Omission Pale Ale: The Best Gluten Free beer in the Universe!

I recently had a gluten free beer that tasted really good.  In fact, it tasted….LIKE REAL BEER!  

Historically gluten free beers have been brewed with buckwheat, sorghum, or other alternatives to grain which give the beer a distinct “gluten free” taste that is just not very pleasant.  Personally I had never had a gluten free beer that I'd ever want to finish the whole bottle. Fear not  because that’s not how it has to be any more.  That’s right, a buddy of mine, Paul Mott, who is a long time employee of Widmer Brothers was in Minneapolis recently and we stopped at a liquor store and pick up some beers.   He picked up a Pale Ale that I hadn’t heard of and upon first sip I thought, this is a nice beer.  It’s definitely more sessionable of a craft beer compared to what I typically drink, but, a well crafted hop forward Pale Ale non the less.   Citrus, and Mango aroma's are lifted instantly to your nose and are very present and pleasant.  The malty and caramel backbone in the flavor, and medium to light body with restrained bitterness creates something that I could easily drink all night. Upon my approval of his choice, he went on to tell me that the beer I had just drank was “gluten free”.   I was absolutely blown away.    I decided that I want to make sure that everyone knows about this beer and can spread the word to there gluten intolerant friends!   Spread the word...kid!  

The story behind this line of beers (they also have a lager) stems from the fact that Widmer CEO, Terry Michaelson, was diagnosed with Celiac some years ago.  In addition to that, brewmaster Joe Casey’s wife is also a celiac.   This drove the company to look at crafting a gluten free beer that tastes like beer.  They can’t technically market Omission as gluten-free since they use low-protein barley and are able to remove the gluten during the brewing process using an enzyme (or something like that, and I probably said too much).  The result though is a real beer that is low on the gluten level perfect for people who suffer from Celiac that has been tested by the CEO and brewmasters wife as well as the lab.  According to my buddy Pauli, if a beer has levels of gluten as high as 20 parts per million (PPM), it’s technically gluten free.   But, Omission typical is much lower then that, clocking in at 5-10 PPM and suitable to drink for most gluten intolerant people!!!   That being said, they also date each bottle, and you can go to their website http://omissionbeer.com/ to the “test results” section and see exactly how many PPM of gluten are in the 6 pack of bottles in your hand!!!   

From their website:

Bold and hoppy, Omission Pale Ale is a hop-forward American Pale Ale, brewed to showcase the Cascade hop profile. Amber in color, Omission Pale Ale’s floral aroma is complimented by caramel malt body, making for a delicious craft beer

MALTS: Pale, Caramel 10, Dark Munich, Carapils
HOPS: Cascade, Citra

IBU: 33
ABV: 5.8%

Omission Pale Ale – (my review)

Graded as a Gluten free beer = A+

Graded as a Pale Ale = B+