My 2nd GF beer

[ksbrain]

SWMBO is Gluten free so I must every now and then make some beer for her.

Today I made my second ever GF beer. Another IPA. Last one I didn't like that much. It had what I have come to believe to be the Sorghum twang. And it was super strong and dry. I used all 9.9# of extract last time and it was like 7.3%. Waaay to strong for her.

This time I'm going for more like 5-5.5%. I used 7.6# extract and a half a pound of maltodextrine.

I also upped the hop schedule to be more like my gluten full IPA recipe. Columbus and Amarillo with a heavy hand. Hopefully this makes something that we can both grok fully.

I think I might try next time with some candy sugar and/or other non-sorghum sugars. I meant to use dextrose this time but inventory management failed me and I had to do it all with sorghum extract.

 

[igliashon]

I *always* use something to complement the sorghum. Honey, candi syrup, rice syrup solids, adjunct grains, sweet potato, bananas...if you're going extract-only, the best results I've gotten seems to be with about 40% sorghum, 40% rice syrup solids, and 20% candi syrup, with between 1 to 1.5 oz maltodextrin per gallon of wort. I find that sweet potatoes, pureed and step-infusion-mashed (about 1/3 to 2/3 lb of sweet potatoes per gallon of wort) can help add some residual sweetness. I did up a chinook/willamette IPA this way that came out with a nice round sweet backbone and very little twang, it's not exactly "malty" but it gives the hops something to balance out. And it's 8% ABV, too--sure doesn't taste it!

 

[ksbrain]

Thanks for the advice. I like the mix you've posted. I don't think I want to get into mashing potatoes or bananas for beer, so next time I'll probably try the 40-40-20 mix. Then I could probably also make it the color of a proper IPA rather than this 3 SRM I've done so far.

Funny thing is the last one she said was "perfect". Nothing but Sorghum and a bunch of hops. To me it was not perfect but at least my customer is not that picky.

 

[thanantos]

Thanks for the advice. I like the mix you've posted. I don't think I want to get into mashing potatoes or bananas for beer, so next time I'll probably try the 40-40-20 mix. Then I could probably also make it the color of a proper IPA rather than this 3 SRM I've done so far.

Funny thing is the last one she said was "perfect". Nothing but Sorghum and a bunch of hops. To me it was not perfect but at least my customer is not that picky.

I am sure igliashon's advice is good, but I am not surprised to hear she liked the simple Sorghum/Hops beer either. The first beer I ever brewed was the same. A bunch of sorghum and some fresh/frozen cascade hops a friend gave me. Compared to what is available commercially in my area it was 1,000x better, IMHO.