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Glütiny Golden Ale

Colorado
United States
glutiny golden ale new belgium beer
Judges Ratings 
1 Review
87
Aroma:
21 / 24
Flavor:
37 / 40
Appearance:
6 / 6
Mouthfeel:
6 / 10
Overall Impression:
17 / 20
Description 

Hoist your pints to the mutiny against gluten, and toast to Glutiny Golden Ale, our new uncompromised gluten-reduced beer designed for the discerning craft drinker. For this new year-round release, we dosed the beer with colorful Nugget, Goldings and Cascade hops, and then turned around and dry-hopped it again with Cascade, lending bright grapefruit and subtle herbal notes to the wash of bready-sweet malts; additions of oats adds a layer of smoothness to the mouthfeel. Finally, we used a special enzyme during the brewing process, which breaks down the gluten. The result is super sessionable, flavorful golden ale that starts sweet and finishes crisp. Ready to join the uprising? Taste the Glutiny.

[The fine print: This product is fermented from grains containing gluten and crafted to remove gluten. The gluten content of this product cannot be verified, and this product may contain gluten.]

When we decided to create a beer for beer lovers watching their gluten intake, we started experimenting with gluten free grains like quinoa, millet, sorghum and rice. While the resulting flavors were interesting, beers made with these grains tasted just like the grain from which they were produced -- not the same flavor we have come to expect from beer made using barley malt. Lucky for us there is another way to produce gluten-reduced beer made with grains that contain gluten. This method involves the use of an enzyme – a protein with a specific function – that breaks down gluten into smaller fragments. We add this enzyme in the brewing process and analyze the finished beer in the lab using the industry-supported R5 Competitive ELISA method. This creates a beer with all of the barley malt-derived flavor without all the gluten. [More fine print: Per the TTB, there is not yet a scientifically valid method for testing gluten in fermented products.]

Beverage Profile
ABV: 
5.2%
IBUs: 
20
Hops: 
Nugget, Goldings, Cascade
Malts: 
Pale, C-80, Oats
Judges Review 
Jason Johnson's picture
Judges Rating:
87
Aroma:
21 / 24
Appearance:
6 / 6
Flavor:
37 / 40
Mouthfeel:
6 / 10
Overall Impression:
17 / 20

The beer pours a crystal clear gold, with some loose bubbles bouncing in the white head. It’s a very pretty and approachable beer. In the aroma I get a little honey-like malt, very low citrusy hops and not much else. I have to swirl the glass hard to get that hop aroma loose. As it warms, there are some light, fruity (pear-like) esters that come forward. The flavor is very drinkable and inoffensive; again, I get some light, honey-like malt with a touch of sweetness up front. The bitterness is moderate in comparison to the malt presence, which creates a lightly hopped and slightly fruity that is smooth and quaffable. Where the beer is lacking for me is in the mouthfeel. The beer feels extremely watery, and this style should have a medium-light body at minimum – something this beer lacks – though the moderate carbonation tries to make up for it. This is essentially an ale version of an American Lager, with just a little more malt character and a touch more hops. While I feel it’s lacking in mouthfeel and hops, this beer does represent the style well and is worth picking up.

In retrospect, after I wrote this review I discovered this beer is also Gluten-Free, which could explain the void mouthfeel. This is the second Gluten-Free New Belgium beer I have sampled blindly and, I have to say, for Gluten-Free beers, these are definitely "real" beers. So that’s a huge plus. Still, I’m grading this beer against the Blonde Ale category so my score may not really reflect how good this beer is for those with gluten intolerance.