As I’ve mentioned before, my significant other has a gluten allergy. She actually cried when she called to tell me the diagnosis, upset that we wouldn’t be able to share beer experiences anymore. Fear not, I told her. We’ll find a way.
This has led me to experiment with gluten free homebrewing and a number of unusual gluten free beer recipes. The latest: a sweet potato buckwheat ale. Allow me to share with you how it went.
Malting the buckwheat
In my other life as an artisanal maltster, I came into a substantial amount of buckwheat, and I did what any artisanal maltster/homebrewer would do: I malted it to make beer out of it!
After a few small germination tests, I steeped the buckwheat in water three times for a total of about 30 hours. Around the end of the steeping process, small white shoots starting growing out of the pointy end of the buckwheat kernel. When making malt from any grain, this is a sign that changes are starting to take place within the kernel, breaking down the cellular structure and activating valuable enzymes. Though only about 40% of the buckwheat actually germinated, I made a note and proceeded.
After four days of germination, I washed the buckwheat and allowed it to dry, then placed it in the oven on the lowest temperature setting I could (170˚F). It took several hours to dry completely. It might have dried faster with regular stirring or a perforated dish that would allow the air to circulate.
Mashing the buckwheat and sweet potato
Once the malted buckwheat was dry, it was time to brew. From my other experiences with gluten free beer recipes and cooking, I knew that combining multiple starches tended to produce the best results. I’d heard of sweet potatoes being used in beer before, so I thought I’d give the combination a try.
Now I had read that sweet potatoes have a fairly high gelatinization temperature, so combined with the low germination of the buckwheat, I decided to use a three-step decoction mash to maximize my fermentable sugars. After milling the buckwheat and roughly chopping the sweet potatoes, I covered them with water and brought the temperature up to 120˚F. I removed about 1/3 of the mash, brought it to a boil, and then mixed it back in to the mash. I repeated this a total of three times. I then strained out the wort and lautered to collect about two gallons of wort.
I was a little disappointed to find my pre-boil gravity was only 1.020. I believe this was in part due to the low germination of the buckwheat, and partly due to a lack of extraction from the sweet potatoes. If I were to repeat the experiment, I would probably bake the potatoes and mash them before adding them to the buckwheat mash. To compensate for the low gravity, I added eight ounces of molasses to the wort that I collected in the kettle.
The boil
To get a good sense of the buckwheat/sweet potato qualities, I decided to moderately hop the beer with Willamette hops. They’re a good go-to hop for pale ales, brown ales, and a number of other beer styles, without being over the top in any one particular flavor quality. I did equal hop additions at :60, :20, :10, and :5. Because it’s generally good policy, I also added Irish moss and yeast nutrient at :15.
Fermentation
For yeast, I chose a dry American ale yeast for this particular gluten free beer recipe. It’s what I had on hand, easy to use, and fairly neutral in flavor. Again, the point was to allow the sweet potato and buckwheat come through.
So how did it turn out?
I had one today and it actually came out pretty tasty! Most importantly, the girlfriend likes it!
The beer pours a burnt amber color, somewhat cloudy, with a full, creamy head. To be sure, it doesn’t taste like a normal amber ale or pale ale. It has a distinctive buckwheat/sweet potato profile. The buckwheat flavor is somewhat sweet, somewhat nutty. (If you’ve had buckwheat pancakes before, you know what I’m talking about.) The hop bitterness is well balanced. There is the slightest tang on the finish, which I’m guessing comes from the molasses.
Here is the recipe the way I brewed it. Again, I’d recommend baking the sweet potatoes in advance, then mashing them before adding them to the buckwheat mash. Diatase enzyme may also be beneficial. Have some molasses (or if you’re not gluten-free, DME) on hand to adjust your gravity as needed.
Gluten Free Beer Recipe: Buckwheat Sweet Potato Ale
(1-gallon batch)
Specs 
OG: 1.043
FG: 1.012
ABV: 4.1%
IBUs: 40
SRM: 12-16
Ingredients
20 oz. malted buckwheat
28 oz. sweet potato
8 oz. molasses
.25 oz. Willamette hops at :60 (4% AA)
.25 oz. Willamette hops at :20 (4% AA)
.25 oz. Willamette hops at :10 (4% AA)
.25 oz. Willamette hops at :5 (4% AA)
1/2 pack Safale US-05
3 tablespoons honey for priming
So would I brew it again? Absolutely! Given enough time and buckwheat, I’d step this recipe up to a three- or five-gallon batch.
What do you think? Are you ready to give a gluten free beer recipe a try? Have you ever made a beer with sweet potato or buckwheat? Share in the comments below!
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David Ackley is a beer writer, brewer, and self-described “craft beer crusader.” He holds a General Certificate in Brewing from the Institute of Brewing and Distilling and is founder and editor of the Local Beer Blog.

