Buying it

There has been some actual progress in commercial gfb beermaking.  I've been lax in getting mention of it onto this page, but no longer.

A most promising item was from Bard's Tale Beer, who advertised two ales, a Pale and a Blonde.  They appeared to be serious about being gluten-free -- the company founders are both celiacs.  Bard's hoped to see the ales in production beginning January of 2003, but the owners seem to be having difficulty finding distribution.

Update:

An email from Bards:

Roger,

I wanted to let you know that we are now up and producing about 5000 cases per month in California.

Our first shipments went to --
    National Distributing in Md.
    Calmont Beverage, Vermont
    Cavalier Distributing, In
    Cavalier Distributing, Oh
    Missouri Beverage, Mo
    Beerhouse Distributing, Ky
    and Union Beverage / Glazers in Il.

We also plan to ship to the following states the end of July:
    California 
    Oregon
    Washington,
    No and So Carolina
    NY
    Ma
    Nj
    Wn
    Pa

We are just getting in our first store lists which will be posted on our website soon.

Here, for example, are the accounts that have gotten Bard's Tail in Vermont:

    Barre St. Redemption, 79 Barre st, Montpelier  802-223-2330
    Beverage Warehouse, 1 East St., Winooski   802-655-2620
    Gillingham's, 16 Elm St., Woodstock   802-457-2100
    Healthy Living, 4 Market St, S. Burlington   802-863-2569
    Hunger Mountain Co-op,  632 Stonecutters Way, Montpelier  802-223-8000
    Kingdom County Market, 490 Portland st, ST. Johnsbury   802-748-9498
    Middlebury Natural Food, 1 Washington St, Middlebury   802-388-7276
    Norwich Wines   Spirits, 153 Elm ST., Norwich   802-649-1970
    Onion River Co-op, 82 S. Winooski Ave, Burlington   802-863-3659
    Pearl ST. BEverage, 240 Pearl ST.,  Burlington   802-862-1209
    Putney Food Co-op, Main st, Putney   802-387-5866
    Richmond Beverage, 40 Bridge St, Richmond   802-434-3234
    Sunflower Natural Foods, 2934 Waterbury Stowe Rd, Waterbury   802-244-5353
    White River Co-op, 24 Pleasant st., Randolph   802-728-9554

Anyway that's the scoop and you got it first.

Cheers!

Dale Vinnedge
Bards Beer Co.
Director of Product Development
816-896-2273

          

In the UK you'll find Green's Gluten Free Beer in three styles -- beer, lager, and stout.

The UK's Fine Ale Club mentions an item number 113, "Against the Grain," which they describe in this manner:

4.5% ABV Britain�s first Gluten Free Beer (gluten 12ppm) smooth creamy, good head and full flavoured indistinguishable from a normal bitter.

Les bi�res de la Nouvelle-France offers their La Messag�re, a gluten-free beer, brewed from rice and buckwheat.  They describe it as "a limpid and a chrystalline pale ale.  It's [sic] fine bubbles give it a delicate effervescence and a lacy froth.  To the nose, a bouquet of honey gently calls to mind a touch of citrus fruits. And the subtle aroma of hops is revealed ever so delicately."

Italy seems to have been the first to have a gluten-free beer actually available, though it seems to be available only in Italy itself.  It's made by the same Bi-Aglut company that produces gluten-free pastas, sweets, flour and bread substitutes.  Have a look at the Bi-Aglut products page and navigate to the "Birra" selection.  The beer, which contains 5% alcohol by volume, is made of water, buckwheat ("grano saraceno"), corn syrup, hops and hop extract, food coloring, and vitamin B1.

"Australia's first Gluten Free Beer" is now available.  An email from John O'Brien of O'Brien Brewing Pty Ltd asked me to add a link to his site.  O'Brien currently offers a premium lager, with a premium light, a brown ale, and a pale ale to follow.  There's even a refund policy if you're not satisfied with the beer.

The Ramapo Valley Brewery in Suffern, New York produces a gluten-free 'beer' which uses amber honey, molasses, noble hops and kosher yeast.  If you like "honey notes" in your beer, this might be the ticket.  If your state allows it, you can order it online using one of the links on their site.

And there is, or will soon be, another gluten-free beer available here in the U.S. thanks to the Gluten Free Beer Project.   According to Sean Sweeney, "We are now using white sorghum grown in Nebraska specifically for human consumption."  (I've used white sorghum myself in breadmaking.)   Sean asserts that "We have found the taste to be quite refined, slightly sweet and perfectly adapted for use in beer."

Making it

Only a tiny percentage of people who email me show any interest in making their own beer.  This is understandable, since beermaking is not a trivial undertaking for the uninitiated.  For the few who are curious, I advise finding a good beer-making site and following the directions -- but with two exceptions:  First, use rice, corn and malted buckwheat rather than the dreaded barley-wheat-rye; and Second, acquire a yeast which has been cultivated on something other than (yes) barley, wheat or rye.

Buckwheat
I suggest "buckwheat" because that's the only thing I've found that works. If this approach appeals to you, there's only one place to start: Beer Stuff's Gluten Free Beer Page, where you'll find good information from the sainted Eric Constans, who was making GF beer when most of use were still in diapers.