Whatever Happened to that Third Greens?

In the middle of packing I made the snap decision to not check that third bottle of greens - it's a good thing I didn't because our suitcase came back to us totally destroyed! Several things were damaged in transit, bent or shattered beyond recognition, and there was a large, five or six inch square tear in the suitcase side itself! I'm not sure who was working at the airport that day - baggage handlers or a pack of angry bears!

You will all just have to wait for my next trip to PA for me to review it - or I may pick up a bottle if I find one around here!

I have yet to go trolling the local stores here in Fort Collins, but I will do that this week and bring a full report back!

Until the next bottle,

E

Green's Quest Trippel Blond Ale

This is the second of the Green's Beers that I am reviewing. I drank this one at a party last night (first beer of the night!), and gave it out to about four or five people to try, so we really only got a tasting's worth of it, but it was enough for me to base this review on.

I have one more Green's to try and review, which I may end up trying later. I may wrap the thing up securely in Zip-Lock bags and put it deep into the center of my soft sided checked baggage, because those allergies yesterday have turned into a small cold and every taste bud is off and I've lost my sense of smell. Not so good unless I want to write "couldn't smell it, couldn't taste it..." Who cares how pretty a beer pours if it doesn't taste good!

I'm also adding (as suggested last night at the party) a "bottom line" section which contains an honest evaluation of whether or not I'd drink it/buy it/how much I liked it because reading back on the few entries I haven't really given that sort of thing and I probably should.

Green's Quest Trippel Blond Ale

Link: Green's Gluten Free Beer Site (actually a better one than the previous review!)

Look: Pours wheat gold, with a light densely foamed head. Not much lace to speak of but my friend pretty much took all the head out when pouring me a glass, and I had about three centimeters of head to work off of for this description. It has a murky character to it, but enough carbonation that you can still see it despite the cloudiness. This was poured into a pint glass.

Smell: My sense of smell is still off...so I'm going to work off of what my company said when trying this - "Smells like apple cider!" "This reminds me of hard apple cider." "I think this is like cider" - so there you have it. When I attempted to smell it I also smelled a hint of green apple cider, as well as some yeast, but that was about it. The cider smell was a little off from what a normal cider usually smells like.

Taste: The first thing anyone said about this beer after we were done with our first gulp is "this reminds me of dry champagne!" While I won't say it tastes exactly like champagne, the never ending carbonation, the fruity dryness, and the light, thin, bubbly mouthfeel definitely make it reminiscent of that. It's a little tart and most of us agreed that the aftertaste was a bit bitter for our tastes and didn't pair with the sweetness of the drink.

The Bottom Line: I'm not sure I would buy this one again. If I was going to go for a Green's I would definitely purchase the Discovery over this one. It cost $5.99 for a 500 ML bottle in Delaware.

Green's Discovery Amber Ale

I'm in PA with my in-laws family for Christmas. The house was stocked with regular beer and of course, wine. After two days of wine induced stomach aches (after two glasses! Seriously!) my brother in law kindly obliged to drive me to the liquor store in Delaware to pick up whatever sort of gluten free beer I could find. The selections, after looking a while and finally finding them in the singles section, were Redbridge (surprise!) and a Belgian type named Green's which I hadn't had before. You can probably guess I purchased a variety of greens. At 5.99 a bottle they were bit on the expensive side but gluten free beggars can't be choosers, and it's all in the name of science, correct?

There were three types, all sold in 500 ML bottles. I purchased one of each and am going to do three days of reviews. Because I can't take these back with me on the plane (our only check-able bag is soft-sided and I don't want glass bottles in it) I'm going to have to finish them before the weekend is up and we fly back to Colorado.

Only one of the three is labeled gluten free on the bottle, but a quick google search (thank you Brother-in-laws IPhone!) revealed that all three were gluten free and were okay for me to drink. I'm going to start with the one that is the lightest and work my way up to the Endeavor Dubble and Quest Tripel Ales.


Green's Discovery Amber Ale

Link: Greens Gluten Free Beer Page

Maker's Description: Medium-bodied with subtle caramel and nut flavor nuances. Refined, herbal hop aroma and finish. OG: 1.056; IBU: 32; ABV:6.0%

Look: This beer is a dark just-a-shade-lighter-than molasses color. It has great depth to the color, and looks dynamic when poured into a pint glass. Cloudy. It retains its fluffy cream colored head quite well despite swirling, and actually it took me two pours to get this one right it was so foamy! My husband poured himself a glass and found a similar problem, so maybe this time it's not just my bad pouring technique. After about ten minutes it peters up but it stays clinging to the side of the glass.

Smell: I'm nursing some allergies or a small cold (I know I shouldn't be reviewing right now, but this stuff isn't coming on the plane home with me!) so my sense of smell is a bit off...but this beer is strong enough that I'm able to smell the tangy highlights.