The Beer Judge Certification Program lists 23 different categories of beer styles, most of which have two or more subcategories. Almost every category name is fairly descriptive, but the last one stands out as rather broad. What is a “Specialty Beer”?
The specialty beer category covers any beer that does not fall cleanly in another category. This might include Rye IPAs, malt liquor, various “imperial” styles, indigenous style like Sahti, or beers made with unusual fermentable ingredients or techniques. Gluten-free beers fall into this category, as do variations on styles that bring them “out of spec.”
So what is not Specialty Beer?
It’s important to point out that there are several kinds of beer that you might think belong in the specialty beer category but don’t. These include Christmas/Winter Spiced Beer, Spice/Herb/Vegetable Beer, Fruit Beer, and Smoked/Wood-Aged Beer, among others. Be sure to check the guidelines before submitting your beer for competition to make sure it doesn’t belong in a different category. Also, keep in mind that the most important thing about brewing specialty beer is the balance. No single ingredient should overpower all the other flavors; drinkability is key.
Here are five examples of beers that fit into the specialty beer category. Which would you like to brew?

• Imperial Black IPA – This Uinta Dubhe clone recipe yields a rich, hoppy black IPA at more than 9% ABV and with IBUs that are off the charts.
• Poor Richard’s Ale – Is it a brown ale? A Scottish ale? A porter? Aside from English base malt, a heaping of flaked corn and molasses bring some interesting adjuncts into the mix. It’s modeled after what might have been brewed in the colonial era.
• Brewers Best Gluten Free Sorghum Ale – This recipe kit from Brewers Best uses Briess sorghum syrup as the primary fermentable, adds Belgian candi syrup for an extra punch, then mixes in some Cascade hops and spices for extra flavor. Your gluten free friends will love you for it!
• Peanut Butter Jelly Beer – Don’t knock it til you try it! This recipe uses a powdered form of peanut butter called PB2, which can be found at the grocery store, usually in the aisle with powdered protein shake supplements and the like.

So as you can start to see, what is a specialty beer? is a question with many answers. Do you have your own specialty beer you’d like to share?
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David Ackley is a beer writer, brewer, and self-described “craft beer crusader.” He holds a General Certificate in Brewing from the Institute of Brewing and Distilling and is founder and editor of the Local Beer Blog.

Experience is key. Network, volunteer, get some education. Take biz classes too. Check out Sam Adams program. Get financed.
It’s not uncommon for home brewers to dream of taking their passion to the next level. Just look at these four homebrewers who went pro.
But making the jump from a home brewer to a professional brewer is no easy task. If you want to start working in the craft beer industry, you’ll need to get your foot in the door and gain some experience. Here are just a few tips for making the leap.

