I haven’t had beer for several years due to developing an allergy to barley. Now, while I was never a heavy beer drinker (I regularly go months between alcoholic drinks and haven’t had more than two in one sitting for over a decade now) I used to really enjoy the occasional brew with dinner.
Well, about six months ago I heard about sorghum beer, which contains no barley and no wheat (wheat’s OK with with me, but all the ads I’ve seen seem to emphasize the lack of either). I didn’t have an occasion/reason to have a beer for most of that time, but I had a Superbowl party last weekend and nothing goes with Superbowl commercials and munchie trays like a brewski.
So I bought a six of Redbridge, a barley and wheat-free sorghum beer. I selected Redbridge mainly because it was the sorghum beer available at my local grocery store, not from any great affection for its producer, Anheuser-Busch.
It tastes like… beer.
Let me clarify - it doesn’t taste like pale lager such as the Budwieser/Miller/etc types that are cheap and plentiful and consumed in vast quantities by people who value those qualities.
Just as dark beers, and stouts, and homebrews, and microbrews all taste different but are still in the “beer” family, this tastes like beer. But yes, it is a bit different from barley-based beers.
Is it good?
Hm…
Of course, the answer to that depends in part on whether or not YOU like it, but yeah, I found it good. It’s a little harsher than a lot of other beers I’ve had, but not in a way I mind. At least it has a flavor, which is more than I can say about some Clydesdale pee I’ve had. Back when the beer territory was wide open for me I favored dark beers and I didn’t mind some bitter, so take that into account
Anyhow, it was nice to have a brew with the 'Bowl. The rest of the six is in the fridge awaiting the next occasion to crack one open.
When that one is gone I think I’ll try to find a six of other varieties of sorghum beer, but it may be quite awhile before I get around to it.
