Gluten Free Beer - Does It Exist?

[dr K]

WOW!!

I would suggest that NO gluten free beer would taste anything like beer. Most probably undrinkable. But then again I have never tried them.

So exactly what is it in gluten that makes such a contribution to beer that the lack of it makes the product nothing like a beer?
Now, I know that high levels of gluten in rice will make it sticky, and I am pretty sure that you need wheat with higher levels of gluten to make firm breads (cf cakes).
I sort of figure that gluten may help with lacing on the glass, but if I were gluten intolerant and beer loving I think that I would say , in the words of Ringo Starr..Goodnight Vienna...
So..please...educate us, or failing that educate yourself.

 

[Millet Man]

what about the italian stuff - Bi-Aglut.

A gluten intolerant friend of mine brought some around a month or two ago... I kinda liked it.

Sillyaks say its made from mainly unmalted buckwheat and corn syrup. have a packet of toasted buckwheat on hand, plan to use it to try the gluten free thing.

I tried Bi-Aglut a few years ago and it wasn't great, haven't seen it around since then.

To make a clone of this it's 50/50 raw buckwheat and maize syrup (Brewiser liquid brewing sugar is maize syrup). You'll also need some enzymes from your local HBS - Improzyme and Modiferm. Rough recipe as follows:

Batch Size 23lt
2.0 kg Raw buckwheat
2.0 kg Brewiser liquid brewing sugar
0.4 kg Rice hulls

Crush buckwheat and mix with 6.0 lt water and 5 ml of Improzyme enzymes
30 min at 55C
30 min at 85C

Add cold water to reduce temperature and add 3.5 ml of Modiferm enzymes
120 min at 65C

Add rice hulls and transfer to lauter tun and sparge - could be a good candidate for BIAB

Add maize syrup to kettle and boil etc as for a regular beer

I'd bitter to about 25 IBU and use Saaz for flavour and aroma, ferment with a DCL yeast either W34/70 or US-05.

Milletman - what about Bairds malted oats?? Aren't oats a gluten free grain? I know that a proportion of celiacs are intolerant to oats anyway, but its more on a better safe than sorry front that oats are excluded from the standard gluten free range isn't it?

For instance, my friend who brought the BiAglut beer around isn't a full tilt celiac, shes just got a but of a gluten intolerance. There is a decent chance she might be OK with an Oat Malt beer isn't there??

She doesn't mind the BiAglut, but has tried the Sillyaks and your Lager.. doesn't like them. I'm not sure if she has tried your Pale Ale though, I get her to give it a go. But she wants me to make her some beer... and I thought the Oats thing might be a chance.

Cheers

Thirsty

Oats are counted as gluten in Oz so I have never tried them, and there is a lot of debate still going on about whether they are totally bad for Coeliacs or not. The other issue with oats is cross contamination as it is handled through the same channels as wheat and barley.

Cheers, Andrew.

 

[rich_lamb]

Personally, I am not a coeliac but I have a friend who is and have tried a couple of the beers he drinks. They are certainly drinkable, and better than most mass-produced Aussie beer, but I found the flavour a little "twangy" and hard to get used to.

But I stepped up to the plate and had a crack at brewing one - only my third AG brew but what the heck (thanks Millet Man for some of the advice). The grain bill included malted sorghum, amaranth, dark belgian candi and a touch of corn-based maltodextrin for body.

It was a bitch to brew; it took all day, I burned my fingers, scorched my kettle and nearly went insane trying to sparge the damn thing. But after bottling and conditioning for a few weeks it came out just great.

Nice pale golden colour, brilliant clarity, fruity/malty aroma (even though I used a clean yeast) and silky mouthfeel. It still has the sorghum "twang" in the flavour, but I must say after brewing it I'm aquiring the taste for it. I think it was one of my better beers and I'd probably brew it again. I may try a spiced beer recipe next time.

I was originally a bit skeptical about these beers but now I'm all turned around. Though I will say the guy who first comes out with a GF kit beer will make a fortune. Brewing them yourself is not for the feint hearted.

 

[Millet Man]

Personally, I am not a coeliac but I have a friend who is and have tried a couple of the beers he drinks. They are certainly drinkable, and better than most mass-produced Aussie beer, but I found the flavour a little "twangy" and hard to get used to.

But I stepped up to the plate and had a crack at brewing one - only my third AG brew but what the heck (thanks Millet Man for some of the advice). The grain bill included malted sorghum, amaranth, dark belgian candi and a touch of corn-based maltodextrin for body.

It was a bitch to brew; it took all day, I burned my fingers, scorched my kettle and nearly went insane trying to sparge the damn thing. But after bottling and conditioning for a few weeks it came out just great.

Nice pale golden colour, brilliant clarity, fruity/malty aroma (even though I used a clean yeast) and silky mouthfeel. It still has the sorghum "twang" in the flavour, but I must say after brewing it I'm aquiring the taste for it. I think it was one of my better beers and I'd probably brew it again. I may try a spiced beer recipe next time.

I was originally a bit skeptical about these beers but now I'm all turned around. Though I will say the guy who first comes out with a GF kit beer will make a fortune. Brewing them yourself is not for the feint hearted.

Well done B&T - top marks for having a go!

The sorghum "twang" is very hard to mask, it is a distinct trait of sorghum malt to give a slight sourness to the brew but you do get used to it when you have to - makes for a very refreshing brew.

I'd suggest trying to make a "wheat" style beer if you like as the "twang" will be in-style and very hard to pick from a "real" one. I have had excellent results in comps including a couple of placings with sorghum/millet/buckwheat beers brewed and entered as wheat/rye styles - particularly dunkelwiezen, roggenbier or belgian wit.

Cheers, Andrew.

