Gluten Dude

Gluten-Free Beer: A New Era

My name is Gluten Dude and I’m a beer snob.

It wasn’t always this way.

My dad drank Carling’s Black Label while I was growing up so that was my first exposure to beer. Although calling Black Label beer is being generous.

He’d give me sips on hot summer days (who cares if I was eight) and while I thought it was kinda cool to be tasting the forbidden fruit, I must say the taste repulsed me.

Fast forward to my teen years and my first “real” beer of my own was a Miller 8 oz. nip. Thanks to Bill Reeves for sneaking some into the party.

(Dudettes…don’t even think about it!)

Moving on to my college years, it was always about finding the most beer at the cheapest price. So it was essentially four years of Hamms, PBR, Old Milwaukee and Busch.

How my intestines survived is beyond me.

Fast forward again to my adult years and I drank much less, but much better, beer.

I became enamored with the flavors of fine microbrews and began drinking beer for the taste, not the effect. Although the effect was a nice bonus.

And then came celiac disease in 2007.

Sure I’d miss pasta. Sure I’d miss pizza. Sure I’d miss bagels.

But boy would I miss beer.

“But wait! There’s gluten-free beer?? Woo-hoo!!!”

“What? My choices are limited to Red Bridge and Bards? Well, that’s ok…2 is better than none.”

Sip….

“Well, that sorta sucks.”

I resigned myself to the fact the days of beer were over.

But we seemed to have entered a new era of gluten-free beers.

A few weeks ago, Mrs. Dude made a trip to Joe Canals and she hit the jackpot. Here is what she brought home for me.

gluten-free-beer

Here’s a quick review of each of the above gluten-free beers.

Magners: This is actually an Irish Cider and not a beer, but it’s got alcohol so be it. I’m not a big cider guy, but this stuff is really tasty, very refreshing and goes down very smoothly. Because of it’s sweetness, I can’t have more than ten one or two, but I give it a total thumbs up.

Glutenator: By far, my favorite name for a beer. For some reason, I didn’t have much faith in this one. But I brought the bottle with me to have with my sushi a few days ago and it was fantastic. And strong. One beer, granted a large beer, did me just fine. I will definitely be restocking my fridge with this one.

Daura: I had heard so many amazing things about this beer and was psyched that it was finally available by me. It was indeed high-quality. It tasted similar to a Heineken or Amstel, which I’m not a big fan of. But that’s just a personal taste thing. If you like that type of beer, you’ll love the Daura.

New Planet: Best…gluten-free beer…ever. I first found these guys at a celiac conference in Philly and had a taste. It tasted like a microbrew. They have three different kinds, though I’m very partial to the Off Grid Pale Ale. Try it…you’ll love it.

Dogfish Heads Tweason‘ale: This was so disappointing. Dogfish was one of my favorite brewers pre-celiac. I loved their 90-Minute IPA. But why they chose to make their gluten-free beer strawberry-flavored is beyond me. Are they trying to market to the female audience? I have no idea. But there are five bottles still sitting in my fridge…and I don’t see that ever changing.

New Grist: This one isn’t pictured above, but it rocks. It was the first drinkable gluten-free beer I had and I am grateful to them for restoring my faith that I could drink beer again.

As I age, I tend to drink less. And when do imbibe, I will go with a nice Tito’s Vodka with cucumber more often than a beer.

But it’s nice to have options again.

Beer is good.

You have a favorite gluten-free beer?

66 thoughts on “Gluten-Free Beer: A New Era”

  1. eeeewee strawberry flavoured beer? That is beyond yuck.

    Thanks for the review. I’ve passed this along to my Mr. Dude who misses his Guiness. :(

  2. My partner discovered that Crabbies Alcoholic Ginger Beer is also Gluten-Free. My particular favourite is the Spiced Orange…. SO tasty!!!

  3. LOL! you sound like my husband! in order for our family to go GF i had to find an acceptable beer list for my husband and pizza for the kids. He also enjoys New Grist and will probably love the additional ones listed in your post, although he REALLY wants to find one in a can for canoeing ;-/
    One i found i like (totally NOT a beer snob or fan) is Crown Valley Brewing strawberry cider…kinda sweet but cannot tell it’s strawberry, i campare it to the tangarine Michelob Ultra. Also we recently tried Michelob Ultra cider – very refreshing but lacking in flavor but a nice change as most ciders are very tart and heavy tasting.

