Duncan Incapable's "Red Diesel" ersatz ale

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oldbloke
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Duncan Incapable's "Red Diesel" ersatz ale

Post by oldbloke » Thu Apr 03, 2014 7:46 pm

'RED DIESEL' GLUTEN FREE BEER
Ingredients for 5 Gallons
Abbreviations: Dsp Desert Spoon (level); Tsp Teaspoon (level)

Redbush (Rooibos) tea bags 30
PG Tips tea bags 5
Liquorice tea bags 5
Muscovado Sugar 0.2 Kg
Clear Honey 2 Dsp
Lyles Black Treacle 2 Dsp
Marmite 2 Tsp
Goldings Hops 25g
Irish Moss 0.5 Tsp
Vanilla Extract 2 Tsp
Chocolate Essence 2 Tsp
Prune Juice 1 Litre
Yeast Nutrient (as recommended by manufacturer)
Billingtons Golden Granulated Sugar 1.0 Kg
Maltodextrin (Body Bru) 0.5 Kg
Isomerised Hop Extract 4-5 Tsp
Dried Ale Yeast 1Pkt
Gelatine for fining 10-12g
Sugar for priming 40 Tsp

Notes on Ingredients

Redbush Tea Bags - I have used 'TicToc' and 'Redbush Tea Company' tea bags successfully. There is something quite malty about the flavour of redbush tea which is retained during the brewing process. The other characteristic flavour I sometimes note in freshly brewed redbush (sort of germolene antiseptic edge) doesn't seem to come through. Phew!

Golden Sugar - some brands seem to make the beer cloudy and difficult to clear. Billington’s dissolves completely and gives a clear solution.

Maltodextrin (Body Bru, Brew Body) - available from Home Brew Stores makes a big difference to the feel of the beer on the palate. It’s usually made from corn starch and should therefore be gluten free. I'm not coeliac so am not too sensitive to gluten, but half a slice of toast contains enough to upset my system. The Maltodextrin from Youngs doesn't upset me so if it does contain gluten there's not much.

Muscovado Sugar - could be substituted with soft dark brown sugar or demerera. I have also tried Molasses but found the flavour unpleasantly overpowering.

Irish Moss - available from Home Brew Stores. This is supposed to help the beer to clear after bottling. I haven't tried making a batch without it so it may be an unneccessary precaution.

Goldings Hops - dried and vacuum packed from Home Brew Stores. These add a very pleasant beery aroma.

Yeast - from Home Brew Stores. I am currently using Youngs Beer Yeast which comes in a foil packet and can be sprinkled directly onto the wort. (Some yeasts require a more involved preparation before putting them into the brew). Some come as a liquid suspension. Coeliacs should avoid these as the liquid often contains malt.

Yeast nutrient - Some yeast nutrients contain albumen (beware egg-intolerant folks). I use Yeast Vit Nutrient by Brupaks purchased online from http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/

Gelatine - just the ordinary type found in the baking section of a supermarket. It generally comes in sachets containing sufficient gelatine to make a pint of Jelly. This is the amount I use for 5 gallons of beer. Unfortunately this ingredient renders my beer unsuitable for vegetarians. I tried using "Vegegel" instead but the beer stayed cloudy and nothing I did after that would clear it.

Isomerised Hop Extract - This is a time saver. If you use real hops to add bitterness they need to be boiled for at least an hour. I use the liquid extract produced by Ritchie Products Ltd.

Method

My largest pan holds about 6 pints, you can adjust this method if you have a larger pan.

1. Add about a gallon of cold tap water to a sterilised 5 gallon brewing bucket.

2. Boil 6 pints of water in a pan. Turn off heat. Steep 10 teabags in the boiled water for 3 minutes stirring continuously. Remove teabags from tea. Add tea to brewing bucket. (Boiling the tea bags seems to make the brew cloudy)

3. Repeat Step 2 exactly. Twice. (this is necessitated by the small size of my pan). It doesn't matter which tea bags are used when, you just need to make sure there is enough water to extract the full flavour from the bags.

4. Add the following to the brewing bucket and stir vigorously until disolved. ( We are also trying to get plenty of air into the wort at this point)

Vanilla Extract 2 Tsp
Chocolate Essence 2 Tsp
Yeast Nutrient (as recommended by manufacturer)
Billingtons Golden Granulated Sugar 1.0 Kg
Maltodextrin (Body Bru) 0.5 Kg
Prune Juice 1 Litre
Isomerised Hop Extract 3-4 Tsp

5. Boil 6 pints of water in a pan. Turn off heat. Steep 10 teabags in the boiled water for 3 minutes stirring continuously. Remove teabags from tea. Turn heat back on and simmer gently. Add the following to the pan.

Muscovado Sugar 0.2 Kg
Clear Honey 2 Dsp
Lyles Treacle 2 Dsp
Marmite 2 Tsp
Goldings Hops 25g
Irish Moss 0.5 Tsp

Simmer for 15 minutes. Add pan contents to brewing bucket.

6. Top up to 5 Gallons with cold tap water. Put lid on bucket and leave to cool overnight. Room temperature ~21C. is an ideal brewing temperature.

7. Sprinkle dried yeast on surface of wort. Leave for half an hour then stir yeast into wort.

8. Put lid on bucket and leave to ferment for 7-10 days. During this period all the hops will rise to the surface. Towards the end they will drop back under the surface much more.

9. Sterilise the bottles or barrel the beer will be kept in.

10. Add the gelatine to a pint of boiling water and dissolve it. Add the gelatine solution to the barrel or split it equally between the bottles. Add priming sugar at a rate of 1Tsp per pint to the
bottles or barrel.

11. Fill the bottles or barrel with the beer ensuring the gelatine solution is well mixed in.

12. Put bottles or barrel somewhere warmish for a week to ensure the priming sugar is fermented. Leave for at least another week before drinking. A month would be better and will make a big difference.

Additional Notes and Ideas.

This is a very light beer and not very hoppy, but the hop-sweetness balance is about right and people generally seem to like it. It’s as similar to malt-based beer as any of the Gluten Free beers I've tried. It’s also very cheap. It's definitely a good basis for further experimentation.

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Jim
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Re: Duncan Incapable's "Red Diesel" ersatz ale

Post by Jim » Thu Apr 03, 2014 8:28 pm

Nice to see a couple of GF recipes appearing! I might try one out on my wife. :=P
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oldbloke
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Joined: Fri Jul 16, 2010 9:29 am
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Re: Duncan Incapable's "Red Diesel" ersatz ale

Post by oldbloke » Thu Apr 03, 2014 8:43 pm

Well I thought since the GF section exists, it may as well get filled up a bit.
Is Duncan still about, though?

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Jim
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Re: Duncan Incapable's "Red Diesel" ersatz ale

Post by Jim » Thu Apr 03, 2014 8:48 pm

oldbloke wrote:......Is Duncan still about, though?
I didn't remember seeing him for a while, and I checked his profile just now - last seen May 2013. :(
NURSE!! He's out of bed again!

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duncan incapable
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Re: Duncan Incapable's "Red Diesel" ersatz ale

Post by duncan incapable » Mon Nov 24, 2014 7:39 pm

Hi Folks

I am still about but not very often any more. The commercial brewers have started specifying on their labels if the beer is made with barley or wheat and barley. Turns out I can drink beer if it doesn't contain wheat. The incentive to home brew is significantly diminished now, particularly as we've moved to a 425 year old house which is a 'project' and takes up all my time.

cheers

D
I'd rather have a full bottle in front of me than a full frontal lobotomy, but either will do

drinking: Four Star
conditioning: Four Star
fermenting: nowt

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