At the last meeting of the Boulder Triathlon Club, in Boulder, CO, local athletes sampled and evaluated New Planet Beer.

Endurance athletes stress their bodies with long training hours. Many are conscious of limiting their intake of inflammatory substances, such as gluten, because their hard training already produces inflammation of muscles, tendons and ligaments.

After tasting New Planet Beer, athletes voted on the beers and their lifestyle choices.

  • Nearly two dozen triathletes were evenly split on their favorite New Planet beers – Off Grid Pale Ale and Tread Lightly Ale tied as the favorite, with 3R Raspberry Ale coming in close behind.
  • One third of the athletes are reducing or avoiding gluten in their diets, but two thirds report that they would reduce gluten if they experienced better training results.
  • Two thirds reported that New Planet Beer tasted better than they expected. Five percent would rather drink beer with gluten.
  • Sixty percent would recommend New Planet Beer to all their friends, and 23% would recommend it to friends who follow a gluten-free diet.

Thanks to the Boulder Triathlon Club for sampling New Planet Beer and giving their opinions.

 

You may have seen some of the recent articles on the discussion between Colorado agriculture officials and brewers and the use of millet in their brews. Millet is a cereal grain and “Colorado is the country’s top millet producer, accounting for about 60 percent of U.S. production last year,” reported by By CATHERINE TSAI Associated Press.

Our own New Planet Beer Co-Founder and CEO, Pedro Gonzalez was interviewed on New Planet Beer’s thoughts on using the gluten-free grain – millet. Read the article below, which was posted on Forbes.com and Denverpost.com.

DENVER—Colorado agriculture officials are turning to brewers to see if they can help boost the state’s sales of millet, a cereal grain that so far is a sliver of the nation’s food industry. Colorado is the country’s top millet producer, accounting for about 60 percent of U.S. production last year.

It’s a $50 million crop for the U.S., while wheat is worth several billion dollars each year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Still, it represents an area where rural Colorado businesses can grow, said Timothy Larsen, senior international marketing specialist for the state agriculture department.

“What agriculture has to do is find a bunch of niche opportunities to expand,” Larsen said.

Millet is often used as birdseed, but Colorado agriculture officials have been promoting its gluten-free qualities and working with Colorado State University to develop recipes for it.

They’ve also asked Colorado Malting Co. in Alamosa to ship malted samples to Colorado-based brewers to experiment in making millet beers.

“We hope to create a new sector,” Larsen said.

Colorado Malting Co. is preparing about 6,000 pounds of millet from the Fort Morgan area—2,000 pounds each of three varieties—for commercial brewers this spring. The company recently finished malting golden German millet.

“I was impressed with the nutty flavors we got out of it,” said Colorado Malting Co. co-owner Jason Cody.

However, brewers may have to add enzymes to the millet, and the millet also is taking longer to dry than barley, Cody said.

Pedro Gonzalez, co-founder of gluten-free beer company New Planet Beer, said he’s eager to see if the brewers his company works with can find a recipe that appeals to customers the way some millet-based imports do. New Planet’s existing beers primarily use sorghum, corn and brown rice.

“The palate is used to the malted barley. It’s a very unique taste,” Gonzalez said. “The gluten, the proteins in beer, make it thick and full of body and tasty. So when you choose not to have barley or wheat in your beer, then you lose those qualities.”

New Planet Beers use ingredients such as raspberry puree and molasses to add flavor. If New Planet Beer can use Colorado-grown millet, it could help the company meet its mission of being environmentally responsible by using ingredients that don’t have to be shipped far, Gonzalez said.

Scott Kimball in Buena Vista, Eddyline Restaurant and Brewing Co. head brewer, is among those signed up to experiment with malted millet. He isn’t guaranteeing his customers a millet beer until he can see how it tastes.

Pagosa Brewing Co. in Pagosa Springs also plans to play with millet. “It’s an opportunity where if we have a gluten-free beer that actually tastes good, let’s try it,” said head brewer Tony Simmons, who has home brewed with millet before. “I’m a big fan,” he said.

