New Planet 3R Raspberry Ale - Beer of the Week

by Joshua M. Bernstein, Posted Oct 18th 2010 @ 5:30PM

New Planet Gluten-free 3R Raspberry Ale Photo: New Planet Beer

For most beer lovers, the worst ailment that can arise from drinking is a skull-splitting hangover. But for an estimated 2 million Americans suffering from celiac disease, drinking a beer can cause stomach-wrenching pain. The culprit is gluten, a protein found in cereal grains such as wheat and barley -- a.k.a. one of beer's chief ingredients.

As a substitute, brewers have turned to the African grass sorghum to create beers such as Anheuser-Busch's Redbridge and Bard's Gold. These are great alternatives, but they're a bit like Xerox copies of beer: slightly different from the original.

"You're trying to create a traditional character that you can relate to in your palate with untraditional grains," explains Pedro Gonzalez, who founded Boulder, Colorado's New Planet after he was diagnosed with gluten intolerance. The brewery's 3R Raspberry Ale (the Rs stand for reduce, reuse, recycle; a percentage of each sale is earmarked for Colorado nonprofits) blends sorghum, corn, natural raspberry purée, orange peel and hops took a year to perfect, resulting in a clear, sparkling potion. It smells delicately of the fruit and drinks crisp and light. There's a smidgen of semi-sweetness, before the close arrives bearing a refreshing twang.

"Many people that got diagnosed with celiac disease turned away from beer," says Gonzalez, whose next release is a hoppy pale ale. "It's time to bring them back."

Joshua M. Bernstein has written about brews, bars and booze for New York Magazine, Time Out New York, Imbibe Magazine and The New York Times. He is currently writing a beer book, Brewed Awakening, to be published by Sterling in 2011. Follow him on Twitter @JoshMBernstein.

Filed Under: Drinks
Tags: beer, Beer of the Week, featured, gluten-free