Gluten free beer fermentation times.

[cafelinhchi]

Hey guys, just wondering if anyone has had any experience using sorghum syrup is brewing I put a g/f wit beer in the fermentation barrel 10 days ago and haven't seen much activity, it's currently sitting at around 1.1 FG just wondering if this is normal, or anyway I can kick start the fermentation. Thanks in advance.

Cafe linh chi

 

[technerd3000]

What was your gravity reading when you started? 1.100 is a really big beer, and it sounds like you are getting the results I would expect if you just threw a vial or packet of yeast in a wort that size... Did you make a yeast starter? How big? What type of yeast? Did you aerate first? How?

Truth is, if its been at room temp for 10 days with little or no gravity drop, there's a good chance some other critters got a head start over the yeast, and the safest bet would be to pour it down the drain.

...or, you could make a big starter and dump in it (and cross your fingers)...

Or, what I would be tempted to do in an effort to salvage the wort (this is completely unconventional BTW, and would just be my last ditch effort to avoid pouring it down the drain): Rack the wort into your kettle. Water that wort down to about 1.055. Bring it to a rolling boil to kill off any nasties (and possibly throw in some additional finishing hops to account for lost aroma). Cool. Aerate well. Use a yeast starter.

Call me crazy, but I hate to waste beer.

 

[Nosybear]

I'm not sure where sorghum comes in at providing nutrients for yeast. I've heard of it as an adjunct and know in some parts of Africa it's used in beer. The previous questions are valid: Did you aerate enough - without oxygen you can't get enough air into a 1.100 wort by shaking or a single use of an airstone. Did you use a starter - 1.100 is simply too big for a single vial, package or smack-pack of yeast. Likewise, 10 days is too long to wait for fermentation start - it's likely a drain pour due to other bugs contaminating the wort. If I were having this problem, I'd concentrate on pitching enough yeast, making sure the wort had enough oxygen in it and making sure the sorghum syrup has enough nutrients to support the yeast throughout fermentation. One more thing: If the sorghum syrup had preservatives in it, the preservatives might have killed the yeast. That's its function, after all. Check the label of the syrup to see if there are preservatives.

 

[JustBrewIt]

forget about sorghum. Just use this stuff in your regular beer. http://www.whitelabs.com/other-products ... arity-ferm It reduced the gluten to a "gluten free" level. A pro-brewer friend of mine says they have had it tested and it works great and does NOT change the taste of the beer or any other character in a negative way. It is relatively cheap and I guess they are adding it to all their beers now. Hey, it's from White Labs, not like it's some never before heard of importer. check it out if you want gluten free beer. as an added benefit, it also clears the beer too. lol (i understand that clarity was the original intent)

 

[The Brew Mentor]

Another question is what temperature the wort is sitting at? If it's too cold you may be having an extremely long growth phase with the yeast.
I think the longest I ever went without seeing signs of active fermentation was 3 days and that batch ended up being awful!
If I were going to proceed with this batch, I'd definitely re-boil it and then taste it to see if the flavor is ok.
As far as the Clarity-Ferm goes, tests show it reduces the gluten's in beer but doesn't remove them all. I'd proceed with caution! Some of my customers have tried it with success.
Good Luck
Brian