  4. I was a dark beer drinker before gf, so I really haven’t found anything I like as much as a Guinness. But, I have found the New Planet Pale Ale to be okay, and the occasional Redbridge isn’t bad either.

    I tend to stick with Mike’s Hard Lemonades instead of beer, or I really like the interesting ciders that my local alcohol emporiums are starting to get instead of gf beer. There’s several neat ciders from England that have the strong flavor I enjoy in my booze.

      • I’ve heard many mixed messages about the Mikes. The company is saying that as of June 2011, only the Mike’s Lite and Cranberry Lite are now gluten free.

        If in doubt…do without.

    • Hello Concetta,

      Just an FYI ……….Mikes is a malted beverage using barley. I have not looked recently, but they had claimed in the past that the gluten was removed in the brewing/distilling process. I don’t drink Mike’s, but my wife does (I’m the celiac, she’s the poor gal that has to put up with me). That is the only “non” gluten free item in our house (that may actually be gluten free, but I’m not risking it).

  6. Strawberries belong to cream not beer! Have you tried Green’s? The Endeavor is a dark beer (my personal favorite!) and it’s so good! It is made in Belgium by a British man that is celiac and missed his beer.I still miss Guinness :-(

      • We don’t have a lot of availability of gluten-free beers around here either, but I have tried Redbridge and New Grist. I had my very first taste of gluten-free beer while visiting a friend in Chicago. It was in a teeny tiny family-owned restaurant in a suburb (read: ghetto). I had gluten-free cheese ravioli, garlic bread, and beer…. I thought I had died and gone to heaven (although we were a little afraid we were just about to do so given our surroundings)!!!

        I am not a huge beer drinker…but, my favorite by far has been Green’s! We had a Pizza Fusion nearby us for about a year (until they closed down.. ) – it was the BEST thing in the world to be able to enjoy pizza & Green’s beer!! Now, it’s back to BJ’s for pizza & Redbridge. I haven’t been able to find Green’s since. :(

        I am also unable to drink wine due to an allergy to sulfites, so I tend to stick to ciders most of the time. Dude, do you happen to know if ‘all’ ciders are gluten-free? Or is it on a brand-by-brand basis? Just curious… thanks. :)

  8. I really enjoy the Brunehaut amber, but its nowhere in my neighborhood, so I stock up when I can. Can’t take the sweet stuff. New Grist, in a pinch. Omission hasn’t made it here yet, but next on my list.

  9. I can’t say I was heartbroken when I knew I could not have beer. Long gone are the days of College nickel beer nights. I prefer a nice glass of red. I do though believe I gave up the occasional beer a while back because I felt bloated when I had one. Amazing huh?

    I do like New Planet. It is my favorite. New Grist is a good one as well. Sometimes a girl does want a good beer every once on a while. I attribute acquiring a taste due to the freeness factor around my college days…. Either at a frat house or at my waitressing job where my boss would let us have one from the tap before we went out for the night. Nice huh?

    And no, I’d rather not have a fruity one.

    My first gluten free beer was Redbridge and it is ok, but the last time I had one, I had a horrid headache. Had not had a headache since I was a gluten regular. Needless to say, that was my last.

  10. In Iowa, we don’t get too many choices … I should say few *good* choices. About 6 months of going gluten free, my hubby and I started home brewing! It so much fun. You get to make your own flavors and know the ingredients. We’ve done an orange honey ale (similar to Shock Top), pumpkin spice, and a chocolate vanilla porter. We’ve had some that aren’t that great, but you learn as you go.

  11. I had Daura and it was the best beer I had in a long time. Then after having 3 Dura beers my stomach started to hurt really bad and I was so bloated too , ughhh. I don’t know why.. Did I have too much ? , then I started reading how it wasn’t really GF online . I was so confused and still am . I feel like trying other GF beers that clearly say they are GF and safe . I’m not sure Daura is or even say’s it on the box .

    • My cousin and I had the exact same thing happen to us after drinking Daura Beer. We got pretty sick. I have tried New Planet and love the Pale Ale!!! So yummy.

      Was wondering if anyone out there has found a good GF beer that comes in a keg? Would love to have a keggerator! :)

      • Hmmm…I’ve heard this from a few people today. Maybe something to do with the 20 ppm as acceptable for being called gluten-free.

        Remind me again…why can’t gluten-free just mean “GLUTEN-FREE”?

