Gluten Free Beer List The Good the Bad and the Ugly!

I talk a lot about my time before I was gluten free. It's not like I was neurolized, like in the movie Men in Black, I still have food memories of not eating gluten free.

Some of them are awesome memories, some, well not so awesome, but when you're use to things for so long and it all changes it throws you off. What do you mean I can't go to the little liquor store up the block and buy a 6 pack?! I can bring in my alcohol, as long as it's in cans... But where do you find gluten free cans of beer. Gggrrr.

I loved craft beers. My favorite was Blue Moon with a nice wedge of orange in it. That was my weekly drink of choice at bowling, at Buffalo Wild Wings after bowling, at Buffalo Wild Wings while watching sports with my boyfriend... Well that all changed. (Probably all for the better too!!)

So once we found out there are gluten free beers we printed off a list and went off to the store to see what we could find. It was slim pickings for a long while. Honestly monthly it seems now there are new breweries making gluten free beers! it's very exciting to find new ones to try. When we go on vacation I start looking to see if there are local breweries that we should check out, or a local one to pick up at the store, it's another one of our "games of what's gluten free" to try out. Here's a quick run down of my beer reviews. More in depth reviews will be showing up with their own individual blog pages. Looking over this list, it's getting pretty long! 

Gluten Removed beers. There is no very scientific test to confirm the PPM in a gluten removed beer. They feel pretty certain it's under 20ppm, but tests used on food don't accurately tell on alcohol... So gluten removed beers can be a drink at your own risk situation. 

A selection of the collection we have left over from the holidays.

Truly Gluten Free  I've ranked these in my order of favorite to least favorite.

1. New Planet - Brewed in Colorado by a fellow Celiac who wanted good tasting gluten free beer. There are 6 varieties now available in bottles. Their website will tell you exactly where you can enjoy it. I don't think I have a favorite one, but their Raspberry ranks high on my list, I will take any of them. They all taste like beer and aren't overly foamy when drinking. They are smooth and rarely give an after taste.
2. Shakparo - From the brewery in Wisconsin, famous for their Rootbeer, which is also gluten free. Their brewing style is a traditional African style beer with sorghum and millet.
• Recently it seems they have added a second beer to their roster that is made with bananas. A trip over the border to WI may be in order.
3. Brunehaut- I found this on accident the plus is it tastes like beer! They have two flavors a blonde and an amber. Looking at their website, 2 more flavors are in the works. What's great, it tastes like beer. We might have an arm wrestling contest at my house to keep these away from the non-gf people! 
4. Burning Brothers Brewery -  This one was especially exciting to me, cause I went to their actual brewery! It's been a long time since I sat down with tasting glasses and tried beer. It was wonderful. They sell growlers and mini Growlers on site and they sell their beer locally around Minnesota, Wisconsin, the Dakota's and Nebraska. Some pretty stellar options. Wasn't a fan of all their brews, but they had some quirky and some awesome options. Totally Check them out. 
5. Ground Breaker - I was happy to finally get to try this bad boy - Wow - their IPA tasted like an IPA! I have 3 more flavors ready for tasting once we get a nice night on the patio - But from their IPA which looked, smelled and tasted like an IPA I have high Hopes!   
6. Ghostfish Brewery - Another place I was so happy to try. In Seattle, they have a brewery you can sit and sample beers and eat gluten free. Amazing. The beers I tried weren't too shabby. Overall I liked their flavor, depth and variety. They had everything from super light, to hoppy to dark.
7. Departed Soles Brewing - Departed Soles is a brewery in Jersey City, New Jersey. Do make note Not All Their Beers Are Gluten Free! But they have options. You can go to their tasting room and have a couple beers with friends or even find their beers around the area. They change somewhat frequently. I loved the two they had this most recent trip. But keep an eye on them and when in Jersey, do check them out!! 
8. Alt Brewery - Alt is a dedicated gluten free brewery. We stopped in and did a tasting flight, we also grabbed some beers to go. They have very light, to very hoppy and caramel type beers. Their Kickback and Pumpkin Pail were my favorite, with the Copperhead right up there. Their Hollywood is very hoppy, the rustic badger was crisp and their Imperial brown, just a bit too much for me. They also sell around Wisconsin and in some restaurants. Check their website for details.
9. Crabbie's Ginger Beer - First I need to say, I don't like ginger.. I like ginger ale, but not straight ginger, and I love the taste of this. It reminds me of cactus almost. Sweet, refreshing, a bit of a bite on the back end. Recently I found an Orange one, and their site talks about more flavors. Personally I'll take this over any cider, but it's sweeter like cider.
10. New Grist - Another one nice and local up in Wisconsin. This brewery works to be quirky and fun. Their beer is made with rice and sourguhm, which as an initial taste is a bit shocking.  
1. They now have a Ginger Beer - It's Ginger-ific! Wow does that first sip kick you with the ginger punch. It's sweeter after that. Not one I'd drink a lot of, but it's good for a break, and with a lime I think it'd be great for sitting on the patio on a nice warm summer night.
11. Dogfish Head - Tweason Ale- This ale is seasonal. I seem to find it in the early spring, and stock up on it so I have enough to last me thru the summer. It's a great, fruity beer that goes great with BBQ and hot days.Their website allows you to filter by which beer you want to find near you so you can pint point the Tweason Ale directly! It's similar to a Berryweis type beer, you can really taste the fruit in it. 
12. Unita Brewing - Free-form IPA, Another I'd never seen until I got to Minnesota.  Very similar to small craft, some what hoppy brew. I liked it, They also have a Blonde Ale. Hoping I can get my hands on this one again. Pretty good, very smooth and didn't have a rice like after taste. I could drink the 4 pack easily!
13. Joseph James Brewery - Light in color and taste. Definitely can taste the rice used in the making of the beer. Great light taste! Similar to a Corona or another light but sweet beer. I'm tempted to drop a lime in it this summer. Plus it comes in either cans or bottles!
14. Acappella - It's Hoppy! Which made me Happy! Ok - joking aside; served cold this one is a winner! Tasty and a bit cloudy. I'm thinking with a slice of orange, this might make up for my much missed Blue Moon! Another brand that put it in a can! Great for tailgating! 
15. Steadfast - Much more bitter then other beers, it's very reminiscent of a small vat craft beer, it has more grapefruit notes and is heavier. I seems to have issues drinking it out of the bottle that it keeps foaming up on me as I drink. 
•  For 2013 they did a Pumpkin spice beer, great taste, good spiced smell on the nose, light taste on the tongue, not very pumpkin taste. Though hard to drink a full bottle in one sitting.
• Recently they announced an oatmeal stout with the option for more special flavors in the future!  
• They released a 2 year anniversary brew, very disappointed it was so sweet, and too light in texture. 
16. Greens - Greens now has 9 brews now just ahead of New Planet. They range from a Dry Hopped sweeter ale to a dark lager that for me is too dark unless you've had a beer or two already, and you can get past the first 2 sips, then it grows on you. :)Though the dark lager is great if you want to make a chocolate beer cake! (recipe to follow!)
17. Glutenburg - This was a pleasant surprise. Taste is Very similar to Green's. So far we've tried 3 of the four. Going from darkest to lightest, minus the IPA... The darker ones are much more full body, and more tasty. The lightest one is just too light in my world of beer, but maybe with a slice of lime it'd be a summer refresher.
    
