My Gluten Free Beer Experience

Not long ago, I was strongly advised, for medicinal purposes, to cut gluten out of my diet for at least a month. My first thought:

"But, but, I'm a beer judge!"

Needless to say, this is hardly a valid excuse when it comes to one's health. Plus, truth be told, I wasn't scheduled to judge any competitions until late February. Still, the concept of putting my passion aside for thirty days at minimum had me feeling pretty pouty.

But then, I remembered! I remembered all those times at Whole Foods near my work in NYC when I would pick up a beer I'd never tried before, thinking, "Hm, this looks interesting," before spotting the words "GLUTEN FREE" on the label and consequently shoving it back on the shelf. Like  "Atkins" and "No Yolk," to me, those words meant, "better because it tastes bad." 

Now, however, "gluten free" was a golden ticket! I must passed up so many gluten free beers. I was sure to find some at the Beer & Wine Emporium near my home in Jersey, right? Wrong. 

 

"I should have returned to Whole Foods," I thought, as I stared down my only option. It was a six pack of New Grist from Lakefront Brewery, and what I found troublesome was that the packaging described this beverage as a "Pilsner Style Beer." 

 

Now, to each her own, but I'm not a Pilsner fan. At all. I'm a "big beer" gal. I like lots of hops, esters, and/or melanoidins. I like crazy flavors and complexity. Pilsners are usually described as being "simple" and "clean." I'll tell you a secret: I'm neither of those things. 

 

As you've likely assumed all along, I went ahead and bought that beer, my rationale being, "Well, I came five whole minutes out of my way to get here!" 

 

Perhaps it's a good thing that my rationale is not always so rational, because New Grost turned out to be my favorite type of beer: the "unlike-anything-I've-had-before-and-I-mean-that-in-a-good-way" type. It was the clearest beer I'd ever seen, with huge carbonation bubbles zooming to the top. The color was a light, bright gold. Altogether, it looked like a more vibrant glass of champagne with a bubble bath head. 

 

"It looks like champagne," I told my uninterested spouse. I took a whiff. "Oh my god, that's so funny! It smells like champagne, too!" Never had I ever had a Pilsner that smelled like champagne. The beer judge side of me would have normally scoffed about it "not being to style," but in this case, I was more than happy to smell something unexpected. 

 

In many ways, the beer was clean and simple. Its taste was light, with more flavor in the dry finish. Likewise, the body was smooth as water initially, but once swallowed, it became crisp, fizzy, and unbelievably refreshing. It had a sort of mellow tartness to it, like a spritz of dried apricot. It felt more like a cider than a beer, actually, and I was delightfully intrigued. 

 

I'd drink this even if I didn't have to stay away from gluten. Honestly, I would. 

 

So how does one make gluten free beer? Well, Lakefront Brewery led the way by using rice and sorghum instead of wheat or barley. New Grist was the first beer available for those on a gluten free diet, and now there are many other options available. That's good news for beer lovers with celiac disease, but not necessarily good news for me at the moment: I just found out that the temporary diet I've been put on calls for me to cut out yeast, as well. 

 

D'oh!