The Bar Towel

Anyone here tried a few gluten free beers? If so, what are the best of the bunch?

The Glutenberg stuff out of Montreal is solid. It's not exceptional relative to glutenful beer, but it's not bad. They have bottles of it at Volo, or at least they did a few months ago.

Saw someone drinking it at C'est What the other night, too.

+1 for glutenberg...mind you if I had to go gluten free, I'd probably be a cider man...

Hopefully Snowman will have a more permanent presence in our city soon

Also Keep6 has Glutenberg available by consignment

http://keep6imports.com/consignment

Snowman will be available at bars soon(ish), they will be contract brewing at Black Oak on their own dedicated (gluten-free) system. It will not be packaged (for now), but will be served on draught around Toronto. Glutenberg is, as noted, a not bad substitute for gluten-y brews. But you know it's not quite right. Snowman has won awards in categories with gluten beers (not the specialty category where most GF goes). Their quad is better than some of the more mediocre gluten ones on the wider market.

how does the Nickel Brook Gluten free compare?

my wife can't have gluten and we have tried a bunch of gluten free beers. The nickel brook was pretty bad... same with with the 'La messagere'. Bard's is okay but her favorites are the new grist and the Glutenberg. She also likes the red bridge gf beer but it's only available in the states. The St Peters was okay, but a little pricey.

kafercrazy wrote:how does the Nickel Brook Gluten free compare?

^^ so if I'm bringing a GF beer for a friend, you recommend Bard's over the others then?

(based on LCBO availability)

bard's has a distinctive "malt-like" flavour to it.. the new grist tastes more like an average lager. The lcbo sells both of these beers as singles, I'd suggest buying some of each. The nickelbrook is along the lines of a lager, but with a lot of apple juice/cider like qualities.. it also has a higher ABV from what I recall

my local lcbo sells out of new grist all the time, so I assume it is their most popular Gf beer

hopefully my local will let me mix a 6-pack...

thanks!

I was really impressed with St. Peter's G-Free. Drinks like a "normal" British bitter - except it uses Amarillo hops so you get gentle citrus zest and nice florals. Here's exactly what I (and 13 other people) thought: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/29 ... a=biegaman

I think I've seen Glutenberg other places too, Bellwoods for sure, maybe Bar Hop? Only Cafe? Bier Markt? (Hey all you bars, why not post G-free menus.)

I feel for the gluten-challenged, because eliminating anything from beer (such as gluten or alcohol) really knocks the stuffing out of it, doesn't it though? I'd probably go with wine or cider, depending on the sitution - often a bar's wine choices will be inadequate, or else cider may not be available.

Cider could get monotonous very quickly... unless specialty bars started importing the funky French Brut Cidre from Normandy like Etienne Dupont. That would take a leap of palate for Strongbow fans, but convert some of them.... anyway, condolences & good luck in your search.

If you can, try Schnitzerbrau. It is not at the LCBO but it is at select TBS locations ( or will be soon ) or you can get it from http://thehealthywineagent.com Completely gluten free and has a nice Weiss-y flavour even if the malt profile is non existent.