Taste: Very tart and tangy, with fruity notes. When my husband sipped this one he explained that it was almost like a cider, and while I wouldn't go that far it definitely has hints of apples and a bit of tartness to it. Jon noticed that it was thin compared to other ails that he usually drinks, but it seems thicker to me, who's palate is limited to gluten free beers. Aftertaste is tingly, and not at all bitter, but as it warms up the 6% alcohol becomes more apparent.

Where to Buy:I found this at Total Liquor in Delaware. I haven't seen this anywhere else, but I assume it is distributed elsewhere.

Hiatus!

Photo Update: Where we went - Maylasia!

I am going to be moving from Michigan to Colorado and then traveling for the rest of this month and most of December! I will not have internet access and things will resume at the end of December.

I hope you all have wonderful holidays. I will let you know where I went and what I drank (if anything! That may be tricky in the country and environment I am heading to) while traveling!

Questions and Answers

In the relatively short time that this blog has been around (I haven't even reviewed half a dozen beers yet!) a few people have emailed me some questions that I thought I would answer up here in case they come up again.

Q: Why did you start this blog?

I started this blog because I kept seeing gluten free beer reviewed by people who drink regular beer. Gluten free beer has a completely different smell, taste, mouthfeel, and texture than regular beer, and most regular beer drinkers can't quite get past that. Most of the reviews I read had something to the effect of "...but, if I had to only drink gluten free beer, I might have reviewed this differently." So, as someone who hasn't had a regular beer in three years, I wanted to come with a neutral stance towards gluten free beer, and review it without the assumption that it was something second rate or secondary to regular beer.

Q: Why beer? Why not wine?

I can find thousands of blogs devoted to wines of all sort, probably just as many devoted to beer but in all my searching, I never found a blog solely devoted to gluten free beer. So, I present to you the internet's first and only gluten free beer blog! :) (please correct me if I'm wrong! I'd like to link to them!)

Q: How did you learn to review beer? Did you take a class?

I never took a class, I guess I just started doing it. Way back in 2003 I had a flegling food blog called "Cuisine Urbaine" which detailed cooking in my studio apartment and restaurant reviews in Milwaukee. This blog lasted about a year before college consumed my life and I left my studio apartment kitchen. I learned to describe and review food just by doing just that - trying to put down into words what I was eating. Subscriptions to quite a few cooking magazines and religiously reading the New York Times food section helped me hone and refine my voice and see how things were done. I started reviewing beers the same way - I drank them and then tried to describe what was going on.

If you are interested in beer reviewing classes (for the gluten eaters) there are dozens out there. I have yet to hear of a gluten free beer tasting class, but if you hear of any, let me know! I will attend and review!

Jolly Pumpkin's Golden Manatee Belipago

Jolly Pumpkin is a microbrewery in Ann Arbor, MI known for its barrel brewing and tiny batches. It also has a cafe with good food that is vegetarian friendly! We have been having our cycling team meetings here for some time, and somehow I never noticed there was a gluten free beer on the menu. I guess with a name like "Golden Manatee Belipago" I somehow managed to write that one off. Jolly Pumpkin has some great seasonals, too., so if you can make it there around Christmas and are not a strict gluten free beer drinker, you will be rewarded greatly according to my teammates.

I had a cycling team meeting the other day at the cafe in Ann Arbor, MI, which is about 20 minutes from my house. I figured this was a great opportunity to try the Golden Manatee Belipago. This beer was on tap at the Cafe which is unusual for gluten free beers, mostly they are in bottles. This to me speaks of one of two things - either there are enough gluten free people in the area to warrant that, or enough regular people are ordering this to make it worth keeping on tap. Sweet! I have to say that of all of the gluten free beers enjoyed this is the one that people who are not strictly gluten free have liked the best. After this meeting, I realized that some non gluten free cycling teammates regularly order this beer!

Before I get to the description, just a heads up that I'm going to start pulling the company description here, to archive those as well.


Jolly Pumpkin - Golden Manatee Belipago

Link: Jolly Pumpkin's Beer List (pdf)

Official Description: "A delicious Belgian-style IPA, brewed with chestnuts, tapioca, sorghum, agave nectar and loads of the freshest hops money can buy. Fermented with two yeasts for a layered complexity, and dry hopped for a spicy mouthful of fun. Gluten free!"

Look: Golden or coppery, with a healthy layer of foam on top of it. Definitely got a beer mustache from this one. It was served in a chalice, which did its job preserving the head when gently swirled. Foam stayed until the end.

Smell: Fruity, sweet, and spicy! This beer has agave nectar in it, and this probably attributes to the peculiar type of sweet smell it has - not quite sugar, not quite honey.

Taste: This is a dry beer with a prominent hops undertone. I also picked up hints of spices, citrus, and yeast as well. It finishes bitter and has (like most gluten free beer) a medium thick mouthfeel with medium carbonation. I can't remember what the alchohol content was (not because of the alchohol content either, I just forgot to write it down!)

Where to Buy: Jolly Pumpkin in Ann Arbor, Traverse City, or Dexter.

Gratuitous Wedding Picture Post!

I don't think there is that much beer in this post - however there are some pictures taken in Lakefront Brewery, maker of New Grist gluten free beer!

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