Gluten Free Beer - Reviews and Comments?

HBO_Staff

We'd love to hear any feedback and reviews from anyone with experience of the Gluten Free beer kits such as Gone With The Wheat if you have any;

HBO_Staff

Brand new Gluten Free kit added to the range; Gone With The Wheat English Bitter;

http://home-brew-online.myshopify.com/collections/all/products/copy-of-gone-with-the-wheat-english-bitter

Ian

Hi

I have recently returned to home-brewing (after a 35 year gap when in my younger days my dad and I used to do the Boots brand beer kits!)  I was no expert then and am certainly not now.  However, having recently being diagnosed as a coeliac I require a GF diet and miss my beer very much.  I cannot afford the prices for the commercial brews - despite some of these being very good - so I returned to home-brewing and purchased my first kit - Gone With The Wheat Czech Pilsner.

I cannot comment on the quality of the beer as yet as it is still doing its first stage fermenting but I can share early thoughts on the process so far :

• Kit very easy to use and appears similar to other non-GF kits
  
• Fermentation did not seem to start straight away despite following instructions and storing at constant 20 degrees C. Probably got going after a couple of days.
  
• Not much froth appears on surface during fermentation but it is certainly happening steadily and bubbles can be seen and heard
• 1st stage fermentation is meant to last 5 to 7 days according to the instructions in the kit but mine has been fermenting for 14 days now and still going - hydrometer reading still above the 'bottling' threshold at 1.22
• Getting a bit worried this is taking too long but its definitely still active and I'm concerned if I bottle now it will be too much for the bottles
• I did a Google and found other comments from home-brewers on a US site that said they always fermented for 14+ days

I would be grateful for any views/advice on how long I should leave the fermenting for - I don't want it to go off. I will update my review of the kit as things progress.

Kind regards

Ian

HBO_Staff

Hi Ian, welcome back to home brewing! Don't worry if it takes longer, this is no bad thing, it may ferment a bit faster if you warm it up a few degrees, but there is no need as long as it keeps fermenting away - don't be tempted to bottle until it has finished, it's just a case of waiting for it to finish

Ian

Hi.  Thanks for the reassurance.  It's still on the go but hydrometer gradually heading in right direction (1.18 today) so I'll stick with it and update when its all sorted.

Kind regards

Ian

platos

I found it took ten days for the first fermentation.The last batch was the Czech larger I put two spoons of sugar in the bottles for the second fermentation.do so at your own risk though.I used plastic bottles and made sure the bottles were only filled to the bottom of the neck..I took two bottles in the car on a trip and the bottle exploded so take note. It's a lovely lively brew though.

Ian

Update on the GF beer progress.

Started on 6/5/13

17/6/13 added finings when hydrometer read 1.010

Bottled in plastic screw tops on 20/6/13 with half a spoon of sugar added

Tried a bottle 10/8/13 - beer was very clear but rather flat and light in taste.

On checking other bottles the lids I found most were a bit slack and I think the pressure on bottling must have been significantly higher. I guess I should have kept checking the seal tightness to ensure it was fully closed as pressure reduced(?)

Having opened a few flat ones I decided to add another half a spoon of sugar to a few bottles, tightened up and left for 10 days.  Opened one of these this week and it was really lively, keeping a thin head. Just needed leaving a little longer for re-settling following 3'rd fermentation.  The taste was still light but it seemed a little stronger in alcohol.

I have subsequently added half a spoon more sugar to all remaining bottles and hopefully if I leave this a few weeks it should all be settled and ready for consumption.....watch this space.

My learning from this whole experience is to try and speed up first fermentation (7 weeks was rather long!) and I will get a heat mat to try and achieve this.  Taking the experience of the previous post from 'platos', I will add more sugar for second fermentation, leave a little more space in the bottle and ensure tight closure (and keep checking).  Maybe try English Bitter kit next time too.

HBO_Staff

A heating device often speeds up fermentation, if you do add more priming sugar than it states just be careful that too much pressure doesn't build up, store them somewhere out of the way to be on the safe side! If using a heater tray then you can also stand your bottles on there for a couple of days to get the secondary fermentation going more quickly too