Gluten Free Brewer

Hello folks,

My name is Lew Newby and I am the owner and President of Three Spires Brewing Co.. I have been a home brewer for over 20 years dabbling in Beer, Mead, and Cider. Just over a year ago I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease and was told I no longer consume gluten containing foods and drinks. Thus my journey for a replacement beer started.

I have tried a number of different gluten-free beers and have for the most part come away dissatisfied. I have gotten together with a few of my friends and we decided we would start a brewery to produce an excellent gluten-free beer using all grain mash (Not gluten reduction through enzymes).

My interest in BeerSmith occurred when I realized I could use it to document and perfect our recipes as we continue this effort.

To date we have developed two excellent recipes that are surprising everyone with the quality and flavor being created. One of the first things being asked is "Is this really gluten-free?" and I can say with 100% certainty that it iss gluten-free.

So there is my introduction.

Hi Lew!

What an interesting journey you've embarked upon! I can't make truly gluten free beer in my facility because of cross contamination. The best GF beer I've had was from Jolly Pumpkin a few years ago.

You are certainly more motivated than most other brewers and I look forward to trying your products, once you get up and running. Perhaps you're going to the Craft Brewer's Conference, next month? If so, we should shake hands.

Yes I will be at the conference, I am meeting up with several vendors to get some more information. How about sending me some contact info and we can see about getting together.

The process for making all-grain gluten-free beer is certainly more complex. None of the traditional temps and times work for these grains so we are developing all new recipes using a 3 step process with decoction. I say they are all new recipes because we haven't been able to locate any that go to this length.

Cross contamination is a major issue so we have gone with new equipment to guarantee that, we have policies in place regarding what can be brought into the brewing area. We will be looking to get one of the Gluten Free certifications for our products. This makes the start-up costs extremely high but we are nearly completely funded at this time and hope to finish the initial fund raising within 2 months.

The local craft breweries (Crabtree Brewery, Wiley Roots Brewery, Broken Plow  Brewery) have been extremely supportive to our efforts and provided lots of advice and insight.

i want to make a batch of gluten free beer for the missus who is pretty allergic to gluten.  Are you willing to share a recipe?  She loves IPAs and the hoppier, the better.

Cheers!

Joe

I could probably cobble one together, We aren't designing IPA recipes though.

Our first completed recipe is a Saison but one of our early test runs came out exceptionally dark and very hoppy.  These would require that you get some specific malted grains and the suppliers are very limited.

Contact me via PM if your interested in giving it a shot.

Lew is right about suppliers - it's been tough to obtain the right grains.  I have noticed that millet malt is sold on ebay now, which has been my gluten-free grain of choice for myriad reasons.

It takes a few tries to zero in on the right crush, temps, pH, et cetera before dialing in a great gluten-free beer, but it can be done.  My advice is to make small batches and take good notes.  I never paid much attention to water chemistry before but it's probably worth the extra step to optimize yields with alternative grains.

Another thing to consider - clarifying agents, by themselves, reduce gluten content quite a bit in all beers.  So for those who have a sensitivity but aren't actual celiacs, you might do fine with a clarity-ferm or something like that in conjuction with a half-barley recipe.  That's one way to address the gluten problem while still creating a really good beer.

Sounds Awesome. Had a quick look at your site and looks really good
I was just wanting to know though is there any chance of getting some sent to Tasmania , Australia.
I would be really keen to try some .  If at all possible
Best of luck with it all.