how to make proper taste gluten free

[kevlee67]

Hello all.
I am not sure I am in the correct area to post a few questions. I am planning on ordering a beer making kits. (any suggestions welcome)

I currently drink red bridge beer. (gluten free)

Ingrediants are as follows, water, fermented sorghum (sorghum corn syrup) hops, yeast.

I have never made beer, nor do I at this time have a kit to make beer. Does anyone have any suggestions on kits, and also on how to get close to this taste of beer?

I like beer, I drink lots of beer, alcohol content is not that important to me, redbridge is only 3.2% by weight and 4% by volume.

I just would like help on a kit to make it and any help whatsoever on how to achieve this same taste.
What is fermented sorghum (sorghum corn syrup)
Where can I buy this or how can I make it?

At this point I know nothing about making beer, but soon I will buy a beer making kit, I am asking for suggestions.

Kevin

 

[kevlee67]

I guess since I posted the first part, I have access to plant sorghum, millet and flax. Its not a problem at all. Anyone have any idea how to take the seeds and go from there to make beer? I am totally ingnorant in this process. I am gluten intolerant and would REALLY REALLY APPRECIATE HELP.

Kevin

 

[drkaeppel]

I have never brewed Gluten-Free before, but I know you can buy things like sorghum in syrup/extract form. This would definitely be a good place to start. I know there are many GF recipes on the site and they are really not so different from regular malt extract recipes.

Recipes can be found here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f164/

 

[igliashon]

I highly recommend getting yourself a copy of Charlie Papazian's "The Complete Joy of Homebrewing". It's not gluten-free specifically, but very little is different when brewing gluten-free as compared to brewing "regular" beer. You'll learn about all the equipment you need, what the process is like, what to expect, etc., all you'll need to do is modify some of the recipes to use gluten-free grains or extracts instead of malted barley.

Or if you don't want to buy the book, the short list of basic equipment is:

1 carboy (5 gallons is standard size, I use 3 gallons because everything I do is an experiment that might turn out awful, so it's less wasteful)

1 carboy airlock

1 funnel

1 brew kettle (5 to 8 gallons in size, stainless steel or aluminum)

1 bottling bucket

Racking cane, siphon hose, and bottle filler

Sanitizer (Star-San or Iodophor are the most common)

A few nylon or muslin hop and grain bags

Bottle brush and carboy brush

Bottle-capper and bottle caps

The ingredients for whatever gluten-free recipe you want to try

Enough bottles to hold the finished brew

Thermometer, hydrometer (if you want to measure the gravity and determine if the beer has finished fermenting)

That's the basic stuff. You can get fancy later. I don't recommend trying to start brewing gluten-free with an all-grain approach. You'll have to malt the grains, toast them, and use a bunch more equipment to mash them into something fermentable. It's a steeper learning curve then just getting a jar of sorghum extract and a few pounds of adjunct grains.

HTH!

-Igliashon

 

[ChasidicCalvinist]

Read the two sticky threads that are on the gluten free forum. Then just start reading through the previous threads. That is what I did--the language starts to make sense the more you read. At first I felt like I was reading Chinese but the more threads I read the more I understand it. You can now use tapioca and brown rice syrup as bases in addition to sorghum or to help deflate the twang of sorghum. But really, read through the forum first and then go from there with the questions you have left over. And especially once you start brewing or before you do your first brew post your recipe to see if anyone has any comments or suggestions.

 

[spaced]

If you understand extract then get a kit or follow an proven extract recipe from this site. The first time you brew it, don't change a thing.

If you don't understand extract brewing go onto this website http://www.howtobrew.com/intro.html and read up on the steps to brewing.

Keep meticulous records. They seem insignificant now, but when you refer back to them they'll be really important. I use a program called "one note" on my computer, but even a notepad and pen will do.

Fermentis and Danstar Yeast Brands are gluten free. And use 1 teaspoon of yeast nutrient in every batch.

 

[KevinM]

Reiterating https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/not-making-beer-yet-but-needing-help-308102/ from my posts about this last time.

You'll want to read the sticky thread about malting, and the books, or the link (howtobrew.com) regarding the all grain process. Even then, it's turning out to be an experiment we're all working with.

In regards to the sorghum grain. You have to question yourself, which strain of sorghum is it, and will it sprout/malt.

