Extract brewing is the style of beer brewing I've done for my first four batches. One adds malt "extract" - the result of processing some grains, but that someone else has done. It saves time versus "all grain" brewing. The batches I've brewed so far have also all been 5-gallon batches. Well, I was fortunate to have been given a copy of Brooklyn Brew Shop's Beer Making Book, and this book is geared toward all-grain brewing of one-gallon batches. What a wonderful way to experiment! If I try something new and it turns out horribly, I've not wasted all of those materials. If I try something that turns out wonderfully, then I can brew a larger batch. Or I may just brew small batches of a number of beers. Experimentation is a big part of what makes homebrewing fun!
SO ...I was curious about gluten-free beer, since I know a number of people who need to avoid gluten, and others who prefer to at least minimize their intake. And frankly, I really wondered just how the heck one could brew good tasting beer without using barley or rye or yeast that contains gluten.
The first pic (click on the image above to see larger) is my first foray into small-batch brewing, and also my first attempt at all-grain brewing. Oh, and, of course, the first try at brewing a gluten-free beer.
The first step was to assemble the supplies. I picked up a couple of one-gallon jugs, some caps, a couple of airlocks, a large funnel, and the most expensive item of all (by far!) was the 10" fine mesh strainer (that sucker was about $35!)
Normally, one would use various malt grains - "caramel", "biscuit", etc - roasted to different darknesses, and then milled (crushed). These are then steeped (sort of like tea) to extract the sugars. For gluten-free beer, I used a recipe from the above-mentioned book. This recipe - instead of using standard malt grains - uses grated carrots, basmati rice, quinoa, and some rice hulls (to help filter the mash).
Mash: Those 2 1/2 pounds of carrots and grains were then steeped for an hour in 2 1/2 quarts of water.
Sparge: The mash was poured through the large strainer, then another gallon of heated water was poured through. And then all the liquid was again poured through the carrots/grains.
Boil: The liquid from the carrots/grains was brought to a boil, and hops added at 5 points during the 60-minute boil (now it was starting to smell like beer). At the end of the boil, more hops and a cup of sugar were stirred in. When that was done, I used an ice bath in the sink to cool the pot of wort down to 70F before straining and pouring through a funnel into the jug (as with any equipment after the boil, the strainer, funnel, jug, etc - and my hands - were sanitized). The (gluten-free) Nottingham yeast was poured into the jug, I covered the jug opening with my (sanitized) hand, shook the heck out of it to mix the yeast, and sealed that baby up.
As the beer ferments, the yeast will put off alcohol (which we want to keep - duh!), and CO2, which needs to be released. So before putting the beer (and yeast) into the fermenter (the one-gallon jug), there needed to be a cap with an airlock. I did this before starting the brewing. Caps are cheap ($0.15) plastic. My first attempt at drilling a hole for the airlock was too aggressive and I broke it. I'd bought an extra cap, so this time went much more slowly, first drilling a small hole and then using ever larger bits and going s-l-o-w-l-y, finally had a hole the correct size to give the airlock a snug fit. A bead of superglue was used to secure the airlock to the cap.
And now, the next morning, I've taken a peek and can see that fermentation is starting. With a little luck and some work from the yeast, I should be ready to bottle this gluten-free hoppy beer in 2 weeks, and ready to sample it 2 weeks after that. It's not going to be a strong beer (expected to come in around 3.5%), but that's fine if it tastes good! I'll post an update as fermentation progresses.
Cheers!
March 23, 2013 ;)
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