ClarityFerm question

[Manngold]

From reading around, it seems like this is the go to product to turn a brew gluten free. I have a number of friends that are all coeliac (including my wife). From reading posts around here it seems that they work with most kits (maybe not full on wheat beers?). Has anyone had a kit that it has worked really well for - ideally something which is a light / golden ale, or lager.

Thanks

[Aleman]

One thing that you might want to consider is that beers brewed with mostly pale and lager barley malts tend to be low in gluten anyway. It is always down to each individual to determine their tolerance level, my wife could not tolerate level a low level of gluten in pale / golden beers, but adding ClarityFerm meant that the level was reduced to a point below her threshold.

The issue with kits is that you have no idea, just what was involved in the production, I know with my All Grain beers that I will avoid passing on any beers brewed with wheat (Plain Wheat, Malt, torrieifed or flaked) to my wife, even If I do use ClarityFerm in it. A kit golden beer may be all barley malt, but may have some extract from wheat added. So look for kits that state 100% barley malt extract

[Manngold]

Thanks Aleman. Should it theoretically work to remove the wheat content anyway during fermentation? All of my friends have different tollerance levels, for example my wife will often have 'wheat legs' after drinking beer the next day (legs are achey - but not normally ill).

I will look out for the 100% barley malt kits any way. I want to move onto AG eventually - but dont feel confident enough to do so yet. Still need to get temp control under my belt first of all!

[Aleman]

Should it theoretically work to remove the wheat content anyway during fermentation?

It should, and I will probably get my wife to test it in a beer where I've used wheat malt for around 10% of the grist . . . I know that she is more sensitive to wheat gluten anyway, so would not even consider going much higher than that on a personal basis for that reason.

I will look out for the 100% barley malt kits any way. I want to move onto AG eventually - but dont feel confident enough to do so yet. Still need to get temp control under my belt first of all!

A good choice, with good quality kits (i.e fresh), a decent yeast and temperature control during fermentation, you can create great beers. I've been surprised at the quality of beer that some of the more expensive modern kits can produce, when fermented in the same manner that I do my All grain beers.

[PhilB]

Hi Manngold

I wouldn't disagree with any of Aleman's advice ... but if it's "light / golden ale, or lager" you're looking to brew, have you looked at the Gone With the Wheat, gluten free beer kits based on sorghum syrup? They tend to be lagers or light ales anyway, AIUI there are problems with roasting/caramelising those gluten-free grains and leaving them tasting "natural", but my experience of brewing with sorghum syrup is that it behaves very like (very pale) malt extract syrup.

I brewed a beer based on an extract recipe for a clone of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale using sorghum syrup and it turned out very well, it's very pale and has rubbish head retention, but it tastes great and is made entirely from gluten free ingredients. It may be worth consideration as an alternative?

Cheers, PhilB

[oldbloke]

I've used a Gone With The Wheat kit, and the sorghum syrup in a bodge-up of my own, and to my mind: it tastes of sorghum. Which isn't /bad/ exactly, but it's not quite right.
And with the cost of the sorghum syrup, a normal kit plus ClarityFerm works out about the same anyway (possibly cheaper)

For AG tinkerers: try getting some decent quality millet, malt it, and use that. Almost indistinguishable from barley

[seymour]

There's some great info about White Lab Clarity-Ferm in the following links, even lab reports:

http://blog.stonebrewing.com/index.php/ ... icious-ipa
http://www.stonebrewing.com/deliciousipa/



Stone Brewing Co, the San Diego brewer of Arrogant Bastard and other legendary beers has made their first "reduced gluten beer." Check-out this link for a great commentary, video, etc. They basically fashioned a delicious IPA as they always do, with 100% barley, none of the usual gluten-free substitutes such rice, quinoa, sorghum, buckwheat. They used their normal ale yeast plus White Lab Clarity-Ferm.

I doubt Stone Delicious IPA is yet available on your side of the pond, but I've had it and it's delicious. I can vouch that it doesn't "lessen" the beer in any way. 7.7% abv, 80 IBU.