Start of with the kits I mentioned, or at least with sorghum extract so you know the process. You'll still need all the equipment you use for extract beers when you jump to grain. It's just that with grain, you need more.

 

[Leeinwa]

To all the fine brewers out there who need to make a GF beer. I read all the complications and ingredients you go through to get a beer that taste like beer. I have been producing and selling pot ready roasted chestnut chips for about 5 years now, both to commercial and home brewers. Google up "Gluten free chestnut beer" and read some reviews made by some reknown beer experts on my chestnut beer.

Also I have been reading some posts on GF yeast. Lallamend's will give you a written certification that their yeasts are GF. Grown on potato starch media and not barley media. USDA set standards that something has to be less than 5 ppm to be gluten free but I've read that the very sensitive can not tolorate that level.

leeiwa

 

[kevlee67]

I went to chestnut beer in google and it came up with so many pages. Could you let me know which one is yours?

 

[kevlee67]

Hello
I did my first batch 7 days ago with clarity. And it virtually stopped bubbling. I moved the airlock and it appears to be moving a bit yet. But very little specific gravity was 1.070 on brew day and its down to 1.020 this evening. What is the suggestion on how long to wait on this? My plan was to bottle half of it, and put the the other half in a secondary fermentor. Are there many advantages to secondary fermentation? Waiting longer just seems like it would make it better.

What exactly happens on secondary fermentation?

The kit says I can do it either way. I have 3 batches going, and my youngest son is coming this weekend and wants to make a batch, so I am saving the last fermentor for him. (i ordered 2 extra fermenting pails, but I really like the carboys so you can see it working, planning on getting 2 more carboys and thermometers when I attend your class.)

In the beginners class on april 1st, are they going to explain some of this? Thermometors, waiting a week longer?

I am also planning (has to be gluten free) on planting some sorghum this year, and can I grind that and not use the syrup?

Kevin

 

[KevinM]

more information needed.
What yeast are you using? What's your target FG?
You may be hitting your yeasts limit. Or you might not be, depending on the yeast.

There's arguements about secondary vs not. Search the forums. It comes down to a) bulk aging, b) modern yeast. Some feel it clears better, tastes better. Some people say it tastes better to leave it all in the primary.

Read howtobrew.com and other beer making books about the basics, like yeast autolysation and it's chances of happening based on large scale breweries vs home brewers.

Secondaries are good for adding flavorings though, if you were planning on doing that.

You have to process the sorgum to turn starch into sugar. Just like it was mentioned earlier in the thread, read about enzymes, starch conversion and malting gluten free grains.

We're not 100% sure of the entire process. Some people use alpha enzymes from a jar, some people are trying to get enzymes from the grain, some people are trying to get enzymes from sweet potatoes. Some are doing a multi combination approach.

If you are successful in doing so, tell us how. Because of it's difficulty, I recommend making a few more, understand the basic beer making process, then trying the grains. (Though if you're going to grow some anyways, go right ahead. You'll probably understand the beer process by the time you harvest. Then it's onto the steps of malting, kilning and mashing, of which I have no clue. Though I keep trying.)

 

[kevlee67]

Hello
I did my first batch 7 days ago with clarity. And it virtually stopped bubbling. I moved the airlock and it appears to be moving a bit yet. But very little specific gravity was 1.070 on brew day and its down to 1.020 this evening. What is the suggestion on how long to wait on this? My plan was to bottle half of it, and put the the other half in a secondary fermentor. Are there many advantages to secondary fermentation? Waiting longer just seems like it would make it better.

What exactly happens on secondary fermentation?

The kit says I can do it either way. I have 3 batches going, and my youngest son is coming this weekend and wants to make a batch, so I am saving the last fermentor for him. (i ordered 2 extra fermenting pails, but I really like the carboys so you can see it working, planning on getting 2 more carboys and thermometers when I attend your class.)

In the beginners class on april 1st, are they going to explain some of this? Thermometors, waiting a week longer?

I am also planning (has to be gluten free) on planting some sorghum this year, and can I grind that and not use the syrup?

Kevin

 

[Leeinwa]

I went to chestnut beer in google and it came up with so many pages. Could you let me know which one is yours?

www.chestnuttrails.com is our website. It has a basic recipe. The rest of the artiles will be articles about it. Read the one by Rex Halfpenny Nichigan Beer Guide. "the most beer like non-beer I've ever tasted"