New guy. Could use some help.

[number40fan]

Hello, everyone.

First time poster, short time reader. But, it was this site that helped me find what I was looking for.

As a previous Coors Light drinker, now converted GF drinker, I found myself in quite the conundrum. A GF beer that I would like. I was picky with my CL and wouldn't have anything to do with any other beer.

To make a really long story short. Bards. First GF beer I tried and I was hooked. Except the $$$. Anywhere from $9-10 a six pack. Ouch. Did some googling, found a post here that Bards has a homebrew kit and ordered it.

A friend of mine has been making his own beer for a while. Divorce has set him back where he doesn't have the space to do it. He has offered his equipment for me to use. Turkey fryer, pot, spoon, 5 gallon buckets, 3 gallon kegs, CO2, sanitizer, yadda yadda.

He gives me a run down of how things go and says the instructions should be in the kit. I take notes and say thanks. He jets off on a two week (get the heck out of Dodge) vacation. I am not going to even attempt to call and ask my questions.

Now my problem where I need some help. I am a little sketchy of step 5 in my instruction sheet. It starts talking about the fermentation of the wort, but in the middle of it starts talking about lagers and what should be done with them. I don't believe this is a lager, but the directions don't stop and say "for other types", so I don't know what I should do? Easiest way for me to show the directions was to just take a picture of them.



How long do I need to keep it at what temp? Do I need to let it warm up to room temp? Can I leave it in the bucket without transferring to a glass carboy?

Then....sorry for being so long winded.

Kegging time. Friends instructions were to add it to the keg. Pressurize to 8 psi. Swirl keg. Do this once a day for 10 days. Didn't say anything about adding the priming sugar because that was only needed for bottling. True? Or should I add it, 1/4 cup less than when bottling?

I'll be attempting to do this on Saturday and hope to get it all straightened out. GF sucks, but I do feel a lot better.

Thanks for the forum and for any help.

James

 

[Paps]

If it is an ale you can ferment it in the high 60`s ideally, if a lager then high 50`s is more suited. The longer in primary the better imho ( i primary for a month ) racking is optional unless you plan on aging it for over 3 months or want to add something to the secondary such as dry hopping or vanilla/cocoa beans.
Priming sugar is not needed if you are kegging/force carbing.
Hope this helps.

 

[glutarded-chris]

I had the same issue as you when I started. My first 7 batches were lagers using saflager 34/70 yeast. Was shocked that with all my beginners mistakes, they all came out drinkable. Not saying Ales are better, just that once I started into ale territory, I never went back.

My advice is to brew ales, do it simple and find out what you like before adding complexity. You can ferment an ale at room temperature, so you don't have to make room in the fridge or have a dedicated system. My experience is that fermentation is better at slightly higher temperatures for gluten free ales. You just don't get as violent a fermentation and I suspect the yeast needs a little more temperature to process gluten free fermentables. End result, I just keep the thermostat between 70 and 77, put it in a corner and let it do its thing. Simple!

My standard is to ferment for a week, transfer to secondary for two weeks, carbonate in a keg for a week to 10 days and then drink. Usually hit full carbonation at 2 weeks in the keg. I pressurize at 14 psi and let it sit, no rolling etc. The beer needs to condition some anyway so I just let it sit while it is carbonating. I use Safale US-05 or Safale S-04 yeast. You will see those used a lot unless someone is going for a Saison or something. I would spend your energy finding the ingredients you like such as the type and amounts of hops at bittering, flavoring, and aroma.

If you are brewing extract then you are certainly using sorghum syrup as your base. Makes good beer in my opinion but compared to barley beers, it tends to be a little thin, have a citrus twang and have very little head retention. You will see a lot of discussion in this forum on how to improve the beer in these areas.

My advice is to use 8oz maltodextrin for a 5 gallon batch. Maltodextrin is not fermentable so the yeast does not touch it. It improves mouth feel and body.

Use a pund of belgian candy syrup in a 5 gallon batch. Not the rock candy kind, the inverted sugar syrup. 5L will be good for a pale beer 45L will bring a little more flavor and bring it toward the amber.

I would get your gravity up to 1.050 to 1.060. Personal taste, but everyone thought my beers were thin when my original gravity was below 1.050.

If you are experimenting to find what you like, you may want to scale down to 3 gallon batches. When you have the "early bug" it is fun to brew a lot anyway.

If you are going to do some experimenting with hops etc. you might want to consider bottling a 6 pack each batch so that you can save for some head-to-head comparison.

 

[ericbw]

If you're using an ale yeast, then ignore the instructions starting with "Lagers are fermented..." down to "You can be sure..." The rest applies to ales.

 

[mergs]

Post up the type of yeast that the kit contains, and we can all give you definitive answers. As others have said, ales are simpler but if this is a "Bards clone" kit its probably a lager yeast (bard's website claims they're a 100% sorghum lager beer). Once you tell us the yeast, we'll know.