        • They claim to remove it with an enzyme that should breakdown the gluten. Then they test with the ELISA assay to prove it is under 20 ppm (most often they detect for less). The problem is that new research has shown problems with using the ELISA assay with fermented products… that it may under-represent the gluten content.

          My tuned tummy decided Estrella made me sick. I will never try Omission.

            • Based on the limitations of the assay, the differences between the two aren’t statistically significant enough in order to be able to make that claim.

              • I agree with you Sarah. Unfortunately most of us are left to judge base on how we feel which is a terrible testing method. We know people have NO symptoms but are in fact Celiac so the small intestine is as slick as a babies bottom but they don’t ‘feel’ bad. We CANNOT judge gluten free based on how we feel.

                I am with Gluten Dude and always have been … why can’t Gluten Free be exactly that … Gluten Free. The only answer to that question is it limits the ability of businesses to profit from this HUGE and growing market. It is all about the money which is the ONLY reason the EU has a 20 ppm threshold for gluten free. I wonder if the same standard is true for the amount of manure in food???

                • Exactly! I tend to use the fact that I got sick to demonstrate that I am an example of someone who could not tolerate the level. But, I constantly remind celiac friends that it does not mean that not feeling sick means it is ok.

                  I agree that GF should be GF! Even the FDA’s human health risk assessment suggested that 1ppm would be the level that would be protective of 90% of celiacs. So why is the new proposed rule at 20ppm? It is also worrisome that they are going to accept “purification”… Especially with some studies suggesting testing is not quite so straightforward.

  12. I keep hearing about lots of different beers and ciders out there that are gluten free. I have had several and most of them aren’t that great. I do like New Grist, which is easy for me to get since I’m from the Milwaukee area and it’s brewed at the Lakefront Brewery there. There are some others made from sorghum, and no I don’t mean Bard’s or Redbridge. I can’t recall the names of them at the moment, which is no help to any of you, but I wasn’t impressed with either one. But one thing that I was recently surprised by is apparently now Michelob has a line of ciders that are gluten free. I haven’t tried any of them yet, but you can bet I will. I’m not a person who typically consumes a huge amount of alcohol, but those times when you have gatherings and everyone else has a couple, I would like to as well.

    • Think you may be referring to Spreckers (sp?) they are brewed in an African style, not really sure what that means. One has a banana flavor. Different. Can’t say I was a huge fan though.

  14. I have a couple of different Sprecher’s. That too is made in WI, so it’s easy to find there. The two I tried were just so-so.

  15. So this gent loves his cold beverages…..open my fridge door and you will find a two pack (formally a four pack) of New Planet “Off Grid pale ale”. The closest to what I drank PCD (pre-celiac diagnosis)….and concur wholeheartedly with the Dude (not Lebowski but the Gluten one) that it is best…. gluten free beer…ever! I do like a little variety in my life, so you will also find a few bottles of Redbridge, New Grist, , Woodchuck cider, Angry Orchard ginger cider, and I think a foxtail cider deep in the back. This has me thinking that I need to partake in one of these ASAP. Cheers!

  16. Great reviews. The fun thing about beer is that if you look long enough, there is a flavor for everyone, even in gluten free beer. :-)

    Lambics have been very popular for hundreds of years which is the style of the Dogfish head, which I happen to really like. To each his own.

    Recently, the department of Treasury (TTA) ruled on gluten free alcohol, which includes all liquor. Mikes nor Daura nor Omission can be labeled as gluten free in the US. Only alcohol that is made from non-gluten containing products can be labeled gluten free. Since we have no real test to verify the lack of gluten in distilled products, I avoid them. I am not passing judgement on any of these beers, simply the ability to label gluten free or not.

    I am with you Dude, why can’t gluten free simply be that, GLUTEN FREE? :-) For our family, 1 ppm of gluten is 1 too many.

  20. The omission beer indeed rocks, its only in oregon right now and coming to California very soon. But if you are very sensistive you might want to stay away. Since they make the beer with gluten and then remove the gluten, none of the omission beers are completly without gluten, but they do meet the required minimum of 20 ppm to be labeled gluten free, at least if it was a food: barley based alcohal is regulated by the ATF, which doesn’t label things gluten free, but non barley based beer is regulated by the FDA which has the 20 ppm requirement. The average bottle has around 6 ppm I had some in oregon recently, it’s pretty great, but I will not make it an every day thing, maybe one six pack a month at maximum, this beer is “gluten free” but it still contains gluten and I can’t conciously put gluten into my body when I know there are other beers who use gluten free ingreidents (sourgum or rice) to make a beer without ANY gluten.

