Gluten free beer

[mediumsk]

yeah yeah I know it sucks

that said, a good buddy of mine's wife has been diagnosed with a mild to bad gluten intolerance. Not being able to keep my hands out of any brewing cookie jar I said I would try to makle something tasty.

She loves beer especially IPA and stout, both of these styles have some pretty over the top flavors which I think can hide/temper the taste of sorghum. I made a beer a long time ago from just sorghum extract and it had a strong grassy minty taste. The other problem is that it ferments down to extra bone dry.
Can anyone recommend some ways to build body? My mind goes to D or D2 Syrups for caramel notes and to GF rolled oats for mouthfeel ( can I use Alpha Amylase enzyme to convert these and then quickly denature with heat to keep some body?)

I live about 20 minutes away from what is probably one of the biggest GF product producers http://www.bobsredmill.com/
so i have some options,
does anyone know if any of these grains have any enzymatic power let alone enough to help convert other grains?

the last thing is hops.
A super dry beer is ok for an IPA but the minty sorghum taste will probably clash with alot of hops.
I'm thinking something like bittereing with northern brewer or chinook (piney/minty/rough) and then lots of late hops either more minty hops or a late hop/dry hop bill like Pliny that amounts to a very piney aroma and mouthfeel.
has anyone done this before?

I'm not looking for recipes, just ideas, the information out there is pretty sparse

[DannyW]

I think maltodextrine is corn based and gluten free. Perhaps that could be used to add back some body? I use 125g in 19L for root beer and it seems just about right.

[BDawg]

You are a good friend to do this for her.

Cal common might be a good choice, too. It butts right up against APA in hoppy/bitter/amber/caramel flavors, with the accent on minty NB. IMHO, A good Cal Common can be made using just about any decent APA recipe but with NB hops and SF Lager yeast substituted in. (That said, a Cal Common using Cal Ale might work just fine for her too, if you don't want to go through the extra time and lower temps needed for a CC.)

Whatever you end up doing, I'd do a test batch or 2 first, though. Maybe split up a 5 gal wort and try it with a few different hop and yeast varieties to see how they work. Then you can pick one and tweak it before unleashing it on others.

HTH-

[Moby]

My wife is a Celiac, and is allergic to gluten. I've tried several times, but I've never made a great beer from gluten free ingredients. (Mainly sorghum extract from MoreBeer!)

Charlie Papazian had an awesome article in Zymurgy a few months ago about brewing gluten free beers. It really opened my eyes. The article talks about a professor from the UC Davis brewing program who has Celiacs disease. He has a couple beers a day with no issues. There are apparently different levels of gluten intolerance. As long as you stay away from wheat, most Celiacs can have one or two beers with no issues. Apparently the barley gluten is not the same protein as the wheat gluten. The professor says to avoid wheat beers at all costs. Knowing that macro brews have no wheat, and a good deal of rice (which is ok for Celiacs), I ran a trial with my wife to see if she had any issues. I gave her a natty light, and she was fine. Charlie's article also talks about a new enzyme which is not available for homebrewers that shows promise in denaturing the gluten protien making beers ok for Celiacs.

I've been slowly giving my wife tastes of my beers to see if she has a negative reaction. So far so good.

But to get back to the original question, I have no answer on a recipe for a gluten free beer. But I was reading the winner's list from the most recent GABF, and there is a gluten free category. The winner was a Raspberry lambic. This seems like a perfect beer for Celiacs, and I intend on brewing one soon. The main issue with gluten free alternatives, is the texture and mouthfeel. A lambic is more sour than malty, so it may be the perfect recipe for a decent Celiac beer. I'll let you know how it turns out when its finished in six months.