Gluten Free Sours

Kombucha

That, or kefir.

 

Jolly Pumpkin made a gluten free sour called Manatee. Not sure if its still produced. The only other thing close is Dogfish Head Tweasonale.

 

Wait... There's gluten in wood?

And I thought wine was finished in wood casks...

I'm confused, maybe I need more beer.

 

Sometimes the wooden vessels are sealed with pastes that contain gluten, sometimes they aren't. A wine maker could tell you more easily than a brewery that is working with used wine barrels.

http://rachelbegun.com/ask-the-gluten-free-rd-is-there-gluten-in-wine

 

That's fucked up. Next thing I know, they're gonna put mercury in tooth fillings.

Wait...

 

seriously, kombucha is healthy, delicious, and has many flavor profiles similar to those sour / wild beers. I'd stick with that.

 

There is a sorghum beer tradition in Africa and my understanding is the beers are sour. It would be fairly simple to homebrew a sour sorghum beer with sorghum extract. Fruit and honey would be simple additives. Homebrewers that pursue gluten free also have played around with malting and toasting buckwheat, which would up the ante on complexity of the processes, and probably the taste.

 

If Hill Farmstead can brew Le Sarrasin with 30% Buckwheat, it is probably theoretically possible to brew a beer with 100% Buckwheat.

 

Absolutely is possible. My comment about it upping the ante on complexity was aimed at homebrewers. Malted buckwheat has historically not been available to homebrewers. Some homebrewers have gone the process of malting their own. More recently, I believe some small malting companies that have been springing up in the US are malting buckwheat. I wouldn't be surprised if Hills Farms contracted with one of these companies.

As for 100%, it is hard for me to say how that would taste. I've never used any of these ingredients in my own beers, only read about them. I've had Lakefront's New Grist sorghum beer and found it interesting enough for what it was (it is not very much like a beer made from malted barley). I don't believe I have had buckwheat. I have used wild rice (another possibility)in beers and not liked it, but I have had commercial examples that were OK. Once you layer the impact of souring bugs on the grain unknowns, I have no idea what it comes out like. My guess is the bugs completely transform the beverage into something comparable to other sours, but only one way to know for sure. As a homebrewer, this type of experiment is the sort of thing that makes my bucket list.

 

http://coloradomaltingcompany.com/Our_Products.html

That company appears to do a bunch of different malted gluten-free grains. Some of them seem pretty interesting, really, I'd love to see some experimentation there.

 

My girlfriend also has celiac and the closest thing we have been able to find to a sour is this cider:

http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/castanon-sidra-natural/78286/

It's very funky/tart and even though I'm not a big cider fan, this one was pretty damn good since it wasn't sweet at all.

 

This is a great suggestion. Many of the Basque ciders have more in common with lambics than they do with typical sweet mass market cider. The good ones like Castanon and Isastegi are bone dry, oaky, and brimming with funky goodness. Best of all they generally run $10-12 for a 750ml, which is about half the price of most sours and lambics.

 

Golden Coast Mead has a sour mead that is very tasty and gluten free!
http://goldencoastmead.myshopify.com/

edit: You can order online

 

Good idea. I would add the Trabanco ciders to that list as well. I have tasted them and they are downright funktastic in a good way. De Maison is the importer for Trabanco and Isategi and I am sure if you contact them they will let you know where to find them locally. Andre is super passionate about spanish cider!

 

My wife is gluten intolerant and loves Tweasonale. Not quite a sour but it comes recommended. Glutenberg offerings aren't bad either according to her but typically she sticks with scotch or wine unless we've got beer people over. Sadly she used to drink and really like beer (to the point we did the ACBF yearly together) but ultimately discovered that it didn't like her back. On the plus side GF beer has been improving lately and is available in more places. Ciders too.