New Belgian-brewed import should satisfy celiac thirsts

Just a few years ago people with celiac disease could not enjoy a beer with their wheat-free pizza.

Celiacs have a gluten intolerance – an allergic reaction to the gluten protein in com­monly used grains such as barley, rye and wheat – that creates havoc with their bodies and immune systems. Things we take for granted – basic things like beer and bread – make them sick.

Gluten intolerance is believed to affect 1 in 133 Americans – or about 2.2 million people. It is famously misdiagnosed, so numbers are estimates only.

An estimated 1.5 million of those celiac sufferers are adults. They learn to adjust their diets or suffer the consequences. But the common complaint from many is that they re­ally miss having a glass of beer. That’s a huge niche market. In the past celiacs might be able to find the Italian buckwheat brew Bi-Aglut Birra at a health food store, but that par­ticular gluten-free beer was not widely available in this country. And, anyway, Bi-Aglut sounds horrible, like a chemical conglomerate.

Today, thanks in large part to celiac sufferers who no longer wanted to be denied beer, the gluten intolerant have beery options.

Since about 2002, two celiac sufferers have been working on the creation of a line of gluten-free craft beers under the name of Bard’s Tale Beer. Kevin Seplowitz and Craig Belser developed a sorghum-malting process and created Dragon’s Gold, which was first released in 2004.

Sorghum is a safe cereal for the gluten intolerant. The annual grass grows well in arid lands and has a long history on the African continent, where it was first cultivated in ancient Egypt. In America it is better known as animal feed.

After production problems with the Buffalo, N.Y., microbrewery that was contract brew­ing Dragon’s Gold (bottles were exploding on grocery shelves, which forced Belser and Seplowitz to pull the beer from the market in 2005), the pair moved production to the Gordon Biersch Brewing Co. of Palo Alto, Calif. The beer was reintroduced in June 2006 and has since been making its way across the country, but has yet to find distribution in Wisconsin. Bard’s Tale makes the claim on its website (www.bardsbeer.com) that “his­tory has been made” with “the world’s first gluten-free craft beer made from sorghum.”

The brothers Klisch probably won’t question that, since their New Grist beer for celiacs is made from sorghum and rice. Jim and Russ Klisch, founders of Lakefront Brewery (www.lakefrontbrewery.com) in Milwaukee, unveiled New Grist in late 2005, while Dragon’s Gold was still undergoing revision by the new brewer. New Grist became an instant suc­cess for the 20-year-old microbrewery.

Recognizing the potentially large niche market, Anhueser-Busch naturally jumped on the gluten-free bandwagon this year with Redbridge (www.redbridgebeer.com).

Now classy Seattle importer Merchant du Vin has stepped things up a notch with three Belgian-produced beers from Green’s Gluten Free Beers (www.glutenfreebeers.co.uk), a company founded by celiac Derek Green.

The beer is brewed by the Proef Brewery in Lochristri, Belgium, a brewery that has become famous as a test brewery where adventurous beers are born (Zoetzuur Flemish Reserve, Reinaert Flemish Wild Ale, etc.).

The “secret recipe” used to produce Green’s line of beers includes a non-traditional grain bill – millet, rice, buckwheat and sorghum.

Green’s is also shooting for the vegetarian and vegan beer drinker by using natural tannins as a clarifier, rather than isinglass (swim bladders of fish) or other collagens that are typically used in British brewing. So the label on Green’s bottles declare that they DO NOT contain: wheat and/or barley, crustaceans, eggs, fish, peanuts, soyabeans, milk, lactose, nuts, celery, mustard, sesame seeds, sulfur dioxide or sulfites. The stylized “V” under this announcement means “suitable for vegetarians” in the U.K.

Green’s first beer was unveiled in 2004, a 6% amber beer called Discovery. I recently shared a bottle with a few non-celiac beer drinkers, poured into separate glasses, of course. It poured a deep, slightly hazy amber with a thick, rocky, tawny head that gives the impression of carbonation. The head clings to the glass in clumps and refuses to dis­sipate.

