Extract Brewing Tutorial

Introduction to Brewing Gluten-Free Beer

Brewing gluten-free beer can be as simple or as complex as you choose. Many homebrewers start with a gluten-free beer brewing kit that includes pre-measured ingredients and step-by-step instructions, while others prefer to purchase individual ingredients and follow a recipe. Gluten Free Home Brewing offers gluten-free extract, partial-mash, and all-grain recipe kits, along with a wide selection of buckwheat, millet and rice malt to support every level of gluten-free home brewing.

No matter which method you choose, the basic process of brewing gluten-free beer is similar to brewing traditional beer. The primary difference lies in the ingredients used to replace barley and wheat, not the overall brewing technique.

Because gluten-free beer uses alternative grains and fermentable ingredients, recreating classic beer styles can sometimes be challenging. Just as in cooking, substituting ingredients often produces different flavors, aromas, and textures. Gluten-free brewers commonly use a blend of gluten-free grains, extracts, and adjuncts to approximate the characteristics of traditional beers while maintaining a fully gluten-free result.

Equipment

Minimal equipment needed for brewing beer:

• 20 qt. brew kettle (8.5 gallon brew kettle recommended)
• large metal stirring spoon
• measuring spoon set
• glass measuring cup
• food-grade plastic bucket or glass carboy
• airlock
• cleaner & sanitizer
• thermometer

Optional equipment:

• additional food-grade plastic bucket or glass carboy
• wort chiller
• wort chiller pump
• metal fine mesh strainer
• brewing siphon
• digital scale
• reusable nylon mess bag

Reading a Recipe

To brew beer successfully, it’s important to understand how to read a gluten-free beer recipe and become familiar with basic brewing terminology. Most recipes begin with an ingredient list, which may include a grain bill. A grain bill is simply a list of the grains used in a recipe and is only included in partial-mash and all-grain brewing recipes.

Partial-mash recipes use a combination of gluten-free grains and gluten-free extracts to produce the fermentable sugars needed to make beer. In contrast, all-grain gluten-free recipes rely entirely on grains to create those fermentable sugars, requiring more hands-on brewing steps but offering greater control over flavor and body.

If a recipe does not use any grains, it is considered an extract recipe. Extract brewing relies on liquid or dry gluten-free syrups and solid sugar sources to provide fermentable sugars, making it a popular and approachable option for beginners in gluten-free home brewing.

Most recipes will include some of the following information:

• ABV: Alcohol By Volume.
• Boil: Total amount of time which the wort boils.
• Final Gravity (FG): The ending gravity after fermentation, used to calculate the alcohol content of the finished beer.
• IBU: International Bitterness Units are the measure of bitterness in the beer.
• Original Gravity (OG): The starting gravity prior to fermentation attributes to the potential alcohol content of the finished beer.
• Primary Ferment: Refers to the time the finished wort ferments following the brewing process.
• Secondary Ferment: Refers to the time the finished wort ferments after primary fermentation.
• SRM : Standard Reference Method for determining the color of the beer; also used to describe the color of an ingredient such as malts and grains.
• Yield: The final volume of beer collected after conclusion of the brewing and fermentation processes.

In brewing, time is counted backward from the total boil length. For example:

• An ingredient listed at 60 minutes is added at the very start of the boil
• Ingredients listed at 30, 15, or 5 minutes are added later in the boil

This timing system applies to hops, spices, sugars, and other boil additions and is standard across both gluten-free and traditional beer recipes.

Brewing Extract Gluten-Free Beer: Step-By-Step

Preparing to Brew a Gluten-Free Extract Beer

Once you have your equipment and understand how to read a recipe, you are ready to brew a gluten-free extract beer. The next step is deciding whether to purchase a brewing kit or buy individual ingredients. While gluten-free extract beer kits are convenient and easy to use, purchasing ingredients separately gives you far more flexibility in the types of beers you can brew. Kits are limited by the number of available recipes, whereas sourcing your own ingredients opens the door to nearly unlimited recipe options.

When buying ingredients, use the recipe as a shopping list. You may need to purchase larger quantities than the recipe requires and measure the exact amounts at home. A digital scale is the most accurate way to measure brewing ingredients. Any leftover ingredients can be stored and used in future gluten-free beer batches.

Cleaning and Sanitizing Brewing Equipment

Before you begin brewing, thoroughly clean your work area and sanitize all brewing equipment. Sanitation is the most critical step in brewing beer, as it prevents contamination from bacteria and wild yeast that can ruin your beer. Contaminated beer should always be discarded.

