As many of you may know, my wife has celiac disease, which means she can't eat anything with gluten (found in grains such as wheat, oats, barley, and rye). It gets more complicated than that, but that's really enough information to get you started. As you can imagine, she cannot drink beer. Even before she was diagnosed with celiac, she never drank beer because it made her feel crappy. Even one beer would make her feel bloated and nauseated.
Cue Anheuser-Busch. This year, they've begun producing and distributing Redbridge, the first mass-produced beer that is gluten-free. There have apparently been other gluten-free beers available in some local markets in the Northeast, but nothing that was ever easy to get our hands on. The key difference between Redbridge and your average beer is the lack of barley and/or wheat. Redbridge is manufactured with sorghum instead, leaving the finished product completely free of that nasty gluten.
When we first heard about Redbridge, we were excited. We're always excited when a new gluten-free product is developed. So, yesterday, I was checking the Redbridge website, and I saw that it is now available in Springfield. I went out after work and grabbed a six-pack. It's a little more expensive than your run-of-the-mill mainstream beers, but not much different in price than a microbrew or an import.
We cracked a couple last night, and I have to say I was very pleased. Redbridge is a little on the sweet side, I'm assuming because of the use of sorghum, which is naturally sweet, but this isn't necessarily a bad thing. It has a smooth flavor, and doesn't linger long with any strange aftertaste. I thought the beer was great, and even Aubrey liked it. The Redbridge was the first beer she's ever had that didn't make her feel sick. Now, I can't wait to introduce her to the many traditions of beer drinking -- beer and peanuts while watching a baseball game on a Saturday afternoon, beer and pizza (yes, we make gluten-free pizza), beer and grilled meats in the summer time, just to name a few.
Redbridge is a great beer for people with gluten intolerance. But it's also a fine beer for those of us who can tolerate gluten.
4 comments:
John,
I almost did a Friday Beer Blogging on Redbridge and other gluten-free beers a few weeks ago (I even still have a few of the pages bookmarked). This is great news for people like your wife. Good on AHB for catering to those who might otherwise not be able to enjoy a beer.
Dave,
I'd love to see a FBB on gluten-free beers.
I have to say I was shocked when I first read about Redbridge. It really is a thoughtful move on the part of AHB to move into this market, and rare. Most mainstream companies are still relatively unaware of the gluten-intolerant population. It's refreshing to see a corporate citizen take an interest. Maybe this is the beginning of more mainstream products available for people with celiac.
I would like to try this beer. Where did you find it at? Thanks for the info
You can find it at Schnuck's on Chatham road. Go to redbridge.com, and you can do a retailer search by your zip code. In Springfield, Schnuck's, Shop n Save, and I think Friar Tuck are all selling it.
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