Finally, I come to the end of my "Goals Update" series with a post discussing my fifth goal from a year ago:
Successfully brew a halfway-decent gluten-free beer.
So, you ask, how did things go on the homebrewing front? Well, to put it shortly, good and bad. My friends Chris and Zohaib and I began our homebrewing mission by producing "gluten-reduced" beer. Namely, we used Clarity Ferm, a clearing agent, to "denature" some of the gluten proteins found in a standard barley beer. The result was a fantastically delicious blonde ale which unfortunately made me quite sick. It was a worth a try, but I unfortunately had to try a different approach. I then brewed up a gluten-free pale ale recipe from Austin Homebrew Supply that called for a sorghum base and a generous supply of hops. The result? I didn't get sick, but the sorghum made for an off-putting, metal-like flavor. I was quite disheartened at this stage in the game, but I then read about chestnut beers on HomeBrewTalk.com. I quickly went to work, and after a failed initial recipe, I successfully brewed a delicious Chestnut Sweet Stout from chestnuts, oats, brown rice syrup, molasses, milk sugar, and espresso. For the recipe, check out my post on the HomeBrewTalk.com forums.
Lately, I have dived into a different arena - crafting homebrewed cider. My first product, inspired by Edwort's Apfelwein, is almost complete, and it is a fantastic, dry cider at about 9% abv. I oaked it using medium-toasted oak cubes which were soaked in whiskey, which I found rounds out the cider quite nicely. I am quite excited to taste the cider upon completion (it is already quite nice at this stage), and I look forward to brewing up more ciders in the future.
Goal Status: Outstanding Success
Successfully brew a halfway-decent gluten-free beer.
So, you ask, how did things go on the homebrewing front? Well, to put it shortly, good and bad. My friends Chris and Zohaib and I began our homebrewing mission by producing "gluten-reduced" beer. Namely, we used Clarity Ferm, a clearing agent, to "denature" some of the gluten proteins found in a standard barley beer. The result was a fantastically delicious blonde ale which unfortunately made me quite sick. It was a worth a try, but I unfortunately had to try a different approach. I then brewed up a gluten-free pale ale recipe from Austin Homebrew Supply that called for a sorghum base and a generous supply of hops. The result? I didn't get sick, but the sorghum made for an off-putting, metal-like flavor. I was quite disheartened at this stage in the game, but I then read about chestnut beers on HomeBrewTalk.com. I quickly went to work, and after a failed initial recipe, I successfully brewed a delicious Chestnut Sweet Stout from chestnuts, oats, brown rice syrup, molasses, milk sugar, and espresso. For the recipe, check out my post on the HomeBrewTalk.com forums.
Lately, I have dived into a different arena - crafting homebrewed cider. My first product, inspired by Edwort's Apfelwein, is almost complete, and it is a fantastic, dry cider at about 9% abv. I oaked it using medium-toasted oak cubes which were soaked in whiskey, which I found rounds out the cider quite nicely. I am quite excited to taste the cider upon completion (it is already quite nice at this stage), and I look forward to brewing up more ciders in the future.
Goal Status: Outstanding Success
Second Chance: A Gluten-Free Chestnut Sweet Stout
High Noon: A Gluten-Free Red Quinoa Pale Ale
Fruit of the Entwives: An Oak-Conditioned Extra Dry Cider
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