I have been homebrewing for about one year and have been following BYO’s articles for about the same time. My first encounter with homebrewing was in graduate school, 30 years ago, when I sampled some brew that a friend had made. When we opened the bottles the brew literally exploded from the top — clearly much too much carbonation. However, what was left was pretty good.

In any event only within the last year have I taken up homebrewing and the motivation for this is that I have a wheat allergy, generally referred to as Celiac. Basically I cannot eat any foods made with gluten — the protein found in many grains, including wheat and barley. Many good articles on Celiac disease and even some recipes for gluten-free beer can be found on the Internet.

While my initial motivation to enter into homebrewing was my condition, I have since discovered a real enjoyment in designing and brewing my own beer. It is with this enthusiasm that I want to share my experiences with the readers of BYO.

My system has evolved from many brewing sessions. I started as many with a kit consisting of several plastic buckets, a hydrometer and an airlock. My first batch of gluten-free (GF) beer was yeasty and I soon learned that a second stage fermentation was a must — therefore a carboy was purchased. The mashing and boiling steps were initially done in the kitchen, which was okay except that nothing else could be done in the kitchen when I was brewing. My wife was okay about the situation, but I suspect she was happy when I relocated.

My current brewing station is located in the basement, which is where I had been fermenting and aging my beer all along. The setup is housed inside a small room formed in a corner of the basement. The major elements consist of a mash pot, which is a converted electric turkey fryer. To the right and slightly lower is the boiling pot and a propane burner. Directly below the mash pot is a converted Igloo water bucket, which supplies water to the copper coiled wort cooler. A small pump is used to cycle the water.

I need to make an important point about using propane burners — one of the byproducts of the combustion is carbon monoxide, which has to be vented if you are inside. Directly above the boiling pot is a forced air vent that is ducted outside. Also a carbon monoxide detector is located nearby as a precaution. With these safe guards the system is quite safe. (I should note that I live in New Hampshire, which does not lend itself to brewing outside all year around.)

My fermenting bucket, carboy, and bottling equipment are located on an adjacent table. I have several plastic buckets for the primary fermentation and a carboy for the second stage. A plastic bucket sitting on a milk crate is used to transfer beer into bottles.

One of the interesting features of my brewing is the use of grains that are not commonly found in beer. The grains that are gluten-free include buckwheat, quinoa, millet, sorghum and amaranth. I have tried brews with the first three of these grains. Unfortunately malt extracts for these grains are not readily available, so I make my own malt. The procedure that I use for malting is actually very similar to malting barley, except that I am malting a very small amount.

I start with about 2 pounds of hulled grain, i.e. raw grain, and soak the grain in fresh water for about two days. I replace the water every day. After the grain has softened and the oily substance covering the grain has dissolved, I put it in a straining bag and place the bag on a big cookie sheet. I then cover the bag with a clean towel and leave it alone.

Every day I rinse the grain bag by spraying water on it and let the excess water drain off. After several days the grain will start to sprout roots, which is the beginning of germination. Germina-tion is the process, which converts the stored starch into sugars. When many of the grains have formed roots I remove the grain from the bag and spread the grain out onto several cookie sheets so that the depth of the bed is less than an inch.

The cookie sheets are then placed into an oven for over three hours at 200 ºF (93 ºC). The grain will darken slightly and feel dry and crisp to the touch when fully cooked. The last step is to grind up the grain. Originally I used a coffee grinder on the coarse setting, but usually a mixture of particle sizes resulted. The smallest size, which is the consistency of powder, is not desirable. A roller mill is much better for breaking up the grain.

I have made several types of brews with these grains, including:

• Gluten-free buckwheat
• Gluten-free buckwheat quinoa
• Gluten-free multigrain (containing buckwheat, quinoa and millet)
• Gluten-free honey buckwheat
• Gluten-free orange buckwheat
• Gluten-free pumpkin buckwheat