Gluten Free Beer Tasting/Ranking.

I've been wanting to do a Gluten Free beer tasting with my friends for a while. I absolutely love beer.  But since beer isn't really an option for me anymore, I occasionally indulge in a gluten free beer. I've tried them all. I don't like them all. Some even repulse me, but I was curious to see if my friends' taste buds agreed.

Here are the contenders...the brave, the beautiful; the best drinkers I could find.

From left: Matt, Drew, Brando, and Margot.

        We tested 10 of the most popular gluten free beers I've tried.

My friends and I tasted, talked, and trekked through the different beers one at a time and rated them on a scale from 0-5 (five being the highest rating). I added our four scores together (one friend dropped out) and averaged them. The clear winner was New Grist, but it was hard to determine because everyone had varying opinions.

An average score of 2.75.
"taste like water"

An average score of 1.75
"The Budweiser of gluten free beers"

An average score of 1.
"P-O-O-R"

An average score of 2.25.
"A good beer right there" and "taste more like a beer"

An average score of 2.6.

An average score of 2.

An average score of 2.
"My boyfriend's second favorite"

The three Greens Ale pictured above are very strong and intense beers. I have one and I'm very tipsy, two and I'm drunk, and the one time I had three...I don't remember. Aka I was a sloppy sloppy girl and I'm pretty sure my boyfriend wanted to take me to the pound. Just to warn you.

An average score of 2.75.

An average score of 4.5
"WINNER"

An average score of 2.75.
"Very bitter"

 The clear winner was the New Grist and the loser was the New Planet Raspberry Ale. Estrella was another highly rated beer and most agreed they "would have it again". Personally, my favorite is the St. Peter's or the Green Dubbel Dark, although last night the Dubbel wasn't appealing to me for some reason. I was pretty disappointed in the overall response from my friends and their general dislike of the beers. For people who are gluten free, most of these beers are a godsend. I also think that gluten free beer is an acquired taste. The first gluten free beer I ever had was the St. Peter's and I thought it was terrible. It took me a few times to appreciate the taste and now I would be thrilled to see it on a menu.

Happy friends full of beer.

My bestie and I.

The aftermath

But wait! I've also tried these lovely beverages. I enjoyed the Omission when I was on a trip to Colorado and it was just what I needed after a hard day of skiing. Its a fairly hearty beer and wouldn't want more than one or two of them.

 I heard Dogfish Head was coming out with a gluten free beer and I was SO excited, but I was unable to find it anywhere until I came across it at Total Wine. For a sweeter beer, I really enjoyed it. I usually like hoppier beers, but this beer was an exception. I wish I could have included it in the tasting, but after my initial discovery I haven't seen it.

Check out my instagram: Camilleforeal63 and see this picture with an awesome filter**

And not pictured, I've also tried Bards and I do enjoy it. It's crisp, refreshing and has been a "go-to" in the past. I tend to get OBSESSED with one beer for awhile and I'm over it.

So there you have it, my current take on the gluten free beer scene. 

Also ATTENTION*** Restauranteurs: this girl appreciates a gluten free beer on the menu. Get on it.

Tell me, do you like gluten free beer? Have you tried one that wasn't mentioned here? 

My first WIAW...on Thursday.

I was pretty excited to partake in What I ate Wednesday and then I realized that I was supposed to record everything I ate on Tuesday in order to blog about it Wednesday, hence the name, but that didn't happen so here it is TODAY. I woke up feeling a bit boozy from happy hour Tuesday night so I decided some soup was in order.

First, time for some lemon water and a probiotic. I just started taking Dr. Ohhira's probiotics and they are AMA. I'm in love. I recommend that everyone take a probiotic everyday, even if its the only thing you do for your health. It will make you smarter, prettier, and sexier in every way. 

 I made my own broth, so I steamed 3 carrots and blended them in my trusty Vitamix, threw in a large handful of parsley, and there ya go. I also had 2 broccoli breadsticks that helped to keep me satisfied.

Before I blended the parsley to my soup

=

The final product.

Up close and personal.

Time for a coffee date. Grande Soy Cappuccino. Nice chats with a friend, clearly I haven't been frequenting Starbs enough lately cause they forgot how to spell my name.

Its actually CammiE...with an E.

 After class I came home STARVING so I made a quick almond milk, blueberry, chia seed, spinach, and cinnamon smoothie to tame my hunger while I cooked something up....

And then I chopped....

 I made a quick veggie stir fry with some left over roasted red potatoes, kale, chard, and some grated daikon...it was quick and easy. I paired my tasty stir fry with a half a brown rice wrap topped with my caesar salad and some crumbled tofu.

                              

                                         Time for a photoshoot....

          Got motivated and went for a run....+ 1.5 minute plank hold.

