Pittsburgh - New Beers & Local Breweries

One of the guys over at All Saints told me to check out Noble Stein Brewing and Levity Brewing out of Indiana, PA. Looks like they'll both be attending the winter warmer. Any info on these guys?

http://www.noblesteinbrewingcompany.com/beer_type/all-beers/

 

With this:

?

EDIT: I would think that a product designed to remove a dangerous allergen from something wouldn't be on the market if was only alleged to work though. That has the potential to be disastrous if it doesn't truly work? Unless that's not it's primary use and was discovered as a sort of side effect by others?

 

White labs lists it as an application...but as a reducer of gluten. Says it "usually" tests below 20 ppm.

http://www.whitelabs.com/other-products/wln4000-clarity-ferm-brewers-clarex

"APPLICATIONS:
1) To increase the collodial stability of beer by reducing chill haze.
2) Producing gluten reduced beers in beers made from barley and wheat."

"A Clarity-Ferm treated beer made from barley or wheat usually tests below 20 ppm of gluten, the current international standard for gluten free."

This is a game changer for me. Thanks for the tip. My mother in law has Celiac's and I stopped brewing beers for her because I felt bad giving her sorghum and buckwheat swill (see churchbrewcrew comment above - it just sucks)...

 

I'm not sure if it started as an explicit way to reduce gluten or merely as a way to eliminate chill haze. I said alleged since I read about the gluten reducing properties a while ago and couldn't remember if it was confirmed or not (or what constitutes "gluten free" as opposed to "gluten reduced")

Stone used it in their Delicious IPA (which is marketed as gluten reduced): http://www.whitelabs.com/news/stone-beer-uses-clarity-ferm

Charlie Papazian used it to reduce a beer to <10 ppm: http://homebrew.stackexchange.com/questions/11413/any-people-with-celiacs-tried-clarity-ferm

 

I don't believe it was originally developed to remove gluten, only a clarifying agent. The breweries that are using it to label their beers gluten free have every single batch tested independently and only bottle/can them. No kegs to prevent cross contamination from draft lines.

 

Let me know if you do it and how it turns out, kbuzz. I've been toying with the idea of making an all-grain GF beer (I made an extract Blueberry Saison with sorghum that was... mediocre), but all the milling and cereal mashes killed any enthusiasm I had for it pretty quickly.

 

Will do. Just a shame though that I won't have any way to test the gluten content before giving it to my gluten averse mother in law. "Usually tests below 20 ppm" isn't exactly instilling any confidence...

EDIT: congrats on making a "mediocre" sorghum extract beer, by the way...that's quite the feat. I've brewed maybe half a dozen or so over the years - with different adjuncts added to to try to help...all have been well below mediocre.

 

The trick was 5 pounds of blueberries to cover up that lovable sorghum twang...

 

Back on the topic of local beer, has anyone cracked any bottles of BG's Citra Saison w/ Brett yet? Mine was VERY carbed and light on the brett. I want to sit on them a little to let the brett character develop more but I am afraid of them turning into bottle bombs.

I got about 60% head on my pours.

 

60% head is better than getting no head right?

 

Haven't opened mine but now that you said that, I'll probably open it tonight.

 

That's what she said

 

I have all of them only one I opened so far is lemon dropped and enjoyed it a lot

 

On a side note was shocked bells 30th was still on at Shadyside and what a stout I expected it to be good but not that good

 

Agree...not sure how that one is flying under the radar. Wait, yes I do - no barrel.

Great, great beer though. Insanely complex.

 

I still have 3 bottles left and will be sad when it's gone. I wish they would replace Kalamazoo Stout with this.

 

I have to think but might be the best non barrel aged stout I have ever had

 

Hunapuh, Zhukov and Founders Imperial would all probably still come first for me...but it deserves to be in the conversation.

 

Huna, Czar, Speedway

 

Agreed on the first two and I am a huge founders imperial I think 30th might be better.