    • Thanks tons for the info Michael. I’m beyond disappointed. Just make the damn beer gluten free if you’re gonna promote it as gluten free.

    • Michael,

      Where do you get your information because my information contradicts yours. The FDA has no standard for gluten free though they are leaning towards a 20 ppm standard which many are objecting to. With no set standard, that is why the Department of the Treasury: Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) made the ruling that they made which governs ALL alcohol regardless of ingredients. In their ruling, which you will find a link to in the linked blog post, they state that this ruling is in lieu of a federal standard and will be reviewed when the FDA makes a ruling but until then, no alcohol product made from gluten containing ingredients can be labeled as gluten free regardless of efforts to remove gluten.

      I happen to like the Omission beer but my wife on the other hand wouldn’t touch it for fear of getting sick. I have some Omission in my fridge right now and will drink it but my sensitivity level is much lower than my wife’s. For us, even many of the US sorghum beers she reacts to because of cross contamination in processing equipment when harvesting sorghum. This doesn’t happen with none US sorghum, like Green’s.

      The gluten free road is a windy one so we all have to stay diligent and do our homework. We have known folks that got glutened from meat sprayed with a cleaning agent that contained gluten. This lifestyle requires you to stay on your toes and know what you are putting in your mouth and on your skin. Fun times for all. :-)

      • I’ll admit my knowledge is mostly second hand. The european standard is 20 ppm, and thats what omission based their findings off of, their goal was to make a beer under 20 ppm, which they did. I guess my info was a little old this is what I was referencing -

        http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Regulation/FDA-issues-draft-guidance-on-gluten-free-beer-labeling

        It sounds like for the past few years the FDA has been regulating gluten free beers, I noticed this because I am also diabetic and most gluten free beers have the number of calories and carbs on the boxes or bottles, just like any other food and unlike any other kind of beer, the big alcohol companies would never post the shocking nutritional information on their bottles.

        • Since the founder of Omission is a Celiac, he is trying to get as low as he possibly can. Unfortunately, our current testing for liquid will only go down to 5 ppm. Hopefully we will have a new proven test in the near future that will go down to 0 ppm. Until we have a definitive test, we all need to proceed with caution. :-)

          • Thanks for sharing your knowledge. Are you saying there is no way to make it 100% gluten-free because there is no test to verify it??

            • That is correct when it comes to liquids. There is a no gluten test which means present or not present, the problem with this test is that is does not catch the gluten molecule if it has been broken down in any way. Unfortunately, tests have shown that we can still react to the broken down molecules. The science just hasn’t been “proven” to get a 0 ppm test. There is a group out of Australia that has a test been proven at other University and research facilities currently, but until others can reproduce the results, it is not a valid test. I am extremely hopeful that this test can be proven so we as Celiacs can rest a little easier with a real test that we can trust. For now, as I mentioned, it is simply “proceed with caution” and a lot of personal research. :-)

              Great thread Dude! :-)

  21. Also, it’s great that bards tastes like real beer, but I’ve never had a real beer (GF since 12), new grist and Gluten Free the People Dark Ale (I think only in CA) are at the top of my list.

  22. I totally agree about the tweason-soooo disappointing from Dogfish head. New planet beers have been a fave, as well as Greens. I so wish someone would try a GF stout. My husband brews beer and I asked for a darker beer as my “push” present. He did great and my beer was delicious-kind of an amber/coffee type flavor!

  23. I’ve got the last four beers in my fridge. That’s too funny. They are all okay to me. By far my favorite is Green’s Dubbel Dark Ale. Sadly, I only found it once.

  24. I am with you……was really into microbrews, esp. pale ales like Sierra Nevada, Shoal’s pale ale, etc. After my celiac diagnosis, it took me over a year to acquire a taste for Redbridge yet I never enjoyed it. I’m not much of a wine drinker, so I have also been thrilled when the options have expanded over the past few years. The only GF beer I have really loved right off the bat was New Planet Off Grid Pale Ale. To make it even hoppier like my favorite pre-celiac beers, my husband bought a french press and soaks Cascade hops into it. It is truly off the charts now!

