Newbie with gluten intolerance

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Yawn65

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Hi all
I am a new member with little to no experience in brewing and coeliac disease, which means I can't tolerate barley, wheat or Rye - all of the yummy stuff that normally goes into most beers!
I was diagnosed about 4 years ago in my mid-forties so had enough time to develop a taste for half decent beer.

I've tried many of the Gluten free beers on the market, and whilst I enjoy them I do find them a bit pricey so tend to revert to drinking cider. I like cider but still long for the taste of beer without the high cost!
With this in mind I'm having a crack at brewing one of the 'Gone with the wheat' lager kits.
Not sure if anyone on this forum has tried these but I'm 5 days into fermentation and have yet to see a single bubble work its way through the air lock!
Would anyone know if this is normal for this type of kit?
Grateful for any help and realise I'm probably posting this in the wrong category but thought I could kill 2 birds with 1 stone :cheers:
thanks
Brian
 
I've done a Gone With The Wheat kit, but I brewed it in two halves using demijohns. If yours is in a bin - they rarely seal well enough to trouble the airlock all that much.
My wife is coeliac and while I've mostly been making her turbociders and wines, I've done a few ales...

Has there been a foamy top? Should have formed sometime in the first 3 days and may have subsided by now.
Do you have a hydrometer you can check progress with? What temperature has it been at?
If you suspect it's not started, try chucking in more yeast. If the original yeast went in when the wort was too hot you might have killed it.

I've also brewed a "mild" using a can of the sorghum syrup and my own additions.

In both cases, it was acceptable, but a good month in the bottle helps that "this is sorghum" taste to fade a bit.

Something else you definitely might want to try is : any standard kit (or recipe) plus a vial of ClarityFerm - an enzyme primarily used to prevent protein haze but which happily chops up the gluten proteins. A few of the UK homebrew suppliers stock it.

Other things you may be interested in at some point:
Duncan Incapable's ersatz ale recipes - Google for his name with "Four Star" and/or "Red Diesel". Truly weird ingredients lists but they work.
Malting some millet and using that instead of barley - malted and roasted right it tastes spot-on, it's just a bit low in sugars so you'd need to add some.
 
Well, t'missus has now had 2 pints of mild made with a standard kit + ClarityFerm and she reckons she'd know by now if she was going to have a reaction.
So that's sorghum off the list for me - it tastes of sorghum! I do have one can of the syrup left that I'll make something with, but after that it's standard kits plus the enzyme.
I do want another go at millet though - it worked well and malting it was fun. And I still want to try a chicha from malted maize...
 
Thanks for the welcome guys, and most especially thanks to oldbloke for all the advice.
My brew is in a plastic 5 gall bucket. There seems to have been some activity within. Checked with a Hydrometer a few hours ago and got a reading of 1.032, but not experienced enough to know if that's good or not?
The brew was cold (about 15 degrees) when I added the yeast and the spot it's in has been showing 21 degrees fairly consistently so I don't think temperature has been a problem.

Like the idea of brewing some millet - you don't have a recipe that would be suitable for a patient (fairly old) newbie by any chance?

I would definitely know if I was going to have a reaction within a pint or less so will try ClarityFerm and let you know how I get on. Seriously encouraged by the results your wife has reported though....

Will definitely Google Duncan Incapables brews as you've got me intrigued now!

Thanks
Brian
 
You just made my wife smile, she loves a cold beer on a hot day - Gluten intolerance has put paid to that... until now. Thanks so much Oldbloke.

And thanks and welcome to Yawn65, without your question I may have missed Clarityferm's gluten reducing qualities :thumb:

Proof there is no such thing as a daft question :D
 
Frogfurlong said:
You just made my wife smile, she loves a cold beer on a hot day - Gluten intolerance has put paid to that... until now. Thanks so much Oldbloke.

And thanks and welcome to Yawn65, without your question I may have missed Clarityferm's gluten reducing qualities :thumb:

Proof there is no such thing as a daft question :D
Click to expand...

Thanks for the welcome Frogfurlong and my pleasure!
:D
 
oldbloke said:
1032 suggests it's barely started, but it you're seeing any activity it'll be fine, it's just had a slow start.
Click to expand...

Thanks OB
The mix went into the bucket last Sunday so tomorrow will be 7 days. How long can it safely stay in the bucket before it's unusable? Should I be testing the strength daily to make sure it's moving in the right direction? Anything I can do (with virtually no brewing kit) to rescue it?
Sorry for all the questions - don't want to screw up my first batch!
 
It can stay in the bucket for ages without a problem but you don't want to be lifting the lid too often in case owt nasty gets in
As it's been slow to start... Give it a week and see what the hydrometer says then
 
oldbloke said:
It can stay in the bucket for ages without a problem but you don't want to be lifting the lid too often in case owt nasty gets in
As it's been slow to start... Give it a week and see what the hydrometer says then
Click to expand...

Hi OB, have just tested the brew and it's at 1.024, so it's moving in the right direction but I'm worried it's going to take an age to get to the 1.010 the instructions say it should reach. Still seeing very little sign of activity from the airlock or bucket.

Any suggestions gratefully received.

Thanks
Brian
 
That's going very slow. I'm not really a beer brewing expert so I'n not sure what's best, sorghum ought to work pretty much the same way as a malt based syrup.
With wine that's slow I just leave it to itself but this probably needs something to hurry it up.
 
I think I'll try raising the temperature a bit. It's in a relatively cool spot so I'll move it and wrap a blanket around it. I seem to recall reading elsewhere on this forum that someone else had a slow time of one of these kits.
It probably didn't help that there was a bit of sorghum syrup in the bottoms of the canisters after I'd 'emptied' them. I should have probably been a bit more aggressive with them. Ho hum, we live and learn I suppose.
Will keep all posted on developments.
 
Hi, should probably be posting in a different section of the forum by now but thought I'd have a last stab here:
Just checked the brew which after 19 days is still in the bucket. Still no activity spotted from the airlock (I'm sure the bucket is probably leaking air from around the lid) and the sg is still only reading 1.022 at a temperature of 21c.
Shall I just leave it in the bucket and wait for it to drop the last 10 or 12 points or do I give it up and just it down the sink before it goes off? :?:

Any help gratefully received
Thanks
Brian
 
Yawn65 said:
Hi, should probably be posting in a different section of the forum by now but thought I'd have a last stab here:
Just checked the brew which after 19 days is still in the bucket. Still no activity spotted from the airlock (I'm sure the bucket is probably leaking air from around the lid) and the sg is still only reading 1.022 at a temperature of 21c.
Shall I just leave it in the bucket and wait for it to drop the last 10 or 12 points or do I give it up and just it down the sink before it goes off? :?:

Any help gratefully received
Thanks
Brian
Click to expand...

Taste it, decide if it's drinkable as it is (you'll have to imagine the carbing up)
If too sweet, try giving it a good stir with a long sterilised spoon
 
It certainly smelt decidedly 'beery' when I was testing it.
Will give it a sip tomorrow - if I don't report back please arrange for a decent burial
:wink:
 
Gave it a taste. Must say, it's not unpleasant, and I'm still alive - both are bonuses in my book :D
Will add the finings and give it another 2 days prior to bottling.

Thanks for all your advice OB.
 

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