Glutoberfest!

Who doesn't love a good beer?

Beer is like friendship and happiness all in one bottle.  It insights camaraderie.  It vastly improves your dance moves. It makes that girl across the bar slightly more attractive than she was an hour ago.  It makes you instantly recall every Dave Matthews Band show that you went to in the 90's (guilty).  And it turns 3am shitty diner food into the greatest thing you've ever had in your life.  I am very upset that due to my stupid stomach, I cannot enjoy my favorite brews and all of their benefits.  Especially since it's fall and beer tends to be the official sponsor of all things autumnal.  To remedy this, I have decided to create my own beer drinking festival that I am calling GLUTOBERFEST!  But first I needed to find out where to sample a gluten free beer in this fair city

Apparently, all you need to find gluten free beer in Philadelphia is have just one accessory: The Gays.

Tuesday night I went out for my friend Josh's birthday celebration.  It was a fabulous evening of witty remarks and slightly unseasonable shawl collar wool sweaters. The festivities brought us to The Westbury, a gay bar at 13th and Spruce.  The Westbury carried 2 gluten free beers which I had to sample.

The first was New Plant's 3R Raspberry beer.  It wasn't terrible.  Ya'll remember Arbor Mist?  Well this was the beer equivalent of that.  I don't even think it could count as a beer really.  If you like your beers light and fruity, then this will probably be your best friend.  If not, then lets move on...

 Next, drink this! The New Planet Off the Grid Pale Ale.  I tried this because I love a good IPA, and it was the only other gluten free beer they had. Woohoo! Well I will say that this was much more enjoyable.  It tasted like a real IPA!  It had a great floral nose with a crisp, hoppy taste.  This beer made me wanna grow a beer, wear terrible thrift store outfits, ride a vintage bike, and become part of the hipster elite.  But since I love Banana Republic and deodorant too much, I decided to just throw back a few more IPAs before we moved on the next bar.

I found Redbridge gluten free beer at The Venture Inn.  The bartender told me that they had ordered it just for one regular who is gluten intolerant, and now it actually sells to a much larger crowd.  When I saw it was produced by Anheuser-Busch, my soul gagged a little.  It turns out that this Busch creation isn't too bad.  Think something like a Yuengling crossed with a Miller Lite.    Huh, I like Busch...Who knew?  In the end it was more the birthday shots for Josh than the beer that did me in at the Venture.

So if you're gluten intolerant, or just beer-curious, you should celebrate your own Glutoberfest and check out the beers at these local watering holes (hehe...holes).  The beers may surprise you.  And if the beers are not your cup of tea, there's always shots and probably a Wicked sing-along for your enjoyment.

Happy Glutoberfest Everyone! What other beers should I try?

Glutardedly Yours,

~Tim