Gluten Free Beer

[Kilted Jeeper]

So my wife went back to school to get her Bachelor's degree and just recently graduated. When asked what she wanted for a graduation gift she told me she wanted me to brew her a Gluten Free beer. She has Celiac Disease which for those unfamiliar means she cannot have anything made with wheat, rye or barley. I have been homebrewing for about a year now and have experimented with recipes a little, but I still basically do what I refer to as "Betty Crocker" style of homebrewing meaning I typically use extracts and kits.

I was wondering if anyone here had any experience with brewing a GF beer or maybe some recomendations from the more experienced brewers on how I can add nice flavor to a rice based wort?

thanks,

[davidlpope]

It may seem like cheating a bit, but how about brewing mead or cider? I worry that GF beer would be pretty dismal, given the limitations imposed, but you could learn to make a really excellent cider without the same limitations. For what it's worth, I think there's a dearth of good ciders here in the US. Everything seems to be sickly sweet without the necessary "bite".

[Kilted Jeeper]

I agree with you and cider is on the menu for a future brewing, but the wife did request a GF Beer and she worked so hard to finish her degree while maintaining a full time job and being Mom to 2 small children I feel I need to put forth as much effort in attempting to fufill her request.

There are a couple commercial GF Beers on the market that aren't bad, the most popular is probably Red Bridge which is a sorgum based beer from Anheiser Busch. It is very much like a typical American Light beer such as Coors Light.

[lethearen]

Have you checked out any homebrew forums? I'm sure there'd be someone on one of those who has done this before and could give you some pointers.

[Kilted Jeeper]

I am currently pursuing that option as well. Knowing there are several experienced brewers on here I thought it would be a good place to check.

[hootstwo]

I also have Celiac but the only thing I used beer for is in making bread (ya ya, i just don't drink ok?). The liquor stores her in Ontario stock a Sorghum beer that my wife reports is actually quite drinkable. I think Sorghum is the way to go for GF beer, I've yet to see any beers other than Sorghum that are GF.

[Pyper]

I have Celiac. I used to brew beer.

Anheuser-Busch's Red Bridge isn't too bad. I think it's as good as a lot of homebrew I've had. It's made from sorghum. They leave it a little sweet to give it body. I'm thinking they probably filter out the yeast prior to it finishing fermentation, or else it would ferment out dry and thin. Like Zima. You're just not going to get a good malty beer without malt...

A long time ago I read a guy's blog (at least 12 years ago) on making beer from quinoa. He had to malt the quinoa, which sounds like a big hassle. I tried to grow quinoa once to make beer, but it was a total bust.

The nice thing about sorghum is you can buy sorghum syrup. I would think you could just use the sorghum syrup in place of malt extract and proceed as usual. Make sure your yeast is gluten free. I made some cider from dried yeast recently and the package was marked "gluten free". It was made by LALVIN.

I have some sorghum syrup and some hop pellets and now I have that yeast going, so maybe I'll give it a try. For the cost of the sorghum syrup though, it's probably no cheaper than buying Red Bridge.

[jkane]

Never tried making one. Sorry, I am no help.

[Woodsman]

Kilted Jeeper. My wife is also a celiac and she just bougt some Red Bridge GF beer. She says it's OK but I must agree with you that you could probably brew something better yourself. She mostly enjoys wine and the Woodchuck Ciders too. I used to brew beer but have not for quite a few years. But now my son has picked up the beer-brewing bug and has produced several very nice "Betty Crocker" beers. But he is getting braver and most recently experimeted with a pumpkin ale for the holidays. I will be looking for a GF recipe and let you know if I find anything. Stay in touch.

[Kilted Jeeper]

Kilted Jeeper. My wife is also a celiac and she just bougt some Red Bridge GF beer. She says it's OK but I must agree with you that you could probably brew something better yourself. She mostly enjoys wine and the Woodchuck Ciders too. I used to brew beer but have not for quite a few years. But now my son has picked up the beer-brewing bug and has produced several very nice "Betty Crocker" beers. But he is getting braver and most recently experimeted with a pumpkin ale for the holidays. I will be looking for a GF recipe and let you know if I find anything. Stay in touch.

Definitely! Have your wife try Magner's Cider. It;s not nearly as sickly sweet as the Woodchuck variety and most often (at least around here) is available at the pubs.