Justin and Ryan are generous guys.

Recently the two have joined up to provide the Gluten Free community in Seattle something to be excited about.  In a market full of weak bodied, under flavored, and overly sweet sorghum based brews Rainy City Ales has begun producing their own Gluten Free Beer in Seattle. If you ask nice enough, they are likely to give you some. Their goal is to craft a series of Gluten Free offerings that bring those unable to tolerate regular beer back to the days when they could.

When the two arrived to meet me I quickly saw the pitch coming. Justin was carrying a Redbridge, produced by Anheuser Busch. What they might not have known was that prior to being diagnosed with celiac disease I spent a good deal of time learning the ropes of homebrewing.  Since my diagnosis I’ve been searching for a Gluten Free Beer worth buying more than once. Redbridge tastes a lot like… Bud Light.  Rainy City Ales hopes to do much better than that.

There’s an especially interesting point to all of this. Neither Ryan nor Justin has an issue with Gluten. They both homebrew and began getting requests from friends to brew something safe for those with Gluten Intolerance or Celiac disease. Soon enough they tell me they liked their product so much that they brew Gluten Free exclusively using interesting combinations of Millet, Sweet Potato, and Sorghum. I was upfront with them that in my amateur opinion it was the sorghum that has led most Gluten Free beers in the wrong direction. The more sorghum beers you drink, the more the flavor begins to pile up on its self.  Justin let me know that in a way I was right but that they still use a minimal amount of sorghum as it holds some of the right compounds to make a decent beer.  Moving forward they are working on a few other brews and brainstorming ways to create a Gluten Free beer drinking community in Seattle.

As I tried their Pale Ale I was immediately reminded of the hoppy and full flavored beers I had enjoyed in the past. The taste was close to a Sierra Nevada, and it really was pleasant to drink. Right now you can acquire the beer directly from the guys via donation until the business is ready for purchases. They ask for about 10 dollars per 6 pack. You can set up a tasting or a time to pick up some of their beer by emailing them at rainycityales@gmail.com. You can also find them on twitter @RainyCityAles. Rainy City Ales is  brewing a fairly impressive quantity and will soon move into a space which they are retrofitting to their needs in Ballard. Soon enough they will have their beer in a store near you, but in the meantime reach out to them. You will be glad that you did.

I am very excited to see what is next from these two and can’t wait to stock my fridge with their beer come summer time.