Pale Ale
Glutenberg Craft Brewery

L: brilliant gold with streams of bubbles rushing to the surface to join a 1" frothy white foam cap with fair to good retention

S: generic grain smell, corn and spicy hops

T: starts slightly sweet with some fruit, citrus, orange, dark sugar, and then a moderate bitterness leads to a crisp dry finish

F: has a light body and is highly carbonated

O: lacks the texture of a wheat or barley based beer but it is crisp and drinkable and is on par with some of the gluten-reduced beers

 

 

 

Looks great in the glass. Smells like fresh cut grass and grapefruit. It tastes overly bitter with a weirdly thin feel. It kinda tastes like how chlorine smells, if that makes sense. Chlorine with a hop infusion. Id I suddenly had a gluten problem I'd rather not drink craft than substitute with this. Plus points for having nutrition facts

 

 

 

Pours a clear straw color. A modest head dissipates quickly.

The nose opens with notes of grassy hops. This is followed by grainy aromas of bready malt, buckwheat and corn adjuncts.

The taste opens sweet and grainy with a touch of grassy and citrusy hops. The finish is clean with some dryness.

Medium bodied and moderately carbonated. The grainy texture makes the mouthfeel a bit coarse.

This was okay but not too memorable. A bit grainy and rough in the mouthfeel. The taste is not bad, but overall, probably a one and done for me.

 

 

 

DATE: February 13, 2020... OCCASION: six weeks of gluten-free living and still going strong... Hop Devil nonick... a half-fingered off-white head sits atop a clear, golden yellow body flourishing with bubbles... hay, grapefruit, bubblegum, pear and apple, cracker and tea--it's a pleasant, aromatic, light and sharp with a tinge of syrup... not as a pale ale usually sits, but also not a beer whose aroma will turn you away... welcoming at the mouth, light to medium-bodied, slightly chewy with a buzzing, bubbly mouthfeel that finishes dryly... a candied flavor prevails, with sweet sugars, tart fruits, apple, pear, some pineapple or citric hop floating in and out, and a bit of metallic ping late... all told, this can stand in for an easy-drinking malt-based beer on many nights, the kind that has hop flavor to offer... definitely a beer I will drink again, at least until my experiment is over...

 

 

 

 

I have been meaning to get at my remaining gluten-free beers for some time and with today being another installment of New Beer Sunday, I am making mine New Gluten-Free Beer Sunday. I picked up a mixed 4-pack of Glutenberg CANs in support of The CANQuest (tm) during my most recent New England foray and I am curious to give them a whirl.

From the CAN: "100% Gluten Free - 100% Great Beer"; "World Beer Cup Silver Award 2012 Winner Gluten-Free Beer Category"; "Ingredients: Water, Millet, Buckwheat, Corn, CANdy Syrup, Demerara Sugar, Quinoa, Hops, Yeast."

I feel as though I am really drinking healthy with these beers! They just keep getting more & more interesting in terms of their ingredients. The uniqueness, coupled with the relatively low ABV, makes me feel like I CAN do this all day. Except for the idea that they seem to act as a diuretic. Man, I usually do not have to go this often!

Onward! The tank is empty, so I am ready for a refill. They all seem to fight me on the Crack!, which is actually okay by me. I have ways of dealing with the CAN in return, namely, an inverted Glug. I poured as much as I could from the 16-fl. oz. CAN before I simply had to back off/down or risk overflow. This all resulted in two fingers of dense, rocky, bone-white head with very good retention. Color was a beautiful Golden-Amber (SRM = > 5, < 7) with NE-quality clarity. Enter The Gelt Gang of Midas, Croesus & Mammon, but they seemed CANfused & disoriented. I suppose that G-F beers have that effect on us all. Nose had a grassy hoppiness, more suited to a Pils than an APA, but I am not about to quibble at this point. I want to find things to like in these beers, not to simply dun them because I am not a member of their intended audience. Mouthfeel was medium. The hops were certainly the star in this one! Very grassy, perhaps Noble hops, and underlain with that buckwheat sharpness that is the Achilles heel of these beers.

Well, buckwheat & treacle/molasses, but the latter is not present here. Still, if they are this close, I CAN't help but wonder if either/both could be left out as well as exchanging the ale yeast for a lager & making a Pils. This would rate on the low end of an APA, but when taking into account that it is a G-F beer, this would rank pretty high on my list, if I had to be relegated to dinking such things.

Back to the review. It was not as hoppy as some APAs that I have reviewed recently, but I have also argued that the line between APAs & AIPAs seems to be blurring. That being the case, I want to CANtinue to advocate for this beer. It was moderately hoppy, slightly sharp/bitter, but as a self-described, self-avowed hophead, I CAN hang with it. Finish was semi-dry to dry, with a light sweetness on the extreme finish, probably from the syrup & sugar.

ReCANpping: It seems to me to be the Red Ale & the Ameri[CAN] Pale Ale (APA) that are the winners thus far with the AIPA upCANming.

Poured from a tall boy into a shaker pint, the beer is a vibrant, gold coloring, with a slow flow of carbonation, and a thin, clingy, white head. Aromas of toasted grains, rice, subtle hops bitterness, and subtle citrus. Flavors are roasted and hoppy forward, with grassy and subtle pine hops characters, followed by a rich caramel sweetness, and subtle citrus and acidic blend at the end of the palate. Light, crisp, and effervesced, with a caramel and bitter hops aftertaste. Crisp, effervesced finish, with a sweet and btiter linger. One of the better gluten free beers.