  25. Katie C. – i am in complete agreement. I was a huge micro brew girl in my pre-celiac days and struggled for a while with the ‘no more beer’ thing. I have tried them all… and my favorite is the New Planet Off Grid. Their raspberry is good too. But the off grid… IS BEER!! Unfortunately restaurants here only ever carry redbridge (which just doesn’t do it for me) so i tend to do martinis or red wine when not home.

  26. Just yesterday, and for the second straight year, Brunehaut’s Amber and Blonde earned Gold + Silver (respectively) at the 2012 US Open Beer Championship. (gluten-free division)
    — pronounced “BREW-know” —

  27. Has anyone tried Harvester’s new beers? I ordered their Experiment Ale which is an IPA. I’m definitely an IPA snob and this beer doesn’t taste like its made from sorghum, yet the facility is ENTIRELY GLUTEN-FREE. My husband (able to eat gluten) even thinks the beer is as good as top of the line IPA’s out there. The other night he was jealous because my beer was better than his…

    http://www.harvesterbrewing.com/our-beer

    I won’t touch Omission or Estrella… Too many people seem to get sick from it. I got sick from Estrella. I questioned the restaurant that tired to serve it to me, but when they insisted it really was even though it was not labeled as such I drank it. BIG MISTAKE.

    • I LOVE Harvester!! They had an Experimental fall ale this year that was devine!!! The Dark Ale is really good too (kind of a light Moose Drool). YAY BEER! :)

  29. Estrella make another beer with packaging almost identical to the Damm Daura. Big Wheaty bought me that by mistake one day, luckily we spotted it before I drank any – when we revisited the supermarket, we found that not only were they displayed next to each other, the shelf-stackers had crossed the two varieties over (compared to the shelf-labels, I mean).

    We mentioned it to the supermarket staff, and the Estrella Damm is now in the free-from section, and the normal with the gluten-containing beers, so we haven’t made the mistake since.

    I’m very sensitive to gluten, and barley in particular, and have no problems with Damm Daura. On the other hand, I am not the world’s greatest drinker, so this might be the reason I haven’t had problems. :-)

    Our local supermarket does a fantastic range of ciders, including several made with single variety apples, and a selection of pear ciders, too. And Belgian fruit beers, but I can’t say I fancy those.

  30. i love beer.
    i mean, i really LOVE beer…
    used to be a stout girl… then went to belgium…
    have been a HUGE belgian beer fan, since…
    love the complex flavors… love the 5-10% amount of alcohol… just plain love beer.

    then- turns out i am likely a celiac (not all tests are back yet) i have been gluten-free for almost two months now… and it sucks.
    my husband drinks a beautiful farmhouse ale, and all i can do is smell it- and cry (yes, i have cried over beer)

    anyhow-
    i heard the new planets were ‘meh’, so i had not tried them…
    i did find “greens” brand…
    large pint bottles (expensive), higher gravity…
    at first- tasty- i thought “i could live with this”…
    but, after about half the pint, these acidic beers make my stomach cramp :(

    then discovered “ommission”.
    it tastes like beer !
    there’s a pale ale and a lager (which i used to never drink- unless that’s all there was)
    not bad, not bad at all…

    i hope that more breweries will start producing gluten-free beers… i think that when more of the population finds out how intolerant they are of wheat and gluten, that we will have more good beers to choose from.

    try “ommission”
    (widmar bros product)

    • Hi Christina. Thanks for the comment. A few things:

      - You say you’ve been tested and that you’ve been gluten free for two months. When did you get tested? The reason I ask is that you need to be eating gluten for about a month before the celiac test consistently for the test to be accurate.

      - And regarding Omission Beer, they are owned by real good folks. But some people do not react well to the beer because it is made from Barley. I did a whole post about it here:
      http://glutendude.com/gluten/should-celiacs-drink-omission-beer/

    • I actually think New Planet is fantastic!
      Harvester as mentioned is also great. The IPA tastes just like a real IPA and uses ZERO BARLEY!

  31. Don’t forget Harvester Brewing out of Portland,Oregon
    They even have an online store/delivery.

    Excellent taste and selection.

    Enjoy!

  32. Christina,

    I do like the New Planet Products. You can read reviews of most gluten free beers available in the US on the Gluten Free Beer Assoc website. :-)

    Have fun finding your favorite beer!!!

    Cheers!

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