The state agriculture department is using a $42,000 USDA grant to help Colorado’s millet industry market itself, domestically and overseas.

Millet grows on about 200,000 acres in Colorado and can be rotated with wheat, which grows on about 2 million acres, Larsen said.

“If the market demand is there, we can certainly produce more,” he said.

A gluten-free pub crawl may be wishful thinking, but wouldn’t that be fun! Now that the weather is getting nicer and the evenings longer, we thought it would be a great time to introduce some of the unique Denver pubs that offer New Planet Beer. Enjoy an evening out on the town, or create your own pub crawl with these three great locations:

Falling Rock Taphouse

Home to more than 200 rotating taps, Falling Rock Taphouse is a beer giant in Denver. While the taps are ever-changing, you can always get a cold gluten-free Tread Lightly Ale at Falling Rock. The Taphouse features a large outdoor patio with ample seating for sunny days as well as a fleet of pool tables and dart boards in the basement. Upon entering the Falling Rock Taphouse, you’ll immediately notice the 2200+ beer bottles lining the walls. These bottles are, in fact, the personal collection of the manager, Chris. New Planet Beer is proud to be served at the Falling Rock Taphouse, with its vast collection of beers and clear taste for quality. The Taphouse is located at 1919 Blake Street.

Uptown Brothers Brewing Company

Uptown Brothers Brewing Company provides a casual sports bar experience on Capitol Hill and boasts a large beer menu of 32 taps and 61 bottles. With 19 47” HDTVs on location, you’re sure to have a good view of the important sporting events of the day. If sports games aren’t your thing, Uptown Brothers boasts Tuesday Two-fer Trivia nights and the occasional local band on weekends. Uptown Brothers Brewing Company proudly serves cold bottles of Tread Lightly Ale and offers sensational late-night happy hour specials, including $2.00 well-drinks and domestic beers. Uptown Brothers Brewing Company is located at 320 E. Colfax Avenue.

Vine Street Pub

A sibling of Boulder’s eclectic Mountain Sun Pub and Southern Sun Pub, the Vine Street Pub offers all of the same bohemian charm and delicious beer that patrons of the Boulder locations have come to love. Enjoy a gluten-free Tread Lightly Ale on their sunny patio or duck inside for some friendly conversation at the bar.  Loyal fans have awarded the Pub a solid four stars on Yelp.com. The Vine Street Pub features an array of entertainment from live music to comedy on Sundays. The Vine Street Pub is located near City Park at 1700 Vine Street.

Turn your gluten-free beer green for Saint Patrick’s Day.

1. Find a store near you that carries New Planet Beer.

2. Purchase Tread Lightly Ale. (the lighter color makes it easier for you to create the perfect shade of green)

3. Purchase green food coloring. (make sure it’s gluten-free)

4. Pour Tread Lightly Ale into a pint glass or beer mug.

5. Add a few drops of green food coloring into your glass and stir. (add more based on the tone of green you are going for)

6. Cheers to the Saint Patrick’s Day and that you can enjoy the fun holiday with a great tasting gluten-free beer.

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!

At last, people in the Rocky Mountain Region and Midwest States following a gluten-free diet can also enjoy a great tasting craft beer. Boulder, Colorado based New Planet Beer Company offering gluten-free beers are now widely available throughout Colorado, Wyoming, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Oklahoma (March), and Nebraska (May) in grocery chains, liquor stores and restaurants. Additional Rocky Mountain Region and Midwest States will soon follow. Our beer locator doesn’t have our new locations listed as of yet, but be on the lookout in your state. We’ll let you know when the beer locator can provide the specific locations.

Some of you may be asking, “What about the rest of the United States?” We promise that we’re working on it! We have to be able to brew enough guaranteed gluten-free beer for everyone (that’s a lot of beer!), so it takes time to figure that out. We’ll keep you posted on additional states as we add them.

