First Brew Ever (Gluten Free), First Taste: Thumbs Up

I decided to start brewing beer because my girlfriend is allergic to wheat and the market beers just don’t taste good to her. The first beer I did was an extract gluten free beer.

I went straight to kegs. It’s been sitting in the keg for two weeks. I just did a blind taste test with three people, using my brew and Red Bridge.

Everybody picked my brew. The three main comments were:

Taster 1: i like the carbonation and smell

Taster 2: i like the strong “hoppiness”

Taster 3: it (red bridge) smells like elmer’s glue and it’s flat, this one (mine) has some bite and tastes a lot more like beer than that (red bridge)

My perspective is that it is a bit bitter but I like that taste so maybe it will soften its flavor profile over time.

I guess that qualifies as a successful brew. My girlfriend hasn’t tasted it yet so it’s probably a fail if she doesnt like it.

I want to thank everybody here for the advice and guidance on everything from buying equipment to how to brew, etc. One never knows if they did everything right until the first taste. It’s probably the most expensive 5 gallons of beer I’ve ever had in my fridge ;D

congrats! can you post the recipe? I have a celiac friend or two and am interested in trying out some GF recipes.

Yes, Austin Homebrew had the recipe.  You can order it from them.  I believe it is available as an extract, partial, or all grain recipe as well.

So I checked out Austin HBS and I saw the GF pale ale recipe but I did not see a partial mash version only the white sorghum extract version. What grains did you mash for this recipe? partially I want to know so I can try it and partially I want to make sure you don’t make your girl friend ill. a gluten intollerant person can’t ussually handle barley either and oats are only safe if they are from a certified GF processor. Depending on the individual buckwheat can also be a problem as can tritical(sp?) and most of the other wheat like grains. i think corn is okay and I know quinoa and amaranth are okay. Millet is also okay, in fact it’s the seed of the plant that sorghum syrup is made from and can be malted, mashed and brewed with as well.

Hi Jet,
It would be great if you could post your recipe to the Gluten Free Recipes section of the AHA Homebrewopedia wiki (http://wiki.homebrewersassociation.org/Recipes).  We are trying to build up the recipes for Gluten Free beers for people in your (and your wife’s) situation.  Congratulations on brewing a beer that satisfies the challenges of your wife’s condition, and meet the expectations you have for tasty beer.
Cheers,
Janis

Here’s a link I stumbled upon a while back regarding gluten free recipes. Cheers!!!

http://www.facebook.com/GlutenFreeHomeBrewing?sk=app_4949752878

I apologize, I used the extract version.  Not sure why I typed that.  I was thinking about my second beer that I’m doing today.

Is she allergic to gluten, or to wheat? Just curious.

both actually

Ok thanks. My sister’s boyfriend is allergic to barley but not to wheat. I could brew him a wheat beer… if he liked beer.

Sounds like your sister needs a new boyfriend.

Honestly, he’s so sweet to her, I forgive him.  :smiley:

Post of the year by Tom Schmidlin! ;D