Trav's Gone Gluten Free!

Gluten Free Beer Review: New Planet

2012-02-15T18:12:00.000-08:00

The last few years have been good to us gluten free beer drinkers. I'll be perfectly honest, I miss the ability to drink a freshly poured Guinness stout at the local pub. I miss it each and every time I sip on any gluten free beer anywhere I am. It sucks that my options for beer drinking pleasure are severely limited. But it would suck even more if I couldn't drink beer at all. Thankfully, there are a growing number of breweries that are cooking up some fine GF brewski.

Take New Planet Gluten Free Beers for example. I stopped by Pinocchio's Beer Garden in Media PA. I heard that they had a pretty good GF beer selection. And they did. They even have a separate cooler just for gluten free beers and ciders! I immediately noticed two new GF beer brands; New Planet and Dogfish Head (which I'll get to later). New Planet had three options: Raspberry Ale, Off Grid Pale Ale, and Tread Lightly Ale. I picked them all up. Let me start with the Raspberry Ale...

The Raspberry Ale was interesting. Made with sorghum and corn, it was like a Redbridge without the syrupy sweetness, with the additional tarty tang of a raspberry aftertaste. It wasn't bad, but I don't think I'll be stocking my fridge with it.

On to Off Grid Pale Ale...

New Planet's Off Grid Pale Ale is made with sorghum and brown rice. It has a complex taste yet went down smoothly. A bit darker than the Tread Lightly Ale, I found this beer to full bodied and satisfying.

The Tread Lightly Ale was my favorite of the three; very light and refreshing. Like the Raspberry Ale, it was made from sorghum and corn. I really enjoyed this beer! I can see myself loading up a cooler of this brew; kicking back in the summertime, relaxing next to water skipping stones... Yeah, that'll be nice.

Gluten Free Sandwiches and Beer at the Foodery, Philadelphia!

2010-09-22T17:49:00.000-07:00

I know I've posted a lot about the Foodery, but their efforts at making my life as a celiac disease sufferer easier and more enjoyable deserve recognition:) Not only does the Foodery offer a wide array of gluten free beers, but now they even offer gluten free bread for all their sandwiches!! I couldn't believe my eyes when I first read the poster exclaiming the option of gluten free flatbread that could be substituted on any sandwich for an additional dollar. It seemed too good to be true... but it was! And I am so happy about it:)

I ordered the Roast Beef and Swiss on GF bread, which comes with romaine, cucumber, tomatoes and horseradish sauce. The sandwich originally cost $6.00, so with GF bread it was $7.00. I watched the deli-man make sure to cover his working area with paper before constructing the sandwich in order to avoid cross contamination.

As he was finishing up, I wandered over to the gluten free beer section and picked out something I had yet to try, the St. Peter's Sorgham Beer. It was light, smooth, and the perfect companion to the spicy horseradish sauce in my sandwich. Once again, I found myself in pure gluten free heaven:)

According to their website St. Peter's Sorghum beer, also known as "G-Free Beer" was launched in August of 2007. It's accurately described as a clean, crisp gluten free ale with a pilsner lager style finish and aromas of citrus and mandarin from American Amarillo hops.

The Foodery is located at 2nd and Poplar in Philadelphia. If you're GF, and you live anywhere near Philadelphia, it's a must visit! Yet another example of how much easier it's getting for us celiac sufferers. Good stuff!

Gluten Free Beer Review: Estrella Damm "Daura" and Sprecher "Mbege"

2010-08-21T12:01:00.000-07:00

Wow!!! That's the first word in my mind after taking my first swig of Estrella Damm Daura, a gluten free beer from Barcelona Spain. To this day, I've never tasted a gluten free beer as good as Daura. In fact, I'd have to say that Daura is one of the best tasting light beers I've ever had, gluten free or not! I made our friend Mary, a true beer connoisseur, try it without telling her it was gluten free and she thought it tasted great as well.

I purchased it at the Foodery in Philadelphia on 2nd and Poplar. Something I'm really excited about is the fact that the Foodery now serves sandwiches with freshly baked gluten free bread on a daily basis for just $1.50 extra. Unfortunately the deli was closed when I visited Thursday night, but I plan to take a trip back soon to enjoy my first GF sandwich from a deli ever! I can't wait!