1. Network – You’re much more likely to hear about that golden opportunity from someone you know than from an online job board. Plus, being in the know automatically sets you apart from droves of other competitors searching the online ads. Get out to every beer event in your town and start meeting people. You may be surprised how a relationship you build today can turn into an opportunity one, two, or several years down the road.
2. Volunteer – If you don’t have any brewery experience, your best shot may be to volunteer or intern at your local brewery. Give your local brewery a call during business hours and ask about opportunities. Keep an eye on Facebook and Twitter. Also watch the ProBrewer classifieds for entry-level jobs and internships (but don’t forget about #1 above!).
3. Get educated – If you’re starting out with little to no brewery experience, taking some classes will help put you on the right track and demonstrate your level of commitment to the craft beer career path. More and more local and community colleges are adding fermentation sciences classes. Are there any near you? The classic brewing programs like Siebel, UC Davis, and Doemens fill up fast, so go ahead and get booked. To expand on the topic of education, don’t forget about other courses that might be beneficial. In addition to brewers and cellar people, breweries need marketers, graphic designers, accountants, sales people, sustainability managers, IT technicians, and HR specialists. Making yourself valuable in these other areas may be your ticket into your dream job.
4. Want to start your own brewery? Don’t quit your day job. – If your dream is to open your own brewery, get ready for some serious work. Plan on a year or two, maybe even longer, of business planning before you can start your own company. Check out the Siebel Start Your Own Brewery Course. You’ll learn that there’s a lot more that goes into running a brewery than making the beer. Once your business plan is put together, you’ll have to get financed. Consider the Sam Adams Brewing the American Dream program. Any way you cut it, make sure you have all your ducks in a row before you leave your regular job and take the dive into entrepreneurship.

Jumping into the craft beer business is something that a lot of people dream of, but don’t think that it’s all about drinking beer. If you’re serious about working in the beer business, buckle down, study up, and start working relentlessly towards those opportunities.
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David Ackley is a beer writer, brewer, and self-described “craft beer crusader.” He holds a General Certificate in Brewing from the Institute of Brewing and Distilling and is founder and editor of the Local Beer Blog.

The heat of summer, the sting of sweat in your eye, the smell of fresh cut grass. After mowing the lawn, everyone needs a good “lawnmower beer” to cool down! The perfect remedy: an American cream ale.
A cream ale is a very lightly colored ale with low to medium bitterness, a subdued malt character, and a dry finish. After all, you don’t want anything too heavy or bitter after cutting the lawn, you just need something cold with a bit of booze.
To lighten things up, a cream ale beer recipe will often be brewed a small proportion of adjunct grains, typically corn or rice. Flaked rice or flaked corn is an easy way to incorporate those ingredients. Sometimes, the addition of simple sugar as an adjunct can also be used to achieve the dry finish that’s characteristic of this style.
The BJCP Style Guidelines for Cream Ale call for the following specs:

• OG: 1.042 – 1.055
• FG: 1.006 – 1.012
• IBU: 15 – 20
• SRM: 2.5 – 5
• ABV: 4.2 – 5.6%

The American cream ale beer recipe below uses a majority of American pilsner malt for a light flavor, with a decent proportion of Vienna malt for a little color and a husky flavor. The flaked rice helps contribute a lighter body and a dry finish. Contrary to what the name might suggest, a cream ale has no dairy – the name refers more to the smooth mouthfeel than anything else.
Classic American ale yeast strains work well for this beer style. I’ve chosen Wyeast 1056: American Ale Yeast and Safale US-05 as two options. You may also use a Kolsch yeast or any other clean, neutral, well-attenuating ale yeast that you may have on hand. One key to this style is a cold conditioning period. It’s not absolutely essential, but it will help smooth things out.
I hope you enjoy the American cream ale beer recipe below through the heat of the summer! Look below the all-grain directions for a partial mash variation.
Gringo’s Cream Ale
(5.5-gallon batch, all-grain recipe)
Specs 
OG: 1.050
FG: 1.011
ABV: 5.1%
IBUs: 18.5
SRM: 4
Ingredients 
6 lbs. American pilsner malt
3 lbs. Vienna malt
1 lb. Flaked rice
.5 oz. Cluster hops at :60 (3 AAUs)
.25 oz. Willamette hops at :30 (1.125 AAUs)
.25 oz. Willamette hops at :15 (1.125 AAUs)
1 oz. oz. Willamette hops at :5 (4.5 AAUs)
Wyeast 1056: American Ale Yeast or Safale US-05
Directions
If using liquid yeast, prepare a 2L yeast starter. Mash crushed grains at 150˚F for 60 minutes. Sparge to collect seven gallons of wort. Boil for 90 minutes, adding hops according to schedule above. At end of boil, cool wort to 70˚F or below and transfer to a clean, sanitized fermenter. Ferment at 65-70˚F for two weeks. If possible, cold condition at 35-40˚F for three weeks. Carbonate to 2.4 vols CO2.
PARTIAL MASH VARIATION: Change the grain bill to 6.6 lbs. Pilsen liquid malt extract, 1 lb. Vienna malt, and 1 lb. flaked rice. Mash the crushed Vienna malt with the flaked rice, strain, then mix in the LME and add water to reach the desired boil volume. If boiling less than five gallons of wort, increase the first hop addition to 1 oz. Cluster hops and top off with clean water to make 5.5 gallons in the fermenter. Proceed as above.
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David Ackley is a beer writer, brewer, and self-described “craft beer crusader.” He holds a General Certificate in Brewing from the Institute of Brewing and Distilling and is founder and editor of the Local Beer Blog.

