A friend recently asked me to brew up some gluten free beer for her. I'm an AG brewer and have some experience doing decoction and step mashes (which based on the mash schedules reported here seems like what is necessary). She requested a dark beer.
So, I was thinking something along the lines of a Belgian Dubel - since most of the flavor comes from the yeast and candi sugar. Couple of questions - warnings and any other opinions welcome.
1) It sounds like malted millet is the most accessible way to start. I've seen 2 companies listed - any preferences or major differences I should know about? I'd be starting with small test batches, so do either have order minimums etc.
2) It looks like the Colorado Malting company had a variety of specialty malts as well. I was thinking maybe a 4/1 ratio of regular millet to munich as a base. Any experience with the millet munich vs the buckwheat munich? Would I be better of trying to toast some of my own.
3) It looks like some people are using enyzmes even with the complicated mash. I've seen some talk of more complete enzyme mixes (not just alpha am) but I haven't seen any sources for that? Is it necessary, or would the step mash plus amylase be fine?
4) Yeast - seems to be a lot of mixed experiences. WhiteLabs claims to be "technically" GF at 2ppm. How does the dilution work if I made a generation or 2 of starters and then decanted the liquid? eg if I decant 80% of the liquid, does that bring it to 0.4ppm and then 0.08ppm for a second round? Or does the gluten tend to bind to the yeast and not be uniformly distributed in the liquid? Does Clarityferm knock that even lower? I don't think she's had any reactions to anything labeled GF, but I'd prefer to error on the side of caution.
5) Any unusual hop reactions with Millet? I've read that sorghum tilts toward citrus.
So, I was thinking something along the lines of a Belgian Dubel - since most of the flavor comes from the yeast and candi sugar. Couple of questions - warnings and any other opinions welcome.
1) It sounds like malted millet is the most accessible way to start. I've seen 2 companies listed - any preferences or major differences I should know about? I'd be starting with small test batches, so do either have order minimums etc.
2) It looks like the Colorado Malting company had a variety of specialty malts as well. I was thinking maybe a 4/1 ratio of regular millet to munich as a base. Any experience with the millet munich vs the buckwheat munich? Would I be better of trying to toast some of my own.
3) It looks like some people are using enyzmes even with the complicated mash. I've seen some talk of more complete enzyme mixes (not just alpha am) but I haven't seen any sources for that? Is it necessary, or would the step mash plus amylase be fine?
4) Yeast - seems to be a lot of mixed experiences. WhiteLabs claims to be "technically" GF at 2ppm. How does the dilution work if I made a generation or 2 of starters and then decanted the liquid? eg if I decant 80% of the liquid, does that bring it to 0.4ppm and then 0.08ppm for a second round? Or does the gluten tend to bind to the yeast and not be uniformly distributed in the liquid? Does Clarityferm knock that even lower? I don't think she's had any reactions to anything labeled GF, but I'd prefer to error on the side of caution.
5) Any unusual hop reactions with Millet? I've read that sorghum tilts toward citrus.