Gluten-Free Brews Made in Oregon

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written by Bronte Dod | photo courtesy of Omission


As gluten-free options carve out their own aisles at grocery stores, Oregon breweries are offering gluten-free beers. Some are available in bottles, while others are sold exclusively on tap. Here are four breweries that are joining the gluten-free movement.

 

Omission

If there is a mainstay gluten-free beer, this is it. Omission beer doesn’t start out gluten-free, as it is made with barley, but the gluten is later removed using an enzyme. Using traditional beer ingredients, and then backtracking, keeps the beloved flavor of true beer. The aptly named bottled beer comes in three styles (IPA, pale, lager), and is brewed by the Craft Brew Alliance in Portland—the first company to use this process in the United States.

 

Ground Breaker Brewing

Unlike the process used by Omission, Ground Breaker’s process is gluten free from the beginning. The Portland brewery (formally known as Harvester) uses naturally gluten-free ingredients such as chestnuts and lentils to brew nontraditional beers in a completely gluten-free facility. In 2012, Ground Breaker opened a pub with a gluten-free menu. Ground Breaker offers four year-round beers and a large variety of rotating seasonal beers, experimenting with the likes of rose hips, coffee and squash.

 

Deschutes Brewery

While not dedicated to an entire series of gluten-free beer (Craft Brew Alliance) or devoted exclusively to it (Ground Breaker), Deschutes has had a gluten-free beer on tap since 2008 at their pubs in Bend and Portland. They started with a golden ale and have recently launched a Northwest pale ale.

 

Bierly Brewing

Most recently, Eats & Treats—an entirely gluten-free restaurant in Philomath (near Corvallis)—has started brewing gluten-free beer on site. The brewer, John Paul Bierly, will brew the beer to drink exclusively in the restaurant, and expand to other gluten-free restaurants as production increases. This beer will be gluten free through-and-through, avoiding barley and using sorghum, rice and millet instead. The first batch will be revealed on March 17.

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  1. says: Dave Robertson

    You should check out Evasion Brewing in McMinnville for outstanding gluten-free beer options. Their IPA is stellar.