GLUTEN FREE BEERS

As it’s Coeliac Awareness we thought we’d turn our attention to gluten free beer, however although there are now over 100 breweries in Wales finding gluten free beer isn’t as easy as it sounds. The few Welsh breweries that do gluten free beers only do a limited number of styles.

For a while Monty’s Brewery in Powys has been flying the flag with beer festival favourites Masquerade and Dark Secret, their award winning golden beer and oatmeal stout. However the good news is that other breweries are now looking at gluten free beers. The equally prestigious Mad Dog Brewery in Monmouth have for a long time been keen to promote vegan friendly beers and have recently made the bold decision to produce their core range of beers as gluten free, including their superbly named Stouty McStoutface!

However we’ve decided to look closer to home this week with the news that Gower Brewery are now doing two gluten free beers, a lager and an IPA. Gluten actually has no flavour compound, it’s just a protien, so tested side by side there shouldn’t really be any difference in flavour, but there’s only one way to find out so we’ve decided to do a quick test for ourselves.

We couldn’t wait to dive in and try the new Gower IPA and wow we’re impressed. Hoppy and light, it looks beautiful and tastes just as good. A nice tasty malt sweetness is balanced with a good kick from the American hops. Coming in at 5% it packs a nice hoppy punch and you really wouldn’t notice you’re drinking a gluten free beer. A fantastic beer in it’s own right, not that we’d expect anything less from the Gower Brewery.

For those in the Bridgend area this Saturday 18th May Wales Ales will have a stall at the Bridgend Food & Drink Feastival event, so come along and have a try for yourself.