By the way, just a thought, if you don't want to mess with the lagering and ferment at room temps, in all honesty I don't see why you can't go down to a local homebrew supply and buy a packet of Safale US-05 ale yeast ($3-4) and just use that instead. Room temp fermentations are way easier to manage than lager temps (usually the trick with ales is keeping the temps below the mid 70's rather than trying to keep the yeast cold as in lager yeast) so a few less things to manage and worry about would be better for a new brewer. It won't be Bard's but then again, it might be better

 

[ong]

Agree about trying to brew it as an ale if it came with a lager yeast -- seems like lagering a beer might be a little too much for your first time out. You're already kegging, which comes with it's own complications. If you pick up an ale yeast like US-05, you'll have a clean, non-funky beer and not have to worry about the complexities of lagering.

 

[number40fan]

Thanks for the replies. Not home to check exactly which yeast the kit came with, but after looking at the picture of the box on midwestsupplies, it looks like it says it is a Saflager 34/70.

I already have a fridge available to keep everything cool, so that won't be an issue either. It looks like I'll be going the lager route then. It does sound more complicated, but that would be me in a nutshell.

I did get a GF honey ale to try as well. Maybe I should start with that. Hmm.

Well, thanks again for the replies. I'd better get back to work.

 

[AlCophile]

number40fan:
1) Get Palmer's book :How To Brew", cheap on Amazon.
2) Sign up for free Chemistry of Beer course from JANUX at U. of Oklahoma in August, or, archived.

 

[ong]

Good luck, and feel free to ask questions!

 

[glutarded-chris]

I second the suggestion to get "How to Brew"!!!

@AlCophile ... I am intrigued by your suggestion for the JANUX course! Can you elaborate? I did just fine with "How to Brew" and this forum when I started with GF extract brewing, but when I ventured into partial mash I realized that I had to get a handle on my water chemistry etc. Had trouble getting clear guidance. I bought "Water" by John Palmer and Colin Kaminiski and that helped me at least get a strategy for my mash water. Really interested to know what was in the JANUX course you suggested. Thanks!

 

[number40fan]

Home finally, and the yeast is Saflager. Funny part too is the box says "Time 'til ready = 6 weeks". Must have forgot to read their own directions.

Bards is very limited in the area and luckily while trying to find some in stock I happened across a store that offers "case" discounts. Knocks the price down to $7.50 a six pack. At this price I could factor in time versus cost versus what I am going to screw up trying to replicate this, but again, I am one that likes to do everything for himself. I'll see this through and hope for a good outcome.

 

[ong]

The real appeal for me isn't so much saving money as it is getting to mess with recipes and learning to make exactly what you want. You think, "that batch was really good... I wonder what it would be like with a little lemon zest?"

 

[ericbw]

A lager is harder for your first time out. If you're able to get an ale yeast, I bet you'd get a similar/drinkable result from it. And you'd get it faster, too.

 

[number40fan]

Well, everything seemed to go ok today. Only two worries that are still bothering me. First off was the 30 quart turkey fryer. I cleaned and cleaned and sanitized, but still had some water discoloration while coming up to a boil. Our water isn't the best, but I only used water that I ran through a purifier. Then the wort chiller. Same step of cleaning and sanitizing, but it came out cleaner (shinier) then when I put it in. Maybe should have picked up a stainless steel chiller.

Tick...tock. Only time will tell.

Smelled good when cooking, though!

 

[ericbw]

Are you saying the pot ended up discolored? If it's aluminum, that's normal (and some people say it's good).

 

[number40fan]

The entire pot did end up discolored at the end of the process, but during the 'bring up to a boil' the water had a tint to it. I did notice some burn marks on the inside of the pot while bring up to a boil and maybe that is what it was. Aluminum pot too.

I took a bit of a taste test from the fermenter (lid still on, out of the drain valve/spigot) and I have to say it tasted good. Some floaters still, but ummmm. Bubbling going on out of the airlock after only a day.

Been one day...how many more?

 

[ericbw]

The entire pot did end up discolored at the end of the process, but during the 'bring up to a boil' the water had a tint to it. I did notice some burn marks on the inside of the pot while bring up to a boil and maybe that is what it was. Aluminum pot too.

I took a bit of a taste test from the fermenter (lid still on, out of the drain valve/spigot) and I have to say it tasted good. Some floaters still, but ummmm. Bubbling going on out of the airlock after only a day.

Been one day...how many more?

First, no more tastes or opening the valve. For one thing, the yeast is on the bottom, so leave it alone. Secondly, even a tiny drip can turn into something bigger.

If you're using the lager yeast, follow the instructions you posted. It ha to go a week to get through most of the fermentation, then lager at a cold temp for several more weeks.

Try to forget it's there. Get a batch of ale going that will finish before the lager is done.

 

[number40fan]

I do have another air lock on the way to make the ale this weekend.