First Gluten Free Beer - some issues

Hello all!

I have been brewing for roughly 1 year, and I have about 6 partial mash home brews under my belt. My wife just found out she has Celiac, so I am just now wading into gluten free brewing. She loves hoppy pale ales, so that is what I tried first. Here is the recipe I used for this 5 gal batch:

2 cups toasted GF oats (soaked for 15 mins, toasted at 350 for 35 mins) steeped for 45 mins at 160F
1 tsp of Gypsum
6 lb of liquid White Sorgum extract (northern brewer)
0.5 oz Columbus Pellet Hops (15.2%)@60mins
1 oz Palisade pellet Hops (7%)@30 mins
0.5oz Cascade pellet hops (6%)@20mins
0.5oz Cascade pellet hops (6%) @10mins
1 lb of clover honey@5mins
1 whirlfloc tablet @5 mins
0.5 oz Cascade pellet hops (6%)@ flameout
8 oz Malto Dextrin @flame out
3 tsp yeast nutrient @flame out
Yeast: Rehydrated Safale US-05

OG: 1.050
Color: Greenish yellow, very cloudy

I pitched the yeast about 18 hours ago. Usually by this time, I see a fair bit of activity in the air lock. But with this batch, there is not so much as a bubble thus far. Is this typical of gluten free beers, or did I get some bad yeast?

Also, the wort tasted overly bitter. I suspect there was a fair bit of hop particles floating in the bit that I tasted, which may be why it tasted off. But it also occurred to me that without the more 'malty' fermentables I am accustomed to, I should not be so aggressive with the hops if I want a more balanced taste. Thanks for any input you might have. Cheers!

The recipe sounds fine to me. mildly surprised that you're not hearing activity, though not impossible I suppose. *If* anything was a problem, it would be bad yeast. What's the current reading?

With grain sorghum extract, it doesn't have the malty sweetness you normally have with barley. That's actually one of the things some of us are looking to replicate in our recipes. It does ferment and have the necessary nutrients for yeast at least.

I suspect that there will be a lot of hop bitterness and aroma, but you were aiming for a hoppy ipa. The cloudiness I expect was the oat starch.

Beer can take up to 72 hours to show signs of fermentation. Your recipe is fine, but depending on what temperature you pitched at, what temperature you rehydrated at (have you used US-05 before? If so, how do you usually rehydrate?), how long you rehydrated for, and what the ambient temperature is at which you're fermenting, it may take longer to get going. FWIW, I would have hopped it a bit differently with that low of an OG, 1.050 of sorghum-extract-based beer is not like 1.050 of regular beer, it's closer to 1.040 of regular beer in terms of flavor and body; if I want a hoppy low-gravity beer, I use a small charge of high-alpha hops at 60 and then don't do any more additions until 10 minutes (and include a whopping knock-out addition). That has thus far kept my hoppy beers from tasting overly bitter--I've yet to brew a beer that's even remotely "too bitter" for its body.

I will say, though: if you want to brew gluten-free beer that's competitive with regular beer, a simple sorghum and honey blend is going to be a tremendous disappointment.

igliashon said:

have you used US-05 before? If so, how do you usually rehydrate?.

Click to expand...

I have used it once before with a rye IPA, with great results. I rehydrated according to Palmer's suggestions in How to Brew. Water temp was 100 deg F when I added the dry yeast. I let it sit for 15 min, stirred, set for another 15, then pitched. I did not proof it before I pitched, however.

Give it another couple of days. 100°F is higher than I usually rehydrate at (I go more for 90°F-94°F at the tops, just cooler than "blood warm"), but I don't know if that's high enough to cause problems. I go by the directions on Danstar's packages, and assume Fermentis yeasts prefer similar conditions.

So it has been more than 72 hours, and still no bubbles in my air lock. I cracked the lid, and found there is a small but noticible krausen. Never had leak problems before with this bucket. I suppose the fermentation may just be too slow to see significant bubbling. I will take a gravity reading later to see what the progress is.