Friday, May 20, 2011

Glutenus Minimus Pale Ale

Origin:
In a follow up to my Celiacs Wheat Dream my gluten intolerant co worker wanted to try a new enzyme I had read about. This enzyme according to Charlie Papazian had gluten reduction properties and can make your beer drinkable for the gluten impaired people in your life. Since the doesn't completely eliminate the gluten from beer it just minimizes it we are going with Glutenus Minimus. Which someone has already used for a beer but I came up with it not knowing that.

Ingredients:
  • 6.0 lbs Light Malt Extract
  • 2.0 oz. Cascade (7.0% alpha-acid, whole leaf)
  • White Labs British Ale Yeast (WLP005)
  • 1.0 lb. Carapils (1.3°L, Crushed)
Procedure:
On Friday May 20th during lunch, Pat and I drove to Brew Brothers and purchased ingredients for the beer. The brew process was pretty standard other than I added a teaspoon of gypsum to the water to lower the pH and after the boil had completed and the yeast was pitched I added a vial of Clarex. If you would like to read more about Clarex (or Clarity-Ferm) check out this link from the manufacturer. Clarex is not recognized by the FDA as a reducer of gluten so it is only approved for use as a clarifier to reduce chill haze. But, according to empirical evidence found on multiple sites and anecdotal evidence from employees of both brew supply stores it looks like it works. There was a small SNAFU during the brew process the thermometer broke in the kettle. So... I am going to claim ignorance and hope that the metal beads in the bottom of the thermometer were steel and not lead. After I discovered the broken thermometer I quickly stopped the boil and transfered the wort into a bucket standing by. At the bottom there was about 30 metal beads, after removing the beads I rinsed the kettle out and poured the wort back in and continued the 60 min boil. So fingers crossed I won't be getting lead poisoning.

Hops/Ingredients Schedule:

QuantityIngredientBoiled for
1 oz.Cascade Entire 60 min. Boil
1/2 oz.CascadeLast 30 min. of boil
1/4 oz.CascadeLast 5 min. of boil
1/4 oz.CascadeAt flame out



After the boil finished I cooled the wort took a gravity reading and pitched the yeast.

INITIAL WORT GRAVITY:
1.042


UPDATE 5/25/11 : Pat wanted me to post a picture of the beer fermenting in the primary so here it is. As you can see the layer of trub on the bottom which is yeast and grain that was suspended in the wort during the boil. In a few days I will transfer to the secondary where the yeast will start to ferment the last remaining sugars before it is ready to be bottled. Since Pat is a brewing n00b he doesn't have a kegging system yet, we will be bottling.


UPDATE 5/27/11:
1.014 at transfer still a lot of suspended solids in the beer when I transferred. I don't know if this is becasue of the clari-ferm enzyme of some other reason. The recipe was pretty simple but after a couple of days a great deal of sediment has accumulated at the bottom of the secondary fermenter. Perhaps I transferred to secondary too soon. Interestingly this has the exact same gravity at transfer as the Ceiliacs Wheat Dream I brewed last.

Gravity at Transfer: 1.014
Current Alcohol:
  • ABW=105*(1.042-1.014)=2.94
  • ABV=1.25*2.94=3.68%
UPDATE 6/7/11:
Today I finally got around to bottling the beer for Pat. I was holding off becasue I wanted him to see the process (Read: I didn't want to do it by myself). The picture to the left is transering from the secondary to a bucket. After this third transfer I took the final gravity measurement and added a cup of corn sugar. The sugar was first dissolved in boiling water then cooled. Using a siphon and a bottle filler the bottles were filled and then capped. The beer was extremely clear and tasted like a good mellow pale ale. I believe the clarity was caused by the combination of the Irish Moss and the Clarity-Ferm. I hope Pat enjoys his delicious beer. The big pay off on this is if he gets into home brewing if the gluten reduction was successful. You can never have enough brew buddies.

Final Gravity: 1.012
Current Alcoh
ol:
  • ABW=105*(1.042-1.012)=3.15
  • ABV=1.25*3.15=3.94%