Best Gluten Free Beers

In my opinion, the Widmer line of beers named Omission are the best I've tasted and should be available in Minnesota.

http://omissionbeer.com/

 

Agree with the above... came here to say Omission Pale.

 

Again, Omission is good, the gluten free lager is a bit bland but ok. Stone Delicious IPA was ok for me but i dont like lemongrass flavors and thats what i got.

 

Omission is NOT gluten free. It's made like a regular beer (albeit a mediocre one), but is treated with an enzyme to break down most of the gluten. Hence the label saying, "crafted to remove gluten." That's fine if you're someone following a trendy diet or have a very minor allergy, but for someone with actual celiac disease or any serious gluten allergy, it's going to rot your gut. Same deal with Stone Delicious.

If Omission works for your girlfriend, awesome. If that doesn't work for her and she really wants beer, Redbridge should do the job. It tastes strange because it's brewed with sorghum, but at least it's naturally gluten-free.

Honestly though, if I was in her position and I didn't have the time/money/interest in homebrewing the perfect gluten-free brew, I'd explore cider. There's more than just Angry Orchard out there. You've got everything from funky, truffley French ciders and small batch New England ciders, to tart-but-easydrinking options; there are even dry-hopped ciders out there as well.

I know this isn't CiderAdvocate, but gluten allergies ain't no joke.

 

Prairie Path Ale by Two Brothers Artisan Brewing. It's crafted to remove gluten. My brother-in-law has a gluten allergy and this has become his favorite beer. I pick it up for him when I go out of state. His second is Daura Damm, in import from Spain, availability may be sporadic but it's out there!

 

I've recently had to switch to a gluten-free diet due to health reasons. It was a hard switch for me because I ONLY drank big stouts and barleywines.

So, now I've been dabbling in ciders and wines. I steer clear of ciders that have added sugar (Mostly all ciders available in cans...Vandermill, etc.) and work at finding higher quality options. There are great options from France and Spain. If a cider tastes like straight apple juice, I avoid it. IF I wanted to drink juice, I'd buy juice.

Unless she's asking to taste one, I truly wouldn't twist her arm to try the gluten-free beers. There are so many other gluten-free options out there that aren't beer.

Good luck!

 

This is true, but it should still be WELL below tolerances for most allergies.

But, yes, if the allergy is severe, it may be best to steer clear.

If she's like my wife and the allergy is minor, you could also keep an eye out for New Belgium's 'Glutiny' line of beers. They are not bad. My wife liked the Blonde Ale.

In the meantime, research Clarity Ferm. It is an enzyme I use in my homebrews and I would assume it's the same thing used by brewers to create 'gluten reduced' beers. It does more than a satisfactory job. Once you see the numbers you should have some peace of mind.

 

Just an FYI the enzyme is typically successful in removing enough gluten to be fine even for allergies. Crafted to remove gluten should be less than 20ppm. Space Rock from Short's runs at about 5ppm and I know many Celiac people who drink it with no ill affect. That said I never tell people it is safe, everyone is different and understands their health position more than I ever could.

 

Yeah, it is my understanding that that 'gluten removed' is a legal CYA term, and is sometimes used for products that actually contain less gluten than 'gluten free' food products. However, my only skin in the game is that my wife will get a headache and sleep poorly if she has gluten, so this isn't something I take as seriously as someone with celiac.

 

Most of my GlutenFree customers tell me that Estrella Damm Daura is the best GF beer around

 

Just a quick science/food lesson for the OP -- for a beer to be truly gluten free a substitute ingredient for the barley, wheat, etc. has to be used in the brewing process. Sorghum was mentioned above, and that's just one option that brewers try to use. For us beer lovers on this site, no one has EVER said that any grain substitute has ever allowed a gluten-free beer to taste like a real beer. There is a great difference in flavor, and most of us don't like it.

