Beer Review: NW: Widmer Brothers Gluten-free Pale Ale, Is A Should Try
Chances are you have walked the shelves of the grocery store and seen foods or beverages with names like gluten-free or wheat-free. With names like one might assume this is another one of those attempts to market to vegetarians and vegans. Nope, not necessarily true.
Ever heard of Celiac Disease? If you have seen the above then you are one of the many people out there that might one day wake up unable to consume a traditional slice of bread, eat cereal, or drink a beer.
Celiac disease, also known as gluten intolerance, is a genetic disorder that affects at least 1 in 133 Americans. Symptoms of celiac disease can range from the classic features, such as diarrhea, weight loss, and malnutrition, to latent symptoms such as isolated nutrient deficiencies but no gastrointestinal symptoms. The disease mostly affects people of European (especially Northern European) descent, but recent studies show that it also affects Hispanic, Black and Asian populations as well. Those affected suffer damage to the villi (shortening and villous flattening) in the lamina propria and crypt regions of their intestines when they eat specific food-grain antigens (toxic amino acid sequences) that are found in wheat, rye, and barley. Oats have traditionally been considered to be toxic to celiacs, but recent scientific studies have shown otherwise. This research is ongoing, however, and it may be too early to draw solid conclusions.
Widmer Brothers like many breweries are trying to change the face of the brewing industry, when it comes to recognizing diseases like Celiac. One way has been through their recent release of Ommision Pale Ale & Omission Lager. Curiously we were sent a couple of bottles to try out for ourselves.
Brewery Description of Omission Pale Ale
Bold and hoppy, Omission Pale Ale is a hop-forward American Pale Ale, brewed to showcases the cascade hop profile. Amber in color, Omission Pale Ale’s floral aroma is complimented by caramel malt body, making for a delicious gluten-free craft beer.
MALTS: Pale, Caramel 10, Dark Munich, Carapils
HOPS: Cascade, Citra
ABV: 5.8%
Our Thoughts.
You Should Try It. Admittedly we are pretty demanding when it comes to our Pale Ales. With beers like Sierra Nevada Pale Ale used as the de facto standard, it’s hard to compare other beers. But this beer caught us both off guard. If you are considering something wheat free we might suggest a BLT salad.
On draught or in bottles Ommission Pale Ale rests in the glass with a respectable appearance of burned-orange and clear. Poured straight into the glass there is some initial development of foam before it dissipates. There is however the familiar elements of lace within the glass reminding you that this is still beer after all.
Swirling the glass around allows the escape of aromatic pine, orange and tangerine citrus, caramel, as well some sharp biscuit breadiness. Sipping you are greeted first by elements of an American-style Pale Ale with by notes of pine, orange citrus; before you are reminded that there is balance, in the form of caramel and biscuit malt. Overall Omission Pale Ale has a medium weight to it on the tongue and there is some stickiness.
Thoughts by your Colleagues
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/8/80302
http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/omission-gluten-free-pale-ale/170345/
Cheers
About the photo’s author
Paul “Fruit Trees” Orchard, is an amateur craft beer enthusiast and amateur photographer. Throughout the many years in craft beer he is always carrying a camera (smartphone, digital, traditional) and is invites you to see that beer can also be exciting even if you can’t drink the photo.
In accordance with new FTC regulations regarding bloggers and endorsements, the aforementioned company has provided me a free sample that was used for research prior to writing this review.