As homebrewers, we spend lots of time thinking about all the ingredients that we put into our beer. But what about the things that come out of our brew day?
Whether you’d like to save some money or shorten your brewing time, there are lots of benefits that can come from taking a more sustainable approach to your homebrew. Even if being an environmental steward isn’t at the top of your list when you brew, consider these steps that can save you in the long run.
Reduce
The easiest way to stay sustainable from the start is by focusing only on what you need. Don’t buy sensitive items in excess if you’re not going to use them. Grain and hops have eventual shelf lives, so be specific in the amounts you want and when you’ll use them.
It can also be fun to add a touch of personal flair to your beers by using ingredients you grow yourself instead of buying them. In addition to growing hops at home, herbs from backyard gardens can make for great additions. Rosemary, for example, can provide complementary pine aromas to IPAs and basil adds layer of complexity to farmhouse ales, wheat beers, and one of my favorites – honey basil ale.
You can also choose to make lower ABV session beers, which mostly require fewer ingredients, or even harvest and reuse yeast to reduce the amount of ingredients you use.
Reuse
Water plays such a pivotal role in the beer making process, but while the quality of water is important, I often find myself thinking in terms of quantity. Aside from the water we put into our beer, we use a lot of it for cleaning and cooling.
One way I like to save on water use for sanitizing is by using Star San. The commercial-grade sanitizer only needs 60 seconds of contact time to prepare items for use, but its healthy foaming action also offers additional sanitizing that doesn’t require a ton of water to create. By measuring out the amount of Star San you’ll need – a ratio of one ounce per five gallons – you can properly sanitize your equipment. Try using a spray bottle with of the sanitizer solution and even keep the Star San-water solution to use again later.
When it comes to cooling your wort, many homebrewers like to use an immersion wort chiller to prep their wort for yeast. If you’re hooking your chiller up to an outside hose, consider that the average amount of water that could pass through may average up to 10 gallons per minute. If you’re concerned about wasting water, either opt for an ice bath – you can make the ice in your freezer and store it for brew day – or capture the water running out of the chiller to reuse for laundry, watering the plants or grass, or other household chores.
Recycle
Here’s a neat project that combines recycling with energy efficiency. If you’ve got some extra sheet metal or aluminum and you brew outside with a propane patio stove or pressure cooker, it’s easy to make a propane fryer outfit much more efficient for boiling your wort.
If you’ve got the tools to manipulate the metal, create a heat reflector that also blocks wind. Make sure it’s tall enough to cover the legs and heat shield of the burner and also bend the material wide enough to place safely around your burner. It can also double as a windscreen to keep your flame burning. Having a heat shield in place will trap heat around the kettle, potentially allowing for faster boil times. For one homebrewer, it was as easy as recycling a galvanized trash can.
*If you create a heat reflector, make sure to only use it outside in properly ventilated areas. Always take care around burning flame and keep a safe distance from anything flammable.
As you prepare for your next homebrew, stop and give some thought to how you can be more sustainable in your actions. You’ll be able to produce the same quality beer you expect, but may find new approaches to make your homebrewing hobby both more efficient and more fun!
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Bryan Roth is a beer nerd and homebrewer living in Durham, North Carolina. You can read his thoughts on beer and the beer industry on his blog, This Is Why I’m Drunk, and send him suggestions on how to get his wife to drink craft beer via Twitter at @bryandroth.