The first sip was a shocker – winey, very dry and little, if any, carbonation. While the dry­ness stayed throughout the rest of the glass, the palate eventually adjusted to the non-traditional grain bill and I began to realize this is a great leap forward for gluten-free beer. There is a lot going on in this very drinkable beer.

Next up was the 7% Endeavour Dubbel Dark Ale. Ooh-la-la! This beer also has a winey taste, but as more of an undertone than the amber. Plenty of other things going on, things you would expect from a Belgian dubbel – a little toffee, a taste of alcohol. Other tasters commented that they would buy this beer, gluten-free or not. It, too, had the persistent rocky head. I managed to knock a chunk loose from the glass and slurped it down, result­ing in the nice green taste of the hops used in the brewing process.

We ended with the 8.5% Quest Tripel, a lovely blond ale with a creamy white head. Sev­eral samplers noted a cidery taste, but, again, that is an undertone rather than the domi­nant flavor. This strong ale could fit in anywhere good beer is welcome.

The beers are bottle-conditioned with Belgian yeast and will be sold in half-liter bot­tles (16.9 ounces). Beechwood Sales & Services of New Berlin is the state distributor for Green’s, and it should be available later this month.

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I can’t dance and you can’t make me. But a few more of these 7.2% Dancing Man Wheat beers from New Glarus and I may open my own disco. Whoopee! If you prefer your wheat beers on the light American side, Dancing Man Wheat probably is not for you. However, if you like spicy, heady, fruity German heffe weiss, well, this beer might even fool a Bavarian into believing he was drinking nectar from der Faderland. Rich, exotic – what more do you need to know? Try this New Glarus seasonal before it’s all gone.

R.I.P., Michael “The Beer Hunter” Jackson, 1942-2007

The beer world lost a great pioneer and loyal friend on Aug. 30 when 65-year-old Michael Jackson died of a heart attack at his London home.

No, he had to say all too often, not that Michael Jackson. This was Michael “The Beer Hunter” Jackson, king of the beer writers, who penned classics such as “The World Beer Guide,” “Ultimate Beer,” “Michael Jackson’s Beer Companion” and “the Great Beers of Belgium.” He also penned several books on scotch and whiskey.

In the 1980s Jackson starred in a six-episode British documentary series called “The Beer Hunter,” in which he sought out the great beers of the world. He was introduced to an American audience when the series appeared here in 1989 (the Appleton Public Library has all six shows on three videocassettes).

Jackson was a pioneer among beer drinkers, championing lost styles and over­looked regions. His writing showed an unquenchable curiosity filtered through keen intelligence and humor. He brought a new sophistication to the long over­looked complexity of beer, yet he was completely unpretentious. Reading his en­thusiastic writing about beer was like listening to a pal spin a yarn over a pint.

His adventurous beer pursuits served as an inspiration to millions who could only dream of touring and sampling their way through Bavaria and Belgium and the microbreweries of America.

Last December Jackson announced that he had been suffering from Parkinson’s disease for 10 years.
That might explain why he looked so frail and frazzled when I saw him at the 2004
Great American Beer Festival in Denver. Like any beer geek in the presence of beery royalty, I was slightly star struck when I spotted him.

I didn’t want to bother him because I imagined he must get his fill of requests for snapshots and handshakes at the many beer events he attends around the world.

But, still, he was just sitting there, so I had to at least say hi and shake his hand.

Just as I was about to do so, someone else jumped in and monopolized him, and as I watched I recalled reading an interview he did jointly with homebrewing guru Charlie Papazian. In the interview, the two men were asked what it was like to be beer celebrities. Jackson talked about being quite shy and worried that all the peo­ple who want to meet him because of his celebrity might be disappointed. “Maybe you can never be as interesting as their fantasies of what you might be like,” he said.

Not wanting to seem like someone with fantasies about him, I decided to let the opportunity to meet Jackson pass. I regret that now.

But Jackson lives through his words. In the same interview with Papazian, he ex­plained his simple reason for writing about beer: “I did have an almost naive belief that if people tasted good beer they wouldn’t go back to well-made but boring beer.”