize how little left I had. One thing that is odd though, the wort is kinda green. Anyone ever have that happen before? Oh, and I tasted the wort that I used to get the OG, not that good

OG = 1.040

 

[spaced]

Oh, and I tasted the wort that I used to get the OG, not that good

OG = 1.040

Hopefully when it finishes fermenting it tastes a lot better.

 

[Lcasanova]

It's probably really bitter. I've had green worts before, its from all the hops if you used pellets. It will go away.

Have you considered getting a smaller fermenter for those smaller batches?

 

[No_Party]

I used the pellets so that is good to hear.

I just bought the 6 gal BB, as I plan to use the 3 gal one as a secondary. What are the drawbacks of the 6 gal carboy with a 3 gal batch?

 

[Lcasanova]

I don't know of the specific drawbacks, it just seems like a lot of headspace- for all I know it might not be a big deal, but for secondary there shouldn't be a lot of headspace.

 

[No_Party]

I ended up brewing this about 10 days ago. Just stopped bubbling the airlock 2 days ago. I'm going to skip the secondary, I got a request from a friend to brew him a Vanilla Creme Ale (non-GF), so I don't have the 3 gal carboy to use now. I'm thinking it should be fine without putting it in the secondary. I'm going to bottle this weekend. I can't wait to taste this monster.

Revised recipe:
.5 lb Oat Malt (Steeped for 30min)
.5 lb Roasted GF Steel Cut Oats - forgot to crush (Steeped for 30min)
3 lbs Sorghum Molasses (60min)
.5 lb Dark Candi Sugar (60 min)

1 oz German Perle, pellet 8.3% - tried to eyeball and the whole package emptied in (60 min)
.25 oz German Perle, pellet 8.3% (15 min)
.25 oz German Perle, pellet 8.3% (5 min)
1 tablet Whirlfloc (10 min)

Nottingham Ale Yeast

What you all recommend for priming? Should I use maltodextrin, dextrose, a combo, or something else completely?

 

[DKershner]

I don't know of the specific drawbacks, it just seems like a lot of headspace- for all I know it might not be a big deal, but for secondary there shouldn't be a lot of headspace.

For primary, you can pretty much have as much headspace as you want.

 

[No_Party]

Bottled this bad boy up tonight. The green color is gone now. I gave it a little taste test with the FG sample and it was quite bitter. The woman doesn't care for bitter beers, but I love'm, so at least one of us will like it. I will crack one open on Sunday and see how things are going. Primed with Maltodextrin and corn sugar.
OG = 1.065(my reading of 1.040 was way off, Beersmith set me straight)
FG = 1.000

 

[No_Party]

I stand corrected. This beer is too bitter even for me. I gave one to a friend and he seemed to like though. He said it is similar to Lucifer Ale, which I don't particularly care for. His description was this: there are 3 levels of taste to it, first the bitterness, then a boozy flavor, and lastly a hint of spiciness. Unfortunately the bitterness lingers on in the aftertaste. I believe I used WAY too much Perle hops in it. I am going to try this again with Hersbrucker and/or Willamette next time and change the grain to millet or quinoa. Future experiments will be done in one gallon batches until I get it right, if ever

 

[No_Party]

Ok. I am on attempt #2 for this. Last night I brewed up a 1 gal batch:

Recipe#2:
.25 lb Oat Malt (crushed & steeped for 30min)
.25 lb Roasted Millet - (steeped for 30min)
.75 lbs Sorghum Molasses (boil 30min)

.15 oz Hallertau Hersbruker, pellet 2.4% (60 min)
.10 oz Hallertau Hersbruker, pellet 2.4% (15 min)
.10 oz Hallertau Hersbruker, pellet 2.4% (5 min)

2 oz Maltodextrine (5 min)

SafAle S-04 yeast

This one just seemed like it may actually be drinkable. I'm fermenting in two 1/2 gal growlers, so I'm going to bottle one after a couple weeks and rack the second one to another growler for another 7-10 days. I want to see if it makes any difference.

 

[DKershner]

I stand corrected. This beer is too bitter even for me. I gave one to a friend and he seemed to like though. He said it is similar to Lucifer Ale, which I don't particularly care for. His description was this: there are 3 levels of taste to it, first the bitterness, then a boozy flavor, and lastly a hint of spiciness. Unfortunately the bitterness lingers on in the aftertaste. I believe I used WAY too much Perle hops in it. I am going to try this again with Hersbrucker and/or Willamette next time and change the grain to millet or quinoa. Future experiments will be done in one gallon batches until I get it right, if ever

I show the IBUs to be about 55, which at your OG of 1.065, it puts you right about the range of an IPA for IBU/OG. That's fairly high mind you, unless you were doing the experiment to see how bittering hops work.

 

[No_Party]

I show the IBUs to be about 55, which at your OG of 1.065, it puts you right about the range of an IPA for IBU/OG. That's fairly high mind you, unless you were doing the experiment to see how bittering hops work.

I was winging it. I didn't have Beer Smith at the time and it was my second batch since college. I just completely wiffed on this first attempt. I took some advice from my LHBS on what hops to use and how much, and I don't think I gave him enough info to go on. I was totally not looking to make an IPA It's why I went to the opposite extreme on attempt#2, with the Hersbrucker hops. I want it to be a fairly mild beer.

Oddly enough, I have about an equal number of friends that don't think it's too bad as I do that that think it's undrinkable. I fall into the latter category. It's brutal to drink more than a shot at a time :cross: