Rethinking Gluten-Free Homebrewing
The widening awareness of Celiac disease over the last several years has given rise to a huge new segment of food and beverages nationwide: Gluten-free. From cookies, pasta, bread and jams, to brewed libations, gluten-free is big business. And while there is a relative bevy of fermented beverages available to gluten-free beer connoisseurs on the market (and more arriving on the scene all the time), the homebrew world seems to be lagging woefully behind.
We know from mountains of clinical research that Celiac disease is not a simple black-or-white matter. There are many people who do not meet the medical definition for Celiac but who still have gluten insensitivity that can make “standard” beer unpleasant (or worse) to consume. In the interest of the most extreme sensitivities on the entire gluten insensitivity spectrum, this article is focused on being 100% gluten-free, although there are ways to brew that are very low-gluten for those who are less sensitive (which I will address at the end).
Generally speaking, there are essentially no pre-malted/kilned gluten-free grains available in small quantities for the homebrew market. There are 50+ options for malted barley and related grains, but similarly processed gluten-free grains (see the table on page 44 for a list of popular gluten-free grains) just don’t seem to exist in the same numbers and quantities. Of course, you can malt, kiln, and roast your own gluten-free grains, such as amaranth, quinoa, millet, or buckwheat, among others. The process is time consuming but results in base malt ingredients much closer to traditional malted barley. Homebrewers who have roasted their own barley will recognize some of the steps in this process.
However, in the interest of keeping the article within the scope of extract brewers and keeping things simple, I will stick with what is essentially one of the most viable options as a main fermentable: sorghum extract.
Sorghum: The Last Resort
Let’s not kid ourselves here. As a substitute for malt extract, sorghum extract just doesn’t measure up. Barley and sorghum are totally different creatures, and their extracts resemble each other mainly in the facts that they are gooey, light brown and contain fermentable sugars. And while sorghum is used in many beers across Africa, such as the sour and low-alcohol Umqombothi or Chibuku, it simply does not produce the type of flavor and mouthfeel that American and European palates have come to expect from beer. As the base malt for a beer, it is less than ideal. But to be fair to sorghum, it really isn’t barley, and we should not expect it to produce comparable results as a mere drop-in replacement for malted barley. We need to adjust our expectations — and tweak our recipes a bit — to get the most out of sorghum extract.
If you follow the typical gluten-free recipe you may encounter in magazines or on websites, the resulting beer is typically thin, fizzy and seriously lacking in body. It may also have a cider-like flavor not unlike acetaldehyde (a cause of the “green apple” off-flavor in barley-based beers). And while there are many adjuncts that are gluten-free (see table on page 48 for a list of gluten-free adjuncts), the vast majority do not contribute body since they ferment out nearly completely.
You can use the same adjuncts that macro-brewers such as InBev and SABMiller use, such as corn and rice, but these ingredients add very little to the flavor, color, or body. Lactose will add body, as it is not fermentable, but it can also add residual sweetness. Gluten-free malto-dextrin is also an option for adding mouthfeel; it is made from corn, is not fermentable and has no sweetness. Dark Belgian candi sugar will add some color and some caramel notes (which can substitute for the sorely missing roasty malted barley flavors), but will not noticeably help with body. As an alternative, you could use jaggery, piloncillo, brown sugar, or even make your own caramel on the stovetop.
Brown rice syrup also has a growing reputation as a suitable replacement for malt extract in gluten-free recipes. It is reportedly superior to sorghum extract in reproducing common beer styles, such as IPAs, stouts, and other ales, and there are a great many gluten-free homebrewers who prefer it. It has a clean flavor with none of the aftertaste of sorghum. Briess also adds dextrins to their brown rice syrup to help compensate for the lack of body. However, I have not used it myself so I have not included it in this story. If you want to try some brown rice syrup recipes, however, gluten-free homebrewer Desiree Knott of High Gravity Homebrewing & Winemaking Supplies in Tulsa, Oklahoma shared a few of her favorites at the end of this story (along with my sorghum-based recipe).
Embrace the Strengths
Given that sorghum extract is ubiquitous, inexpensive and easy for any brewer to implement into their brewing system, it makes sense to try to work around its characteristics that do not compare well to malt extract and focus more on what sorghum does well. After all, not every beer style requires a potent malt punch in order to be “to style.”
So what does sorghum do well? It finishes light in color and body and is somewhat fruity on the palate. So it doesn’t make a particularly “accurate” barleywine or big malty brown ale, but some styles it can be used to mimic include saison, lambic and many recipes/styles that rely on fruity, sour, spicy, or “wild” flavor profiles. I suspect that sorghum could even make a convincing Berliner weiss-alike, despite not being able to use any wheat in the malt bill, because of the tartness of the original style and its light color. A sorghum-based brew could be a great platform for fresh local fruit, or maybe you’d like to try out a wacky high-temperature Belgian concoction. Don’t limit yourself style-wise when coming up with sorghum-based homebrew recipes, because you will likely be disappointed if you expect a middle-of-the-road pale ale out of this type of grain.
Brew Gear Considerations
In a lot of ways, brewing gluten-free is similar to brewing with brettanomyces, lactobacillus, pediococcus, and other members of the “funky bunch” with respect to gear. Keep your gluten-free equipment separate from your standard brew gear. As with brett, cross-contamination of equipment is a real concern. Simply cleaning and sanitizing your standard brewing equipment is not sufficient. If you are going to brew beer that you can be confident is truly gluten-free, you need keep your equipment separate to be absolutely sure you’re not cross contaminating.
Know Your Ingredients
Make sure that every ingredient you are using is gluten-free. That includes anything that will go in the kettle or the fermenter, such as finings, yeast nutrient, and other non-flavor additives. If you cannot verify that a given ingredient is not gluten-free, do not use it. People with Celiac, or even less-severe gluten insensitivity, can get very sick from even very low levels of gluten.
The “Brewers Clarex™” Option
Up until very recently, brewing gluten-free beers has required sticking strictly to the practices of avoiding all grains and ingredients that contain gluten and keeping any equipment used for gluten-free brewing quarantined from anything that touches glutenous grains. However, brewers have discovered that an enzyme released several years ago that is used traditionally to prevent chill haze can also break down proteins, including gluten, in beer. Brewers Clarex™, which was developed by DSM Food Specialties, can produce a beer made from traditional barley or wheat that can test below 20 ppm of gluten, which is the current international standard to be considered truly gluten-free. To use Brewers Clarex™, brewers simply add the enzyme to a batch of beer when pitching the yeast and it does its thing during fermentation. In fact, there are now commercial craft brews produced in this same way. For example, Omission beers, which are brewed by Widmer Brothers in Portland, Oregon, are brewed with Brewers Clarex™ in conjunction with a strict cleaning and sanitation process in the brewhouse and recipes utilizing lower-gluten grains to keep gluten levels below the 20-ppm threshold in their finished beers. While many gluten-free and gluten-sensitive beer drinkers have responded very well to beers brewed this way, this process should be approached on a case-by-case basis in homebrewing depending on the gluten-free drinker, and plan on lab testing your finished beers to be sure that the gluten level is low enough. If you want to try homebrewing with Brewers Clarex™, White Labs has it available for homebrewers under the name CLARITY-FERM (WLN4000). White Labs also offers gluten testing for homebrews as an add-on to their Beer Test Kit or Alcohol Test Kit Plus, which will let you know if your homebrew meets the 20-ppm criteria. These test kits are available in homebrew shops and directly from White Labs by creating an individual account at Yeastman.com. For more information about Brewers Clarex™, visit www.dsm.com/products/brewersclarex/en_US/home.html.
Go Gluten-Free
Even if you’re not gluten-free yourself, chances are you have a friend who is, so it’s not a bad idea to try experimenting with gluten-free brewing. After all, the more beer drinkers at your next homebrew get-together the better, right?
Gluten-Free Homebrew Recipes
Sans Glutonne Saison
(by Forrest Whitesides)
(5 gallons/19 L, extract only)
OG = 1.055 FG = 1.010
IBU = 20 SRM = 24 ABV = 5.8%
Ingredients
6.6 lbs. (3 kg) light sorghum syrup (3 °L)
1.0 lb. (0.45 kg) dark Belgian candi sugar (275 °L)
2 AAU Hallertau Hersbrucker leaf hops (60 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g of 4% alpha acids)
2 AAU Hallertau Hersbrucker leaf hops (40 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g of 4% alpha acids)
2 AAU Hallertau Hersbrucker leaf hops (20 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g of 4% alpha acids)
2 AAU Hallertau Hersbrucker leaf hops (10 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g of 4% alpha acids)
0.5 oz. (14 g) Juniper Berries, crushed (15 min.)
1 pkg Danstar Belle Saison dry yeast
Priming sugar (if bottling)
Step by Step
Add 6.0 gallons (23 L) of spring water to the brew kettle. For smaller kettles, add 3–4 gallons (11–15 L) initially and top off after boiling with the remainder. Bring the water to 150 °F (66 °C) and begin stirring in the sorghum syrup. Continue stirring until all of the syrup is in solution. Make sure none is collecting at the bottom, as it can scorch just like malt extract. Stir in the Belgian candi sugar and keep working the crystals until they are dissolved. Or if you bought the syrup version, just dump it in and stir briefly. When the wort comes to a boil, add 0.5 oz. (14 g) of Hallertau Hersbrucker leaf hops. Add additional 0.5 oz. (14 g) increments of hops with 40 minutes, 20 minutes, and 10 minutes remaining in the boil. With 15 minutes remaining in the boil, add the crushed juniper berries to the kettle. After 60 minutes of boiling, remove from heat and chill to approximately 70-75 °F (21-24 °C). Transfer the cooled wort to a fermentation vessel and aerate. If the collected wort is less than 5 gallons (19 L), top off with bottled spring water. Pitch the dry yeast directly into the fermenter. Ferment for approximately 7-10 days in the range of 70-76 °F (21-24 °C)
Pilsner Geben Frei
(by Desiree Knott)
(5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains)
OG = 1.046 FG = 1.011
IBU = 54 SRM = 3 ABV = 4.7%
Ingredients
6 lbs. (2.7 kg) brown rice syrup (2 °L)
12 oz. (0.35 kg) oat malt (2 °L)
12 oz. (0.35 kg) flaked rice (1 °L)
2 oz. (56 g) turbinado sugar (10 °L)
12 AAU Saaz hops (60 min.) (3 oz./ 84 g at 4% alpha acids)
4 AAU Saaz hops (15 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 4% alpha acids)
2 AAU Saaz hops (5 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g at 4% alpha acids)
White Labs WLP001 (California Ale), Wyeast 1056 (American Ale), Fermentis Safale US-05 or Lallemand BRY-97 yeast
Priming sugar (if bottling)
Step by Step
Crush or grind the grains and place in a muslin or paint strainer bag. Dough-in with 3 qts. (2.8 L) water to target a temperature of 150 °F (66 °C). Hold the mash at 150 °F (66 °C) until enzymatic conversion is complete. Raise the temperature to mash out at 168 °F (76 °C) and hold for 5 minutes. Raise the grain bag out of wort and wash the grains with 168 °F (76 °C) water. Top off your boil kettle to 6 gallons (23 L) and add rice syrup off heat. Stir until syrup is dissolved, then return the kettle to heat and bring to a boil. Boil the wort 60 minutes, adding hops at times indicated. Chill the wort to 68 °F (20 °C), aerate thoroughly and pitch yeast. Ferment at 68 °F (20 °C) until the yeast drops clear. Rack to a keg and force carbonate or rack to a bottling bucket, add priming sugar, and bottle. Target a carbonation level of 2.4 volumes.
Brown Rice Pale Ale
(by Desiree Knott)
(5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains)
OG = 1.061 FG = 1.016
IBU = 47 SRM = 6 ABV = 6.3%
Ingredients
6 lbs. (2.7 kg) brown rice syrup (2 °L)
1 lb. (0.45 kg) buckwheat, roasted (3 °L)
1 lb. (0.45 kg) oat malt (2 °L)
1 lb. (0.45 kg) quinoa, sprouted (1 °L)
8 oz. (0.23 kg) brown sugar, dark (50 °L)
6.5 AAU Chinook hops (60 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g at 13% alpha acids)
6.5 AAU Chinook hops (15 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g at 13% alpha acids)
5.5 AAU Citra® hops (15 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g at 11% alpha acids)
5.5 AAU Citra® hops (5 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g at 11% alpha acids)
White Labs WLP001 (California Ale), Wyeast 1056 (American Ale), Fermentis Safale US-05 or Lallemand BRY-97 yeast
Priming sugar (if bottling)
Step by Step
Crush or grind the grains and place in a muslin or paint strainer bag. Dough-in with 5 qts. (4.7 L) water to target a temperature of 154 °F (68 °C). Hold the mash at 154 °F (68 °C) until enzymatic conversion is complete. Raise the temperature to mash out at 168 °F (76 °C) and hold for 5 minutes. Raise the grain bag out of wort and wash the grains with hot water. Top off your boil kettle to 6 gallons (23 L) and add rice syrup off heat. Stir until syrup is dissolved, then return the kettle to heat and bring to a boil. Boil the wort 60 minutes, adding hops at times indicated. Chill the wort to 65 °F (18 °C), aerate thoroughly and pitch yeast. Ferment at 65 °F (18 °C) until the yeast drops clear then drop the temperature to 52 °F (11 °C) and store for 3 weeks at this temperature. Rack to a keg and force carbonate or rack to a bottling bucket, add priming sugar, and bottle. Target a carbonation level of 2.4 volumes.
