Gluten Free Brewing - Equipment

[thegoovna]

Hi all,

After some advice from gluten free brewers - I'm brewing a gluten free beer for some friends in a few weeks time and I'm planning on getting a new grain bag to do the job. I understand everyone's sensitivities are different but would you recommend I buy a new dedicated fermenter for the brew? I also have a rims tube which I have only used once so far, and I think the element may pose a risk to infection. One option is to simply not use the rims tube, pump and silicon tubes I've use in the past on this brew just to be safe and lose a few degrees over the course of the mash.

I understand I probably can't guarantee anything using a system that has been used with ingredients containing gluten but any experiences or advice on how to minimise infection would be great.

Thank you

 

[thegoovna]

Bumping

 

[Half-baked]

Does your friend have coeliac disease, or just gluten intolerant?

If intolerant then a normal beer with brewers clarex (like wle4000) is fine. That’s what I use in every batch as my wife is intolerant (including to gluten).

No idea about whether any trace amounts of gluten is okay with someone with coeliac disease, try checking with them…

 

[thegoovna]

Hasn't been diagnosed as coeliac but seems to be very sensitive, I'll ask the question. The advice seems to be to replace soft surfaces, a new fermenter won't break the bank but having dedicated silicone hoses and heating element could start to get pricey for the sake of 1-2 batches a year.

Thanks

 

[MHB]

What are you using for malt? Malted Sorghum or are you getting some other GF grain.
It might be worth looking at one of the Liquid Sorghum extracts. Have played around with both Sorghum and Sorghum Syrup and the syrup was way easier.
I used the same equipment as used for normal brewing and the products made it through a lab test for a GF certificate. So it is possible to clean brewhouse equipment well enough, just be very troughear.
I used some Caustic in the cleaning as it is very effective at degrading proteins, just nasty to use and very dangerous - best avoided if you can.
Mark

 

[thegoovna]

Thanks Mark, good to know. I'm using an all grain pack from Two Bays. It's the stout pack, has buckwheat, rice and millet.