Will this GF recipe work?

[Panda66]

Hi all,

My husband has IBS and is following a low FODMAP diet. This means he has to avoid certain carbohydrates (sugars) like fructose, fructans, lactose, isomalt etc as his body can't absorb these sugars causing gas / bloating. This means beer is off the menu as grains (wheat/barley) contain fructans and make him sick, so he includes gluten free foods in his diet even though gluten itself is not a problem for him.

He drinks XXXX Gold lager and we have tried a few commercial gluten free home brew kits but he doesn't like the taste of them, so after hours of research I have come up with a recipe I hope will work. He doesn't like very bitter / hoppy beer.

What do you think of these ingredients / quantities / timings?

1 kg Briess White Sorghum Syrup @ 60
250g maltodextrin @ 60
300g light candi syrup @ 60
25.00 g Cluster - @ 60
15.00 g Cluster - @ 15
1 Whirlfloc tablet @ 15
1tsp Yeast Nutrient @ 10
1.8Kg Briess White Sorghum Syrup @ flameout
15 g Saaz finishing hops @ flameout
Cold Crash
Saflager S-23 Fermentis Lager Yeast
Ferment @ 15 - 18 deg C

Any and all comments greatly appreciated
Cheers,
Amanda

 

[MHB]

Amanda, if this is your first attempt I would probably simplify it a bit.
First up if you are looking to make something in the XXXX Gold family you might have a bit too much in there, a quick finger count gives me an OG of 1.056 at 23L which is going to give you 5.0-5.5% alcohol, a lot stronger than the 3.5% of XXXX Gold.

I would try
1.5kg Sorghum Syrup
250g Maltodextrin
250g White sugar - no need for an expensive Belgian sugar unless you are making Belgian beer
15-20g Cluster at 60 minutes - cluster is very fruity if used late.
15g Saaz at flame out
Add the Whirlfloc tablet 5-10 minutes from the end (15min is a bit too early)
I would use S-04, or any other really clean fermenting Ale yeast rather than a Lager yeast, unless you have very good temperature control.

Hopefully this would be a bit closer to XXX Gold and cost a pile less, a few tweaks and you should get something fairly drinkable (OK I'm not a fan of XXXX).
From experience I can say that Sorghum beers always taste a lot bitterer than the numbers would indicate, they also improve with a bit of time in the bottle, 6 weeks to 3 months helps.
Hope this helps
Mark

 

[Panda66]

Hey Mark,

Thanks so much for the feedback. This will be my first extract brew so I'm a sponge for information from those more experienced.
We live in Tassie so it's quite cold in the laundry where the fermenter lives and we have a heat pad with a temp controller so what do you think regarding the yeast? I don't know enough about yeasts - do they impact the flavour of the brew, if not I'll use an Ale yeast as suggested.

Do I need yeast nutrient, or is there enough in the sugars added?

Thanks again
Amanda

 

[MHB]

Yeast can have a very big impact on the flavour, or next to none, it depends on the yeast and the temperature, aeration, nutrients... but mostly the type of yeast and the temperature.
Ale yeasts are much easier to work with, just keep them at a steady temperature and they will behave fairly predictably, 16-20oC is good for Ale. To get the most out of Lager you need to use twice as much yeast, and be able to control the temperature from 12oC (or so) down to about -1oC fairly precisely. Really brewing in a fridge with a thermostat and a fan in it is going to be necessary.
Most XXXX is brewed as a lager (well not the Pale Ale obviously) but it is a very bland beer so a neutral ale yeast would give a good result with the least fluffing about.

Heat pads are my least favourite way to heat beer, they apply the heat to the bottom of the fermenter where the oldest yeast accumulates and the heat can speed up the start of bad/off flavours forming.
Yeast nutrients can be a big benefit in GF brewing, just be careful there are two things sold as yeast nutrient, one is just Di Ammonium Phosphate (DAP), a bit like Super Phosphate for yeast, the other is sometimes called yeast food it's made from dead yeast, DAP, trace elements, vitamins, minerals... more like really good potting mix than an artificial fertiliser. Yeast food is the best option by far.

If you have a thermostat you might be able to control the heat pad, just tape the sensor to the side of the fermenter and wrap the fermenter in a couple of old towels or other insulation, the heat pad wont be coming on too often early in the ferment when the yeast will be making plenty of heat.
Good Luck
Mark

 

[Panda66]

Thanks for the info Mark
Who knew yeast was so complicated! I did some more internetting and will go with the Safale US05 yeast.
We do in fact have a fridge in the garage (only turned on over summer) so we will put the heat pad at the bottom and the fermenter above on a shelf and try to keep the temp around 16 degrees. With Tassie daytime temps around 12 - 15 and a STC 1000 temp controller we should be good.

Thanks again for your words of wisdom!
Cheers
Amanda

 

[bingggo]

I have found good ideas here: http://gfhomebrewing.blogspot.com.au

Darker candii sugar does have the benefit of adding a little colour as sorghum brews are pretty pale.

The Amarillo ale on that site went down well with friends.

By the way, the Monash Uni fodmap app says beer is a low fodmap food? Probably because the fermentable sugars are converted to alcohol and has no fibre.

 

[Panda66]

Hey Bingggo
Thanks for the link.
The FODMAP app says 1 beer with food is ok which would be fine if hubby only had 1 beer. . . . but hubby likes LOTS of beer and doesn't like to spoil his beer with food!
Anyway, brewing beer this morning so we will see how it goes in a month or so!
Cheers,
Amanda

 

[pnorkle]

but hubby likes LOTS of beer and doesn't like to spoil his beer with food!

A man after my own heart!