The Gluten, Grain-Free Adult Beverage you never tried.

So you are living a gluten-free and grain-free life but you still want to have a drink, adult drink that is, and maybe wine is not your thing.
Kudos to you, and yes this post is for you!
I used to enjoy a craft beer on a Friday night. I’m almost embarrassed now to admit that it took me a while to realize that drink was enough to offset my otherwise gluten and grain-free diet and with my gluten sensitivity it was enough to cause problems.

Why not beer, what problems did I experience?

Being an avid mountain biker following the Friday night craft beer celebration was typically a Saturday morning MTB ride.
Stomach discomfort was common on those rides, I always traced back the foods I ate but never took a closer look at my beverage of choice.
Explosive diarrhea (those words close together spell TROUBLE) caused me to abandon a group ride and head home, I was having fun and it was a shame I had to get home.

Sidenote:
Clinching, and riding is multitasking I mastered that day, phew it wasn’t easy, but I made it home without disaster shorts.
This was the trigger event that led to me going 100% grain-free and ditching beer for good.
It wasn’t easy as I enjoyed the social aspect of going to the breweries sampling and filling a growler, there was a sense of community and support for local businesses.
Noteworthy, Indian Pale Ale can be troublesome as the high hops content can be hard on your gut.

Enter mead.

Fast forward a few years of the occasional wine and apple cider, and I mean occasional after all there is no debate that you should limit or avoid alcohol, but we still want to live too, right?
Enter the Mead, or better yet the meadery!

What is mead?

Mead is an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting honey.
Flavor can be added by adding fruit, hops and sometimes grain (be sure to ask if its grain-free)
Refreshing would be a good description of one we tried recently at chubby cheeks meadery in Temecula that contained mead, lemon, and hops.
Pilsner beer is what it reminded me of.

Beer substitute.

With a similar arrangement of a brewery with seating, draft mead, growlers to fill, and tasting, it felt like the void was filled.
We will be back on occasion to try the new creations.
If you haven’t tried it and you are living a similar lifestyle, give it a try.

Cheers,

Rob

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