 

[MrDizzy]

Now, I know that high levels of gluten in rice will make it sticky,

Erm.....rice is gluten-free, as far as I know.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice :
"Rice flour does not contain gluten and is suitable for people on a gluten-free diet"
"sticky rice which is properly known as "glutinous rice" (note: glutinous refer to the glue-like characteristic of rice; does not refer to "gluten")"

Also, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gluten-free_diet

I was thinking of trying to do a gluten-free extract brew based on rice malt (I don't have the equipment for all-grain).
Has anyone tried something like this before?

 

[Millet Man]

I was thinking of trying to do a gluten-free extract brew based on rice malt (I don't have the equipment for all-grain).
Has anyone tried something like this before?

Rice malt is actually an extract from raw rice (not malted rice) and does not have any protein content for head retention just carbohydrates, and it's not highly fermentable (only 60-70% attenuation as I recall).

If you want to do an extract GF beer then try the sorghum extract from Brewers Choice as it is designed for use in brewing.

Cheers, Andrew.

 

[turto77]

Hey Pok,
I found this site for a mate a while back, haven't tried it yet but it might be worth a shot.

http://www.gfhomebrewing.com.au/

 

[Swinging Beef]

Hey Pok,
I found this site for a mate a while back, haven't tried it yet but it might be worth a shot.

http://www.gfhomebrewing.com.au/

So who sells liquid sorgum extract in Sydney or Wollongong, then?
At $15 kg it aint cheap
I would be keen to give this a go as an extract brew... hide the sorghum twang under some Chinooks!

 

[David Kitchen]

So who sells liquid sorgum extract in Sydney or Wollongong, then?
At $15 kg it aint cheap
I would be keen to give this a go as an extract brew... hide the sorghum twang under some Chinooks!

Hi, you can buy the Sorghum syrup either over the net from GFhomebrewing.com.au or from:
Kirrawee Home Brew
Northern Home Brew (Woonoona)
Mark's Home Brew (Islington) (Mark does it as a Fresh Wort)
Home Brew Inn (Charlestown)
What's Brewing (Kogarah)
Asquith Home Brewing
The Beer Shed (Leumeah)

The recipes are as for standard extract brews (60 minute boil with 3 x hops additions) and make two styles:
A Pale Ale - Similar body and colour to a Corona, but with a stronger Cluster hops flavour
A Honey Cascade - Similar to a Beez Nees.

Both pretty drinkable. Haven't tried it with Chinook, but worth a go!

 

[Macca17]

Didn't want to start a new thread so adding to this one
Just bought some Billabong Gluten free bears (Low Carb-Gluten Free Blonde)
Not sure if they taste different to normal beers, but this one tastes a bit sherbety,
not sure if this is the correct description for a beer :
Have I bought a dud or are they supposed to taste this way ?

 

[Banshee]

Spelt.

 

[David Kitchen]

Just an addition to my last post. GFHomebrewing (Brewers Choice) now has a new GF beer to add to the Oz Pale Ale and Honey Cascade - a Golden Ale.

The new beer has a cleaner taste, darker colour and uses Belgian Candy Syrup and a 53gm mix of Amarillo and Cascade hops. Its a pretty good tasting brew, even for non-coeliacs. The recipe is on the GFhomebrewing.com.au website.

It is also possible to buy straight Liquid Sorghum as well. Suppliers are also listed on the website.

Each of the kits is easy to brew - same process as an extract brew - 60 minute boil with hop additions at 60 minutes, 15 minutes and flame out. We tried going down the mashing route but it is seriously complex even for regular mashers, let alone first timers that just want to make a GF beer thats drinkable.

 

[Chad]

This is my recipe using the sorghum extract from Brewers Choice. The missus loves it.

Stingless Honey Blonde Ale
TYPE: Extract

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 22.50 L
Boil Size: 27.80 L
Estimated OG: 1.048 SG
Estimated Color: 4.1 SRM
Estimated IBU: 24.9 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: - %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
2.80 kg Liquid Sorghum Extract (Briess) (4.0 SRM) Extract 81.16 %
15.00 gm Magnum [13.10 %] (60 min) Hops 23.6 IBU
6.00 gm Saaz [3.70 %] (15 min) Hops 1.3 IBU
6.00 gm Saaz [3.70 %] (0 min) Hops -
0.50 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
1.00 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
0.65 kg Honey (1.0 SRM) Sugar 18.84 %
2 Pkgs SafAle American Ale (DCL Yeast #US-05) Yeast-Ale

Notes:
------
Add the honey at boil flameout.
Pasturise 100gm honey and add when kegging.

 

[Millet Man]

Didn't want to start a new thread so adding to this one
Just bought some Billabong Gluten free bears (Low Carb-Gluten Free Blonde)
Not sure if they taste different to normal beers, but this one tastes a bit sherbety,
not sure if this is the correct description for a beer :
Have I bought a dud or are they supposed to taste this way ?

According to their website the Blonde is based on Japanese third category beers (no-malt beers) so that may be the different taste you are picking up.

Banshee - Spelt is a form of wheat so no good.

 

[spaced]

@ Chad, brewed a beer off your recipe, turned out really good. I used Iron Bark honey so it wasn't so sweet.

 

[B3nder]

Hi Guys,
Country Brewer has Gluten Free Kits for $65, (www.countrybrewer.com.au)
a Schotz Lrger and a Braaf Ale, both require a 60min boil.
I have made the Braaf and most guys couldn't pick it for being GF

Sean

 

[Brewers Choice]

Hi guys. Just head to our website, www.brewerschoice.com.au and go to the Gluten Free section in the shop. You can pick up bulk sorghum, GF beer kits and a bunch of other GF products. Cheers David