A new chapter in #RockStruck madness.... Gluten Free Drinking!

Those of you who know me well will already be aware that I am highly impulsive and you will no doubt have seen some of my crazy ideas over the last few years. Some have worked and some haven't. This latest idea though.... I reckon it is my craziest yet because unlike the others, it is not related to anything I have tried before. I have to learn a completely new skill and basically I am totally winging it. I thought that you may like to join me on this journey, so I have started a blog.

Just four weeks ago, following over a year of uncomfortable symptoms after eating just about anything, my doctor did some blood tests and I was diagnosed as Coeliac. Basically, I can't eat anything containing Gluten anymore so a Gluten Free (GF) diet is the only way to feel better.

No bread, cakes, biscuits, cereals or........BEER!!!

I have actually had no problem giving up bread, cake or biscuits and have found some cereals which I can eat. Going out is a bit of a minefield due to the possibility of getting "accidentally glutened" but it is by no means impossible. I used to regularly enjoy things like Jaffa Cakes, cheese on toast and Weetabix but seeing as the commercially available GF alternatives all seem to taste horrible (and seem to be packed full of processed sugars), I have found it better to simply stick to naturally GF foods and I am actually eating very healthily. Luckily the GF community in general are really awesome people and so I have been getting some lovely looking recipes sent through to try. Unfortunately, I cannot cook. I have never been able to and furthermore, there are more important matters to address.... like the fact that I truly miss having a beer!

GF beer doesn't feel like beer in my mouth....

The science bit....

I tried some GF beer and because I had been warned that it tastes nothing like "normal" beer, I actually didn't find it tasted too bad but speaking as someone who really enjoys a pint, I was quite sad to discover that the "texture" of the beer I tried was a bit of a let-down. I did a lot of research and found that there are several things which may be accountable for this and decided that I would make some of my own. Not one to be deterred by the fact that I haven't made Home Brew since I was at university, I promptly designed a logo and bought a kit. Since then, I have researched recipes and basically I am ready to go!

Rockin' in the Gluten Free world.... free beer!

My recipe basically just contains some things I thing taste nice (I could tell you, but I'd have to kill you...) and is an extract recipe containing an alternative to Sorghum which is the usual base for GF beer products. I believe that Sorghum is the reason for the lack of texture so I decided to avoid it. 

I decided to call it "Backstage Brew" just because it sounds cool. This isn't a sales project. I do not have the necessary licence to sell my finished GF beer so I have decided to give it away to my lovely friends and customers to review for me.

If the venture proves successful, I plan to seek a collaboration with a brewery of some kind but that is probably a fair way off! I'll keep you all up to date with the brewing process and would value any advice from anyone who has done this before!

Help me by sharing my hashtags....

The world has gone mad for hashtags, so these are mine. I would be most grateful if you could use them if you share any of my things:
#RockStruck (general brand hashtag)
#RockStruckUnique (for my one of a kind design images used on stagewear
#BackstageBrew (my beer experiment!)