A fairly major craft brewer called Widmer in Portland, OR has developed a gluten-free beer called "Omission" that is actually made from the traditional beer ingredient, malted barley. They have developed a "proprietary" method of removing the gluten down to below 10 ppm gluten.
Unfortunately it's only available in Oregon right now, but it's a real sign of the times that a brewery would invest significant resources in developing the technology for a malted barley-based gluten free beer. They must feel that the market is expanding and that they will be poised to take advantage of the rapidly increasing numbers of gluten sensitive people.
The beer tastes just like regular beer! Those of you who have tried the other gluten-free beers made with sorghum or rice like Redbridge or New Grist, know that they all have an "off" taste, and also for some reason have very low carbonation. Omission beer has a really nice head of foam and a delicious taste. Two flavors are being marketed right now, a lager style and a pale ale.
I tried the pale ale and didn't notice any reaction. Of course we all know that people have varying levels of sensitivity to gluten, and that gluten isn't the only possible peptide in grains that we are sensitive to, but so far so good. I will limit my intake, but it sure is a good feeling to be able to enjoy a real beer on these warm summer days...... it really lifts my spirits, so to speak......
The company is really serious about their gluten-free beer, and provide a lot of information on their testing and quality control. Below is the web site and some info from it;
I've tried a lot of gluten-free beer brands, and had about given up!. So those of you outside of Oregon will have to wait. But if you pass through Oregon, you can give it a try!http://omissionbeer.com/about-the-beers/
Our Widmer Brothers Brewing team has been brewing craft beer since 1984 and brewed their first gluten-free beer in 2006. The Omission beer program is the result of years of research and hard work from our team.
According to federal guidelines, we aren’t legally allowed to claim that Omission beer is gluten-free outside of Oregon because the beer is brewed with malted barley. While the FDA proposed to define the term “gluten-free,” that definition has not been formally adopted by the organization.
We’re committed to ensuring that every bottle of Omission beer meets our team’s standards. Each batch of Omission Pale Ale and Omission Lager is tested by an independent lab using the R5 Competitive ELISA for gluten content.
Rosie
