9 White Deer have just launched their Stag Saor range of Gluten Free beers. Up until now your choices of Gluten Free Craft Beers have been slim to say the least. Don, one of the Co Founders of 9 White Deer dropped me off some samples to try. The inspiration behind the descion to brew a range of Gluten Free beers came from the fact that he was diagnosed with Gluten Intolerance within a year of opening the brewery. My initial thoughts were: ‘you poor fecker!’…but talk about turning misfortune into an opportunity! They now have a fantastic Unique Selling Point. The beers are also vegan friendly and have around 200 kCals. Talk about ticking all of the boxes!
The first one I tried was the Red Ale which has a pleasing caramel taste. It would be a good one for a session. I wonder could you make gluten free bread and butter pudding to go with it?
I gave the Kolsch Style Beer to Natasha our intern at work who has Gluten Intolerance. She said it:’had a really nice aroma’ and found it ‘very refreshing!’
I found the Pale Ale a little bland but it was certainly still drinkable. I think I found the mouthfeel of them all a little thin but that could just be me?
I really liked the IPA which pours a beautiful shade of amber and had a nice fruity hoppiness. It is the latest in a line of quality IPAs from the 9 White Deer stable.
The last bottle I had was the Stout which had some Madagascan Vanilla in the brew. Again it had a lovely rich aroma and it went down very nicely indeed. It’s unusual to get a dark Gluten Free beer and I can see this one being very popular for them. I have to say if I was Gluten Intolerant I would be absolutely made up with these beers. As it is I’d happily drink them again, especially the IPA and the Stout. Sláinte!
* if you want to order some of these beers they’re available from theBeerClub.ie