Gluten Free Beer

My wife has recently embarked on a gluten free (among other things) diet and I'm occasionally along for the ride. Can anyone share recommendations or favorites?

Yeah, drink cider instead.

Seriously.

There's a gluten-free Belgian-style beer (blanking on the name, but it has a green label or maybe the word "green" in the name) that's for sale at Whole Foods & some of the restaurants that have larger Belgian beer selections. I tried it once and thought it was horrible, so you can take this as either a recommendation or a word of warning.

I've tried the Lakefront Brewery New Grist and it wasn't completely terrible. We have a six-pack of the Anheuser Busch Redbridge, but no one has dared try it. My gluten-free friend drinks cider, wine and liquor, but she was never a big beer drinker anyway.

Hi TCK,

If you don't have to be gluten free you will probably find it hard to truly enjoy a gluten free beer. That being said, there are some good options out there if you have to be gluten free. One of the beer's mentioned earlier but no name attached (although very close ) is Green's. Green's has three different beers to choose from; I prefer the dark. There is one you may actually enjoy called Estrella Damm Daura, an import from Spain that you may enjoy. It is not a gluten free beer, it is a low gluten beer so I would caution you if you require gluten free food but if you don't require it that may be your best option. You can find reviews on the Association website at http://www.glutenfreebeer.org. Hope that helps.

Joey
Gluten Free Beer Assoc.

I have celiac disease but am not a beer drinker. The beau however is a beer drinker and drinks GF beer when we're together. I would second Estrella Damm Daura. FWIW, it tests at 6ppm or less which is lower than the FDA proposed 20PPM gluten content for it to be considered gluten free.

He also often drinks Redbridge. In fact he attempted to buy a keg of it for a large event we were having but they don't sell it in keg form.

As far as ciders go I LOVE an icy cold original Scrumpys. They have an original and a winter/fall. The latter has spices in it.

Stay away from the Sprecher banana beer! It's vile nasty stuff in my opinion. I thought the St. Peters I tried was in a word skunky. Perhaps it was the bottle that I bought, but I won't try another one.

Binny's has a fantastic selection of gluten-free beers.

I appreciate all the tips and advice.

gleam: What ciders would you recommend for non-cider drinkers? I think I had woodchuck once when I was underage in college and hated it.

GlutenFreeBeer: Thanks for the website, I'll check it out. You're right though, I know I am not going to enjoy them since I don't have to drink gluten free, but just trying to be supportive of my wife at these beginning stages

Veloute: I'll check Binny's for both of those.

Thanks again everyone!

TCK: I will tell you, I have glutened my wife by eating gluten and then kissing or whatever . It is safest if she is Celiac for you to stay off of gluten as well or stay away from her. It is not possible to have both gluten eating and non-gluten eating people in the same house! You simply cannot avoid cross contamination unless you have two kitchens in two separate parts of the house with their own utensils. I know this doesn't sound good, but it is a fact none the less. Even if there is no real physical manifestation of an issue from cross contamination, if you are Celiac it is destroying your small intestine to eat any amount of gluten.

You not needing to eat gluten free is why I recommended Daura, it is not a true gluten free beer, it is a low gluten beer. The EU has a less than 20 ppm rule that allows any product with less than 20 ppm to be labeled gluten free. The US has no standard at this point but there is leaning to adopt the 20 ppm model. The majority of the Celiac community is against this idea because even 1 ppm is going to cause a reaction in your gut ... even if you don't "feel" it. I do not react physically (much) to gluten but my wife is super sensitive, so to protect her I do not eat gluten either. Consider your wife the next time you go for that hamburger at lunch while at work.

Veloute: What other places (restaurants, bars, retailers) would you recommend that carry gluten free beer?

Oh, TCK, if you don't like cider at all then you are going to be out of luck. My favorite ciders to date are Crispin and Samuel Smith Organic.

Crispin ciders are nice, dry and refreshing (and strong!). I recommend those if you're looking to surpass the glory of Woodchuck.

The GP wrote:I've tried the Lakefront Brewery New Grist and it wasn't completely terrible. We have a six-pack of the Anheuser Busch Redbridge, but no one has dared try it. My gluten-free friend drinks cider, wine and liquor, but she was never a big beer drinker anyway.

Redbridge isn't too bad. It has kind of a funky aftertaste because it's made from sorghum. As far as availability and price, Redbridge would be the way to go. For any other gluten free beer, you will probably have to go to an organic food store, Binny's, or craft beer store. If you really want to get creative, you could try your luck at brewing your own GF beer. I've made ales before which was pretty easy, but never a gluten free beer.

Two Brothers' Prairie Path Ale is gluten-free, as well:
http://www.twobrosbrew.com/all%20year%20beers.htm

I think it's a perfectly decent beer (I've picked up corny kegs for parties on multiple occasions... back when my friends could still be counted on to finish a keg in one night -- those were the days!). I also find it amusing that it being gluten-free was completely unintended.

I tried some New Planet Off Grid Pale Ale yesterday and it was, to my taste, the best of the gluten free beers I have tried. Maybe I miss hops so much that I'm being overly forgiving, but it actually tastes like actual beer. Good beer. It's about $9 for a four pack of 12 oz. bottles.

You are absolutely correct. If you are a hop fan, Off Grid Pale ale is probably the best gluten free beer choice for that. If you like a fruitier beer, lambic style, then the new Dog Fish head Tweason' Ale is an excellent choice for that. The numbers of gluten free beers on the market are starting to explode which is great for those of us who have to have a gluten free beer.

I've had Red Bridge and it was OK, I'm not really a beer drinker though. We bought it at Binny's.

Here is a link to an interesting article about the use of Brewer's Clarex. Clarex is an enzyme derived from a strain of Aspergillus niger mold which is used to eliminate chill haze in beer . It also lowers the gluten content to less than 5 ppm. It is manufactured by DSM food products, and is available in smaller quantities from White labs under the name CLARITY-FERM. According to the article, one needs to add only 3ml of the stuff to 5 gallons of cooled wort before fermentation. I am not sure this is what 2 Bros uses, since they claim their enzyme is plant (not mold) derived, and it is technically a GMO, which would seem like a red flag for 2 Brothers. It should be noted that although the enzyme breaks down Gluten so it is no longer recognizable, it is possible that the broken down protein might still cause an auto-immune reaction in some people with Celiac disease (although there are no studies which prove this one way or the other) . 2 Bros. claims to have tested their beer pretty rigorously before proclaiming its nearly gluten-free status. Needless to say, one should proceed very cautiously if they are on a strict Gluten-Free diet.

http://www.examiner.com/beer-in-nationa ... c-impaired

Add a "second" to the Two Brothers Prairie Path. We have sold it in our Pub for the last two years because it's a good brew. Finding out it's "gluten-free" a few months back is a great added bonus! We tried Redbridge and a couple of others...what can I say, "yuck". But the PP has built a nice following and a bonus, it's local. You're supporting a Chicago area brewer instead of Budweiser.