Anyone reading a restaurant menu this decade will have noticed the growing availability of gluten free options.
Increased awareness of Celiac disease and other intolerances to the gluten proteins commonly found in wheat and barley have changed the restaurant industry, finally making it possible for sufferers to eat bread or pasta again, but gluten free beer has traditionally been hard to find, fating those afflicted to a bleak and beerless existence.
It all started half a millennia ago with the Reinheitsgebot, also known as the Bavarian Beer Purity Law of 1516, which stated that beer may only be produced from water, barley, and hops. Yeast was only added as a permitted ingredient in the mid-19th century, when the secrets of fermentation were finally discovered by Louis Pasteur.
Fortunately, progressive brewers have been abandoning the traditional barley grains for gluten-free alternatives such as sorghum, buckwheat, oats, rice, millet, quinoa, and a host of others.
Buckwheat and sorghum have been used for many years in African countries that have climates unfavourable to growing barley, even by megabrews like Guinness, which brews its famous Irish Stout in Nigeria using sorghum instead of barley.
We have long had a small selection of gluten free beers here in Alberta, mostly bland-tasting imports from megabrewers in Belgium and Germany.
For the sake of curiosity, I have dabbled in gluten free beer tastings over the years, but many have a bad reputation for slightly sour or metallic flavours, typically from the use of sorghum or buckwheat, which are cheap and easy ingredients, but have un-beerlike flavour profiles that have left the gluten free beer makers of the world with a bit of an image problem.
Fortunately, that all changed a few weeks ago, when Alberta’s first entirely gluten free craft brewery opened in Calgary, on the edge of the so-called Brewmuda Triangle, named for its increasing proliferation of craft brewers.
Heathen’s Brewing was sparked by a diagnosis of Celiac disease in a beer-loving family, who saw an opportunity to get out of the oilfield rat race and produce crafty brews that were entirely gluten free, with none of the dodgy flavours afflicting other gluten free beers.
With Viking-themed imagery emblazoned on the glassware, my pint of Asgard Ale tasted even better in the taproom. Made in the popular Pale Ale style, this was an easy drinker, and easy the equal of its glutenous counterparts in the mass market.
My favourite was the Tropical Haze IPA, made in the increasingly popular New England IPA style, with the hop bitterness dialed way back, but still plenty of floral aromatics on the nose. Plenty of apricot and juicy passion fruit on the palate made this a crushable patio beer on a hot day.
Dark beer fans will enjoy the Land of Njord, made in the milk stout style with lactose for a creamy mouth feel, and notes of dark roasted chocolate and coffee from the heavy grain bill, nicely balanced but not overpowered by the hop bitterness.
Some breweries offer a single gluten free option among their roster of brews, but use the same brewing vessels and canning line, making cross contamination in the brewery an ongoing challenge.
Heathen’s Brewing is the only brewery west of Montreal to be entirely gluten free, dispelling fears of cross contamination that have plagued other brewers.
Here in Canada, gluten free typically means less than 20 parts per million of gluten proteins present, which is a threshold that can generally be tolerated by those with Celiac disease.
Interestingly, the bland fizzy yellow macrobrews such as Bud Light and Corona do not advertise themselves as being gluten free, but they use so little actual barley that their gluten content usually falls below the 20ppm threshold, so can be tolerated by some people with less severe gluten sensitivities.
Fortunately, we now have a crafty alternative right here in Alberta, so Celiac beer fans can avoid the tasteless macrobrews in favour of a full flavoured local option.
Heathen’s Brewing is still just a few weeks old, so their brews are only available in the taproom just off the Trans Canada and 36th Street NE in Calgary, but will soon be available in cans at your local bottle shop or drinking establishment. Visit the brewery on your next trip to the big city, or ask for them at your friendly neighbourhood booze merchant.
