Anheuser-Busch Redbridge Beer
As you’ll know from yesterday’s post, we at SevenPack have charged ourselves with trying to find any available gluten-free beers to review, as a friend of SevenPack was recently diagnosed with Celiac disease and will be charged with drinking these for the rest of her days! For Jamie’s sake, I hope there are some good ones. Fortunately, the first of the batch, New Grist from Lakefront Brewery, was actually quite good. And, to be honest, this is the only other offering I’ve been able to find at the local beer store thus far. So, if any of you readers know of other options available in the US, let us know! Or, if any of you suppliers out there want to send us a sample of your latest gluten-free option, we’ll be happy to review it and tell the folks where we got it from – just e-mail me at ben(at)sevenpack.net.
Forgive me for being a bit wary of this one. After all, it is from Anheuser-Busch, and we tend to shy away from most A-B offerings here at SevenPack. However, I do believe that folks can change, and beggars can’t be choosers when it comes to gluten-free beers. So, I’m going into this with an open mind. The pour of this is significantly darker than the New Grist. It is a dark amber, almost brown. Again the head of this isn’t dense at all, and looks almost soda-like with big, burly bubbles. The aroma here is pretty bland – you can catch a light sweetness peeking through an aroma that is otherwise much like cardboard. In the mouth, the first sensation is a brown sugar sweetness on the tip of the tongue that then moves to a bigger, more cloying sweetness around the middle of the tongue that floats into the aftertaste. This sweetness is obviously from the sorghum that comprises most of this beers fermentable sugars. It’s a syrupy dark sweetness that blends with a papery malt flavor (yes, I meant ‘paper’ not ‘pepper’) that I suppose is trying to emulate the actual malt in a grain-based beer. Overall, I think this beer tastes much more artificial than the New Grist. It has a greater level of sweetness, and the sweetness tastes like it’s trying to mask what is, underneath it all, a worse beer. However, it is a nicer looking beer in the glass, and it does more closely emulate an amber ale. So, if you’re drinking for appearance sake or you just really like darker beers, this might be the one to go with. However, if you’re looking for what is overall a better beer, I’d recommend the New Grist.
8 Responses to “Anheuser-Busch Redbridge Beer”
Hi Tom,
I did a bit of research and learned that there are 171 calories per 12-ounce serving of Redbridge. So, while it isn’t a ‘light’ beer, it certainly isn’t terrible. I’m not certain about the caloric content of other gluten-free beers, but I’d recommend also trying Lakefront Brewery’s New Grist and Bard’s Tale Brewery’s Dragon’s Gold. I haven’t yet tasted the latter, but I’ve heard good things!
-Ben
After a little research… Unfortunately it does not look like there are many gluten free beers out there right now but a good starting place would be:
http://www.glutenfreebeerfestival.com/
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art30583.asp
Also the fact Anheuser-Busch is brewing a gluten free beer, means there is a market to tackle, so hopefully some micro-brews will take up the challenge.
I also noticed some gluten free brewing instructions out there for the home brewers: http://byo.com/feature/1589.html
Another glutten free beer but by Sprecher called Shakparo Ale: http://www.sprecherbrewery.com/beer.php?br=AB
[...] Inc., Redbridge, Gluten Free Beer, [...]
I spoke with A.B. and they said redbridge was 160 calories. I’m curious where people got the 170 numbers…
Green’s is the best G.F. beer I have encountered but pricey.
Check my related post: http://glutenfreecookiefederation.wordpress.com/2008/06/21/cookies-and-beer/
thanks,
paul
I was a beer snob before I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease 5 years ago. My first gluten free beer was the Bard’s Tale Dragon’s Gold. WOW, I was a fan from the first sip! Tastes like a microbrew, so full of flavor. I have yet to try any others, but I the Red Bridge is next on my list.
I started out with Redbridge as my first gluten-free beer experience and loved it. I like the taste of amber beer, such as Amber Bock, and thought this is a great alternative. I was in the store buying more of it when my boyfriend pointed out the New Grist. I thought, what the heck, I’ll try it. I like having a variety of beer to choose from. I did not like it at all. To me it tastes more like a fruity beer want-to-be. I guess if you like beer with the fruit flavors, such as the flavored Michelob Ultras, then you will like this one. Bard’s Tale is another gluten-free beer that I most recently tried and it would be second on the list. Good full flavor, although tends to be more expensive than Redbridge or New Grist, but definitely worth the money over the New Grist.
Care to comment?
redbridge i have aform of celiac disease and was a beer lover at one time. haven’t been able to drink it for 10 years so even though its not michaloeb it tastes like beer. im just trying to find out how many calories and carbs are involved. im 55 years old and have a tendency to put weight on easy. im guessing it must be alot because im unable to find the info anywhere . please send info if its available thanks tom russell