Presented to the Great Northern Brewers of Alaska in conjunction with the Great Alaska Beer & Barley Wine Festivalm this show about Gluten Free Beer illustrates one of the newest segments of the brewing world today: brewing with alternate grains.

1. Connection to Excellence
Creative Brewing
Carolyn Smagalski
The Beer Fox - BellaOnline
http://beer.bellaonline.com

2. Beer Fox
Carolyn Smagalski
• The Voice of Women: Beer
& Brewing - BellaOnline
• GABF 2006 Recipient of
Beer Journalism Award in
Electronic Media
• Freelance Beer Journalist
• Gluten Free Beer Festival
UK

3. Why Do You Brew?
• Self image: Wizard –
Alchemist – Creator
• Skill development as
Scientist and Artist
• It’s fun!
• Creating connectedness
– one with another

4. The Joys of Beer
• Aperitif
• Quencher
• Sipper
• Winter Warmer
• Cuisine a la Biere

5. The Missing Puzzle Piece
The Celiac Challenge
• Medical symptoms
• The Double-edged
Sword
• Caging the social
animal
• Lifestyle change

6. New Category for Style
Gluten Free Beer
• In 2007 – New category
at the GABF
• 2006 - 1st International
Gluten Free Beer Festival
in Chesterfield, England,
held in conjunction with
CAMRA
• Seattle Gluten Free Beer
Festival – March 2007

7. Brewers’Challenge
• Developing GF Beer and/or
using alternate grains &
nuts in brewing
– Challenges with malting
– Enzymes in brewing
– Extracting and breaking
down sugars in nuts
– Developing a palatable,
rich flavor profile
– Creativity that stays
within the definition of
beer, but reaches
beyond tradition

8. Grains-of-Concern for the Celiac
• Barley – Hordein
• Wheat – Gliadin
• Oats – Avenin – Toxic via
cross contamination
• Rye – Secalin
• Triticale – Hybrid of
wheat and rye

9. Water
• “Not all chemicals are bad. Without
chemicals such as hydrogen and oxygen, for
example, there would be no way to make
water, a vital ingredient in beer.”
Dave Barry

10. Defining Gluten Free Beer
• Reinheitsgebot
• Codex Alimentarius
• Food and Drug
Administration
• Alcohol, Tobacco Tax and
Trade Bureau
• Beer Judge Certification
Program

11. Gluten Free Beer
Common Alternate Grains & Nuts
• Sorghum – Native to
Northeast Africa –
attractive option for GF
brewing
• Teff – Origins trace back
4000-1000 years to
Ethiopia – attractive
nutrition profile – highly
recommended for GF
brewing.

12. Gluten Free Beer
Common Alternate Grains & Nuts
• Buckwheat – Roots were in
Southwest Asia, Tibet,
Central & Western China
• Rice – From tropical &
subtropical regions of Asia
and Africa – crop of major
importance throughout the
world.
• Chestnuts – Origins to
southwestern and eastern
Asia, southern Europe and
North America. Chips are
used for brewing.

13. Gluten Free Beer
Common Alternate Grains & Nuts
• Quinoa – Native to Andean
Region of South America –
Important Pre-Columbian
crop
• Honey – Viscous,
hygroscopic, sweet –
produced by honeybees
from nectar of flowering
plants
• Maize – Domesticated in
MesoAmerica – Introduced
to cultures of North
America, Caribbean, South
America, China and Europe
in the late 1400’s.

14. Gluten Free Beer
Common Alternate Grains & Nuts
• Coconut – Blended with
quinoa, it yields a fresh and
exotic profile
• Banana – Tropical fruit
forms a base in recipes
originating from the Masai
tribe of Kenya and Tanzania
• Palmnut – Angolan recipe
using African palm nuts
• Flax – New variety of yellow
seed, the Omega, developed
by the North Dakota State
University research project

15. Gluten Free Yeast
• Certified Gluten Free
• Yeast must be grown on
a gluten free medium
– Potato
– Sorghum wort
– Beets
– Sugar Cane

16. Creativity Among Brewers
Mainstream Beer
• Anheuser-Busch – Redbridge
brewed in Merrimack, NH
• Bard’s Tale – The Original
Sorghum Malt Beer
• Lakefront Brewery – New Grist
• The Alchemist – Celia IPA; Celia
Framboise; more
• New Planet – 3R Raspberry Ale;
Tread Lightly Ale
• Deschutes - Gluten Free Amber
Ale
• O’Brien Brewing – O’Brien
Premium Lager

17. Creativity among Brewers
Far End of the Universe
• Trails End – Chestnut Beer
• Mongozo Beer – Low Gluten:
Not 100% Gluten Free –
Mongozo Coconut; Banana;
Palmnut Amber; Quinua
• New France Beers – La
Messagère
• Greens – Endeavour Double
Dark; Pilgrim Cherry Beer;
Discovery Beer; Explorer Stout;
Herald Ale; Pioneer Lager,
Trailblazer Lager
• Ramapo Valley Brewery –
Honey Beer

18. Tasting Gluten Free Beer
• Flavor Profile differs from
lager or ale
• As different as Belgian Beer;
Sake; Mead; Barley Wine
• Sorghum – coveted in
traditional African brewing
for its sour and/or acidic
profile
• GF Beer may taste of earth,
wood, herbs, honey,
sweetness, orange
blossoms, etc.
• Hops are important for
balance

19. Thank You
"A woman drove me to drink and I didn't
even have the decency to thank her."
W.C. Fields