Here's the website to: Estrella Damm Daura. You have to try this beer! It's AWESOME!!

The second beer I want to talk about a bit is called MBEGE from Sprecher. The description on the Sprecher Beer Website is: "Bananas are the main ingredient in mbege style beers popular in Eastern Africa. In keeping with tradition, this is brewed with real bananas and presented unfiltered. Light hints of banana remain present in the aroma and flavor of the unique offering."

I did a little research and I found that Mbege is one of the typical cauldron fired brews endemic to Tanzania in Eastern Africa, where it plays an vital role in rituals, business and pleasure. Mbege is often found at weddings, funerals and other social gatherings, and is a cash product that supplements many family incomes. At times, Mbege is used as another form of currency.

This beer is really tasty. It does have a banana taste to it, but it's not too strong. It's also a dark brew; something I favor, and goes down a bit too smoothly at times:)

Here's the website for Sprecher's Beers.

The gluten free beer options are increasing and improving all the time! Thank goodness!!! It's great that as time moves on, and awareness grows, this celiac thing feels much less like a curse than it used to.

GF Beer Review: Shakparo

2008-06-28T09:06:00.000-07:00

Presently, the best place I know of to stock up on gluten free beer in Philadelphia is The Foodery. The location I go to is on 2nd and Poplar. They have an entire shelf of gluten free beers, ranging from New Grist, Green's, Sprecher to Nick Stafford's Hambleton Ales. The staff are super friendly and are completely in-tuned with the needs of us beer loving celiac sufferers. On the day I picked up a variety of GF beers to review for this blog, the manager informed me of his intention to host a GF beer tasting, possibly in conjunction with Mr. Ritt's GF bakery. How cool is that?! I told him to keep me informed so that I could advertise it to the readers of my blog.

One of the beers I tried out happened to be Shakparo Ale from the Sprecher Brewing Company in Glendale, Wisconsin.

The description on the bottle states: "Shakparo style beer originated in West Africa and is brewed with sorghum. This beer is light and refreshing with hints of fruit and spice, and is presented unfiltered as is traditional with this style."

I couldn't have described it better myself! This is a sweeter beer, but is really refreshing! It's kind of cloudy like a Hefeweizen, and similar on the palate, but without the clove

taste.

I love it! Super Yummy! And it's not too expensive, at $3.95 per 16oz. bottle.

On the Sprecher Brewery website, they have this to add about Shakparo Ale:

"Sprecher's gluten free Shakparo Ale is a West African Shakparo-style beer brewed from sorghum and millet. An unfiltered, light, crisp ale with a cider or fruit profile and a dry vinous aftertaste, it is best characterized as an easy-drinking or session beer perfect for summer gatherings. This beer pairs nicely with lighter fare such as sandwiches, salads, chicken, fish, and spicier foods.

Originally conceived of in an effort to provide a traditional African style beer for Milwaukee's African World Festival, our Mbege and Shakparo have won the hearts of people here at the brewery and have been promoted to year round beer status.

Because barley and wheat are not grown in large quantities in sub-Saharan Africa, traditional Mbeges and Shakparos are brewed with sorghum and millet and are therefore able to be brewed gluten-free since neither sorghum nor millet contain gluten. Being gluten-free make Shakparo an Mbege excellent alternatives for those suffering from celiac disease, a genetic disorder that inhibits the digestion of gluten. Our Shakparo and Mbege offerings have been brewed with celiacs in mind and are carefully crafted to ensure they remain gluten free."

I haven't seen the Mbege beer yet, but when I find it you'll know:)!

Also, for all of you in the area looking for places to find GF beer. My good friend Eli informed me that his local hangout "Dock Street Beer" stocks a Limited Summer GF Brew. Dock Street Beer is located in West Philly on 50th and Baltimore Ave.

I'm meeting up with a few friends to check out the Manayunk Art Fair today, and then after some studying, will be heading there to try out their GF Beer offering. I'm pretty excited, since this will be the first time since finding out I have Celiac Disease, that I'll be ordering a beer from a bar! For all of you Philly-locals, please let me know if you ever find bars that stock GF beer in our area. I'd love to discover and promote as many celiac friendly establishments as possible. Till next time, keep smiling!:)

Gluten Free Beer Review

2008-05-11T11:46:00.000-07:00

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 Ram apo 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.