Now you know what I look like sweating like a pig.

                            After my workout I ate the other half of my stir fry.

Time for dinner!! GROSS, sardines. But wait they are SO GOOD FOR YOUR SKIN. I swear since eating these bad boys a few times a week my skin has been softer. So I choked a few down.

 Then came another vegan caesar salad wrap topped with pumpkin seeds.

And a side of summer squash sauteed in coconut oil. Oh and I was still hungry....

Amy's to the rescue!

         I wasn't really in the mood to cook dinner and I kind of skimped....SO flash forward a few hours to Ladies Night. After a few of these suckers I was face down in a whole LOTTA chips. I can't contain the beast when I drink margaritas, there is no turning back and no saying no. So behind the camera I ate my body weight in chips and salsa. Sorry I'm not sorry. You could say I drank a little too much, but no need to beat myself up for having a little fun;) 

"The Swirl" X4...oops!

The good news is...I made it to bed nice and early and woke up feeling like a champion!

Sweet Potato&Bananas....Ice Cream?? YES.

Who knew SWEET POTATOES could be added to my ice cream? 

Who would have thUnk it...

...THIS girl.

Ice Cream for One, two styles.

Pumpkin.butter.yum

1 cup almond milk (homemade or unsweetened Whole Foods Brand)

½ cup pureed sweet potato

1 packet sweet leaf stevia + 6-7 drops vanilla crème liquid stevia (can omit if you want)

1-2 Tbs sunbutter or almondbutter, I like one of each!

                                          1 tsp coconut oil

                                          ¼ tsp vanilla extract

                                          ¾ tsp pumpkin pie spice

                                          ¼ tsp cinnamon

                                          pinch of salt

                                         Ice cream maker time: 20 minutes

WE ALL SCREAM FOR ICE CREAM

Get in my mouth

This ice cream tastes like a butterfingers candy. I mixed in some raw cacao on top and it was absolutely delicious, not to mention healthy enough to eat for breakfast. The only downfall is….when you freeze it you have to wait al least a half hour to defrost so I recommend eating it right out of the ice cream maker. 

But WAIT it gets better.

Choco.yum.

1 cup almond milk (homemade or unsweetened Whole Foods Brand)

1 banana

2 Tbs nutbutter (I use sunbutter or almond)

1 tsp coconut oil

1Tbs raw cacao

¼ tsp vanilla

1 packet stevia + 6-7 drops vanilla crème liquid stevia (can omit if you want)

pinch of salt
Ice cream maker time: 20 minutes

Topped with a Choco.Almond.Cookie.

Ingredients I used for the Choco.yum. minus the pumpkin spice;)

Test the mixture before you put it in the ice cream maker to ensure that it's the flavor you want! Both of these ice creams take about 20 minutes to harden in my Cuisinart  ice cream maker.

Sunday Funday. Eat like a CHAMP.

The Super Bowl was full of friends and fun and a whole lotta EATS. I recreated some old favorites and thought I'd share.Vegan Caesar. I love my moms vegan caesar, but she was in NYC for the weekend with my dad and she didn't have the recipe with her, so I recreated one of my own!

Cammie's Caesar Salad (gluten free)

Yields 1 1/2 cups of dressing

1/2 cup almonds ( I soaked raw almonds over night)

2 cups water

1/3 lemon juice

4 Tbs nutritional yeast

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 Tsp + 1 tsp mustard (I made this kind, but any spicy mustard works)

1 clove garlic

1/2 tsp xanthan gum 

2 heads romaine, wash and chop romaine

Blend together almonds, water, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, salt, mustard, and garlic in a Vitamix blender (food processor would work too). Once you have obtained the flavor you desire, add the xanthan gum to thicken the mixture. I like using xanthan gum because it yields much more dressing with less fat, but if you don't want to use it, you could probably omit most of the water and play around with the amounts. Wash, chop, and dry the romaine. Add 4 ounces of dressing to the romaine, this serves about four people.

I also made Spicy Cauliflower Buffalo "Wings" (gluten free) courtesy of this recipe 

I used Tabasco Buffalo Sauce, brown rice flour and coconut oil for my batter. They were so good, but heads up they were supah spicy!

                                            

I used some extra caesar as dipping sauce.

and no night is complete without some Vegan Homemade Ice Cream topped with my Chocolate Almond Cookie (gluten free) version of THIS recipe...did I mention its so healthy you could eat it for breakfast? I'll be sure to post the recipe soon.

And for the best part...I made a Buffalo Cauliflower Salad with the leftovers.

I don't mind leftovers like this, more please.

I wish my Super Bowl was more of a party, but after a crazy Friday night visiting my friend for her birthday I was pretty boozed out for the weekend. So Ill leave you with some eye candy at Total Wine...

Great Gluten Free beer selection.