The enzyme approach mentioned above using Clarity Ferm allows for the normal use of the barley, wheat, etc. by the brewer, but the gluten is modified in nearly its entirety leaving a beer that tastes like real beer. I've had the Omission products and the Short's Space Rock which were mentioned above, and all of them are really good. But no one ever says that these 'engineered' beers are safe for consumption by a Celiac or even someone who is just gluten intolerant. Everyone has to do their own experimentation with caution when trying these for the first time.

 

Ground Breaker Brewing in Portland is all Gluten-Free, not gluten removed as far as I know. Also, Green's Gluten Free has some excellent options including a Belgian tripel that was surprisingly decent. They are imported by Merchant du Vin so it shouldn't be too difficult to find. As far as Ground Breaker is concerned I'd look to get them in a trade. Shouldn't be too difficult. Also Lakefront Brewing in Wisconsin has a gluten free (Lager I think) called New Grist.

 

Also, haven't had it before, but Wicked Weed makes a DIPA called Gluten FREEK. GF friend of mine in NC wants me to try it one day to see how it is. Crafted to reduce gluten, tho.

 

I have problems with gluten, not severe but it isn't fun. I tried a lot of gluten free beers when I figured out that it was the cause of my incessant migraines and stomach aches and most of them aren't worth it. I still drink regular beer now, because it is so much better, and deal with the consequences. Of all the gluten free beers I tried Geary's Ixnay and Glutenberg were the best but at that price I'd rather drink Bissel Brothers and take an Ibuprofen in the morning. In all honesty the better 'craft' ciders are the way to go. Woodchucks Private Reserve barrel aged on cherries kicks the hell out of any gluten free 'beer' options, and there are a lot more smaller cider options popping up across the country that make good dry ciders which avoid the ridiculous sweetness of ciders like Angry Orchard or Johnny Appleseed. Foxtail is absolutely awful and most of the New Grist options are pretty bad as well. Omission beers aren't terribly awful but they are not great and the same can be said of Daura Damm which flavor wise is quite similar to Molson Canadian and not that bad. Mead is another option which I haven't explored much but the ones I've tried were drinkable.

 

I've had 2 gluten free roommates who're also like sisters to me so I've had my fair share of gluten free beer, and the best I've had that's not "gluten reduced" is Ground Breaker Brewing. They can now too.

edit: forgot they changed their name

 

Couple of completely gluten free beers available in Australia. O'Brien and Wilde. Considerably better than our megaswill but not what I'd choose to drink otherwise.

 

First let me say this was the best tasting GF beer I've tried. Only its not GF as as stated. I was diagnosed 5 years ago with Celiac, was a mess, weight loss. Biopsy conformed a Marsh 3B, very bad small bowel damage.

I went GF and had a another biopsy 6 mos later which showed an almost completely healed bowel. It was then I went in search of a GF beer and found Daura. I was surprised that it actually tasted like beer. It is after all made with Barley (protein) removed according to estrella damm brewers and listed as below 3ppm (Canada) in the US they cannot label it as GF.
Fast forward a year. I had been drinking Estrella Daura and been very strict with my GF diet. I contacted my Gastro doc for another biopsy to evaluate my small bowel to see If I was completely healed now. To my surprise the biopsy showed "partial healing" in fact this biopsy was poorer than the one i had 6 mos after going GF drinking no beer at all.

I researched everything and came to the conclusion it was the Daura, I had seem independent tests done on many GF and non GF beers testing the Gluten levels and Daura came in at over 20ppm!!

I tried contacting Estrella, emails no reply, try the phone for get it. I then contacted my Gastro doc and she suggested I go off the Daura for 6 mos and re do the biopsy so I agreed.

I had my biopsy after 6 mos free from the Estrella Duara. My small bowel biopsy was "normal"!!! as in no indication of any damage. Daura is NOT gluten free!!!! The fact that they won't respond to me, the fact that independent testing has revealed over 20ppm, and the fact that the U S of A won't allow Daura to label itself GF in the U.S speaks volumes. I believe the label say Gluten reduced??? in the U.S.
Daura is NOT gluten free!!!!

 

Space Rock is great by Shorts is great.