Back when I didn't have to worry about gluten, I was bit of a beer snob. It was always about porters and stouts so thick that if you flipped a quarter into the glass, it would very slowly reach the bottom. I didn't have much brand loyalty, except for maybe Guinness or Bass, but I typically stuck to beers that were dark amber to coal black. I loved micro-brew pubs, and would get all giddy as I surveyed the never ending varieties of beer at my fingertips. Now things have changed a bit. I no longer have the luxury of choice when it comes to beer, and what is available is many shades lighter than what I prefer. However, I realize that I'm lucky that there is gluten free beer available to me, and I know that more and more varieties will pop up as mainstream awareness of celiacs disease spreads.The first gluten free beer I've ever had was called Honey Passover Beer, and is made by Ramapo Valley Brewery. It was pretty good, but it was too sweet and light for my tastes. Honestly it was like a really watered down honey brown ale. No... Not a big fan. But I know people who love the stuff. Then, along came Anheuser-Busch's Redbridge Beer. It was much darker than Honey Passover Beer, but was still only light to medium amber. I love this stuff and can drink it all day. It has a crisp bite to it, so is great on a hot summer day. It's also the least costly of all the gluten free beers I know of. I case is about $34 to $36. Just recently I came across a place that stocked Green's Gluten Free Beers. I tried two kinds: Endeavor Dubbel Dark Ale, and Discovery Amber Ale. I love them!!! The Dubbel Dark Ale was light chocolate colored.When I poured that beer out of the bottle and seen how dark it was, I almost shed a tear... Both were great. The Discover Amber Ale was still darker than Redbridge, but tasted so much better. I've read that they also have a kind called Quest Tripel, but I haven't seen it yet.
I know there are more kinds of gluten free beer out there, but these are the ones I've tried. It's hard finding these beers in the first place here in Philadelphia,
so when you do it's good to stock up and support the industry! The more we buy, the more likely they'll invest in making sure it's available to us, and before you know it I'll be drinking a tall frosty mug of gluten free chocolate oatmeal stout.
so when you do it's good to stock up and support the industry! The more we buy, the more likely they'll invest in making sure it's available to us, and before you know it I'll be drinking a tall frosty mug of gluten free chocolate oatmeal stout. 
7 comments:
HI Trav! I just made another couple of batches of your GF Chocolate Quakes! My husband LOVES them and can not have just one! They are the best GF cookies we have had so far.
We recently have gone GF and your site has been so helpful. Thanks for all your posts and recipes.
Paige :-)
Hey Trav,
Funny, I went to College in Buffalo too, Graduated and moved away in 94, I lived on Elmwood Ave and Forest.
Ramapo Valley's Passover Beer was also my first GF beer, I brought a case and couldn't finish it, too sweet. There is a beer brewed in Buffalo called Bard's Tale Dragon Ale that pretty good, and New Grist from Milwaukee is pretty good. Both are available in North Carolina. But your right about Green's beers. I had the Endeavor Dubbel Dark Ale and it was awesome, I haven't tasted beer like that in years!
Good post. I'm not a beer drinker myself but friends are and I am trying very hard to have a totally gluten free household so I'll keep gf beer on hand.
Hi Travis,
My favorite bar had a craft beer tasting last week. I was drinking RedBridge. The beer rep told me about Green's line of gf beers. They sound like manly beers.
I was a light beer fan before going gf. I'm SOOOO happy to have discovered New Grist gf beer from Lakefront Brewery in Milwaukee. It's the Coors Light of gf beers!
Since RedBridge is delivered on the same truck as Budweiser, I wish every bar would stock a case of it, just in case. My project for the summer is to get all my favorite hangouts (there are only three of them) to stock something I can drink.
I am desperately looking for Greens in the Philly/Bucks County area but have no success to date. Any suggestions are much appreciated. Larry
This is a response to ljduges's comment. Here is the website that lists all of the PA distributors of the company, Merchant du Vin Corporation: http://www.merchantduvin.com/pages/1_about/distributor.html#PA
Merchant du Vin distributes Greens beers to a variety of stores, including the place I get it, Total Wine & More. I also know that there is a place near North Bowl (around 2nd and Poplar) in Philly that has a good selection of gluten free beers. If memory serves me right, they also carry Greens. I'm not sure of the name of the beer store, but it's less than a block from North Bowl on the same side of the street.
As far as the website address listed above, I would suggest finding the distributor location nearest you and giving them a call. Just ask them where they deliver Greens beers and they should be able to help. I hope this was helpful. Later!
With the helpful information in this post I was able to do a lot of sleuthing and phone calls to find some Green's beers for my husband's birthday. He was a microbrew fan like yourself in the days of B.C. (before celiac diagnosis) and he absolutely loved the Green's Dubble Dark Thanks for the information!
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