18. St. Peters - Now in two gluten free flavors, a dark and a pale ale. Be careful reading labels they look just like their gluten filled partners.They are another one that with an initial sip leave you worrying you got the wrong one since it's so smooth and has a strong beer taste. 
19. NGB - No Gluten Beer - Trader Joe's recently joined in the ring of offering gluten free beer. It's a sourguhm based beer. It's very similar in taste to New Grist, a little papery tasting, but satisfying. 
20. Bards - It's beer.... I have a hard time with this one, it's just there, it's great as a first try but other than that, it's not one I'll purchase. Even dinning out, I'll take a glass of wine over it.
21. Red Bridge - The smell is like an amber, it has a nice amber color. The sorghum leaves a funny taste in your mouth. It almost reminds me of paper. I have a hard time recommending this beer because it doesn't taste like beer to me!
22. Tolleration - I will say maybe I got a bad batch... But for me it smelled and tasted like nail polish remover.... We "tolerated" it.... It was very sour and bitter, I haven't had another. 

Ground Breaker beer in their awesome KickStarter Hoodies!

I'm adding a sub note here about Gluten Free Hard Soda's. Generally they are flavored beers. If you go to my new post dedicated to those, you can read about Gluten and hard sodas.
Gluten removed

1. Estrella Damn Dara - Imported to the US from Spain. You do have to be careful, since there is also an Estrella Dara that is made by the same brewery, the labels are very similar so it can be deceiving. The gluten free comes 4 in a pack and it's non-gf counter part is a 6 pack.Tasty, smooth and not too strong. (comes in under 6ppm). 
2. Ommision - Ommision has two flavors, a pale ale and a lager. Personally I love their pale ale. It's got a full flavor, some citrus notes, but over all it tastes like beer. It goes down smooth, almost too smooth. My brothers eyes even lit up when he tried it. I think this one might be dangerous in my house, that I'll be fighting with others to keep it for me!
3. Prairie Path - Citrus notes to start light flavor, and light finish. The bottle does now note that gluten has been removed, and cannot be 100% tested for the amount of gluten in each batch, but gluten is removed after fermenting. 
4. Ixnay from Geary's - It's a heavier beer, that on first sip was very robust and almost foreign to me. But It's got a full beer flavor and really tasty. The color, darker than I expected too, but I'm not picky if it's tasty and doesn't make me sick, it's on my menu.
5. Stone Brewing - Delicious IPA - They have now come out with a gluten removed beer.  It tastes like real beer. I mean it really is real beer, you just have to watch out for it to sneak up on you cause it is Gluten Removed.

Heard of, but haven't gotten my hands on yet! 

Hopefully soon I can find these to try, and compare them to the others! I love a taste testing adventure! 

1. Auroch Brewery - Pensylvania 
2. Glutenator - Utah
3. Ipswich Ale - Celia Saison - Massachusetts 

Keep your eyes open for my next in depth review on Gluten Free Ciders!