Basic GF brew questions

[RobInOre]

Greetings All,
I'm not new to brewing but I am new to gluten free. Yesterday I made my first GF beer for my dad. Since dropping gluten, he has had to replace beer with wine and he hates it. If I can make something that tastes like beer then he might be willing to try homebrewing for himself. When he was a beer drinker, he drank cheap, high alcohol, crap so the bar for success is pretty low. I made this recipe after researching these boards for information;

6 gallons at start of boil / 5 gallons in fermenter
1/2 oz. Citra, 45min.
1/4 oz. Citra, flame out.
1/4 oz. Citra, dry hop, 1 week before bottling.
1 lb. rice syrup solids, 45min.
6 lb. sorghum LME, 30min.
1 lb. honey, 15min.
Safale 05, rehydrated before pitching.
The OG was 1.060

I typically leave my brews alone for 2 weeks then bottle. After conditioning for ten days they're ready to drink. At least ready enough for me.
Will I need to treat this batch differently? Should I leave it longer before bottling? How long?
Will 3/4 cup priming sugar be ok when I bottle?
What is the minimum conditioning time before drinking?
Is there anything in this recipe that is alarming and what would you change?
I usually use steeping grains, is there a gf equivalent that I can use? All of that Citra makes me nervous but my research suggested that it would be a good choice to cover the metallic sorghum flavor.

I'd like to have a simple "go to" gf, extract recipe at the ready. Thanks in advance.

 

[Legume]

If you want steeping grains, you can order Eckert rice malt, or Grouse millet or buckwheat malt.

 

[glutarded-chris]

Looks fine. Welcome to the dark side and my guess is that your dad will like it just fine. Priming and stuff like that should be the same as your barley brewing experience.

+1 on steeping some grain. I use a pound to a 1-1/4 pound of crystal or crystal and a small amount of some other adjuncts for a 5 gallon batch. I will never make another batch without at least some steeped grain.

8 oz of maltodextrin would help.
I think the Belgian Candy Syrup works well in moderate amounts. I usually use a pound of BCS + 8 oz 100% Buckwheat honey as my sugar additions for a 5 gallon batch and that seems to work pretty well.

I have never brewed barley beer but I think you will find that you get much less violent fermentation and my have to ferment a few degrees higher temperature to insure good solid fermentation. My experience is that I need to be 70 to 75F. I ferment for 3 weeks (usually 1 in the primary and 2 in the secondary). Extract batches calm and clear up pretty good by two weeks so that may be just fine.

The beer will still be pretty green after bottle conditioning for two weeks, but I can never wait and always start drinking right away. I think the sorghum twang diminishes after conditioning for about a month so some that find the sorghum twang objectionable like to wait a little. I keg so I start drinking after one week. My experience is that it is best after 3 weeks in the keg or bottle though.

 

[RobInOre]

I fermented this for three weeks with no secondary. I was able to wait 17 days after bottling before I had to test one. It was super clear, much clearer than my regular, barley beers. Strong citrus smell of course but also smelled like mango or kiwi, something tropical. Taste was pretty good even though it was thin. All citrus but none of the mango/kiwi. Finish was a bit harsh, a hint of rusty nails. After about half a glass I got used to the finish though.
Far superior to BMC. I don't have any commercial GF to compare with but I could drink this everyday. I'll wait a week and try another bottle to see how it's coming along.

Thanks again for all your help.