Use a sanitizer designed specifically for brewing, and avoid using bleach as a regular sanitizer. While bleach can be used in an emergency, it is not recommended for routine brewing. Many homebrewers keep a spray bottle filled with sanitizer on hand so equipment can be quickly sanitized if something is forgotten during the brewing process.

Maximizing Wort Volume for Better Gluten-Free Beer

When brewing gluten-free beer, it is important to boil as much wort as possible. Some brewing instructions call for boiling only three gallons of water and then topping off the fermenter with water after the boil to reach the final volume. However, gluten-free beer naturally has a lighter body than traditional beer, and diluting the wort further can result in a thin or watery finished beer.

Instead, add as much water to the brew kettle as possible while still allowing room for:

• Ingredient displacement
• Water expansion during heating
• Evaporation during the boil

Be sure to leave adequate headspace to prevent boil-overs. Boil-overs most commonly occur during the hot break, when proteins coagulate at the start of the boil, or immediately after the first hop additions.

Step-By-Step Instructions

While a household stovetop is sufficient to bring wort to a boil, many homebrewers prefer using a propane burner, which should always be operated outdoors. Propane burners offer a larger, flat heating surface designed to support large brew kettles, making them especially well-suited for brewing. For brewers using electric stovetops, propane heat is more responsive and provides better temperature control. Another benefit is easier cleanup in the event of a boil-over. At its core, brewing involves boiling sugar water—and spilled sugar can quickly burn onto a stovetop, creating a difficult and messy cleanup.

1. Fill brew kettle with the appropriate amount of water and place on heat source.
2. While water is coming to boil, prepare the remaining ingredients in premeasured amounts so they may be added at the appropriate times.
3. Once the water temperature is near a boil, remove the kettle from heat source, and add the extract as instructed per the recipe. This will prevent scorching the extract on the bottom of the kettle. The temperature of the extract will reduce the water temperature and you will again need to allow it to return to a boil.
4. Allow the water and extract, which is now your wort, to come to a rolling boil. This is the stage that you are waiting for a hot break, and may occur for 5 minutes. This is also the first stage that your wort may boil over. A boil over is when the hot break billows over the side of the brew kettle. Reduce the temperature of the wort to control.
5. After the hot break has been achieved and you have allowed the wort to boil for up to five minutes, you are ready for the first addition of your hops or other ingredient. When you add your first addition of hops, start by only adding a small amount. The alpha acids in the hops may cause a boil over. You may notice the head of the wort temporarily build up again. Once the head has subsided it is safe to add the rest of the hops addition. Add all ingredients as instructed per the recipe.
6. Before the boil time has expired, you will want to prepare you ice bath or wort chiller. An ice bath is a way to cool the wort without any additional equipment. It is exactly what it sounds like, a sink of ice cold water that you place the brew kettle. You never want to allow any water or other contaminates in your wort. With an ice bath, you bring down the temperature of the wort by using cold water to draw the heat out of the wort. This uses a lot of water and a lot of ice, and does take some time to complete. Another option is to use a wort chiller to pump ice cold water through the wort and draw out the heat. A wort chill conducts temperature more efficiently, and with a constant supply of cold water it reduces the temperature of the wort very quickly.
7. Once the boil time has expired, immediately cover the wort and begin to bring down the temperature of the wort. This is the stage that the wort is most vulnerable to contaminants such as bacteria and wild yeast. Make sure anything the wort comes into contact with is sanitized.
8. Before the temperature of the wort has reached the range which you will pitch your yeast, you first must prepare the yeast. Some yeast may be dry pitched, meaning the contents may be poured directly into the wort. While other yeasts need to be prepared or started. Follow the instructions on the yeast package.
9. Once the wort has reached the temperature range which the yeast me be pitched, it can be transferred to the primary fermentation vessel. You can rack the wort using a siphon, or pour the wort using a metal fine mesh strainer. Either way, you want to leave as much sediment behind while collecting as much wort as possible.
10. Now that the wort has been transferred to the primary fermentation vessel, it needs to be prepared for the yeast. Using a medal spoon or whisk, stir the wort vigorously for 4-5 minutes. This aerates the wort and should produce a frothy head.
11. Pitch the yeast.
12. Cover the primary fermentation vessel and insert the airlock.
13. Allow the wort to sit undisturbed in a dark area at 68-70 degrees for at least one week. This will also be the most active period of fermenting.
14. After one week you may rack the wort to a secondary fermenting container. After another week the wort can be racked to a bottling bucket and bottled with priming sugar where it will continue to age.

Congratulations, you’ve successfully brewed your first gluten-free extract beer! In the next section, you’ll learn how to brew gluten-free beer using the partial mash method.

_{TUTORIAL UPDATED JANUARY 2026}