The good news– we’ll be offering all three styles of our gluten-free beer in the states we expand to.

Tread Lightly Ale – is a smooth and well-balanced “Pilsner like” style ale with citrus tones and light in body and color. Tread Lightly Ale is made from sorghum and corn extract, orange peel, hops, and yeast. Tread Lightly supports trail restoration.

3R Raspberry Ale – our award winning raspberry fruit ale has just the right balance of fruit flavor and aroma. 3R Raspberry Ale is made from sorghum and corn extract, natural raspberry puree, orange peel, hops, and yeast. ‘3R’ supports Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle – the 3R’s of waste reduction education.

Off Grid Pale Ale – is a wonderful interpretation of the classic pale ale style. It has a distinctly deep amber color and great character and body. The three varieties of hops provide a wonderful aroma and a citrus and spicy hop flavor. Made from sorghum and brown rice extract, tapioca maltodextrin, caramel color, molasses, hops, and yeast. Off Grid Pale Ale supports alternative energy efforts.

The wait is over! Off Grid Pale Ale is now available in Colorado stores. Finally a smooth gluten-free hoppy beer that you’d never know is gluten-free.

Off Grid Pale Ale is a wonderful interpretation of the classic pale ale style with a distinct deep amber color, great character and body. Three varieties of hops provide a wonderful aroma and a citrus and spicy hop flavor. This smooth gluten-free ale is made from sorghum and brown rice extract, molasses, tapioca maltodextrin, caramel color, hops, and yeast. The beer has 170 calories, 5% ABV and is sold in 12oz bottles / 4-pack.

‘Off Grid’ of Off Grid Pale Ale suggests using alternative energy resources in your daily life. New Planet Beer Company will donate a portion of proceeds from the sale of Off Grid Pale Ale to non-profit organizations who support alternative energy efforts.

Learn more about Off Grid Pale Ale >

For those of you who live outside of Colorado, stay tuned because we’ll be expanding into the Rocky Mountain Region and Midwest States very soon. More details to come.

Here is a list of Colorado stores who are confirmed to have Off Grid Pale Ale. If your local liquor store doesn’t carry Off Grid Pale Ale, let them know you want it!

287 DISC LIQUORS
5846 S COLLEGE, FT COLLINS, CO80525

ACE DISCOUNT LIQUOR
2315 30TH ST, BOULDER, CO80301

ALAMEDA LIQUOR MART
9660 E ALAMEDA AVE, DENVER, CO80247

ARGONAUT WINE & LIQUOR
700 E COLFAX, DENVER, CO80203

BROADLAND LIQUORS
3700 W 144TH AVE #800, BROOMFIELD, CO80020

COALTRAIN WINE & LIQUOR
330 W. UINTAH, COLO SPGS, CO80905

COUNTY LINE W&S
720 AUSTIN ST, ERIE, CO80516

DRY CREEK DISCOUNT LIQUORS
7500 S UNIVERSITY BLVD, CENTENNIAL, CO80122

DUDLEY S DISCOUNT LIQUOR
3251 23RD AVE, EVANS, CO80620

EVERGREEN DISCOUNT LIQUORS
3847 S EVERGREEN PKWY, EVERGREEN, CO80439

GRAPEVINE WINE & LIQUORS
900 S. MONACO ST. PKWY, DENVER, CO80224

HARVEST WINE & SPIRITS
3075 ARAPAHOE, BOULDER, CO80301

HOVER CROSSING WINE & SPIRITS
1844 HOVER ST # E, LONGMONT, CO80501

JORDAN WINE & SPIRITS
17021 LINCOLN AVE # G, PARKER, CO80134

LIQUOR LAND
1020 KEN PRATTT BLVD A, LONGMONT, CO80501

LIQUOR MART
1750 15TH ST, BOULDER, CO80302

LOWRY LIQUOR LLC
200 QUEBEC ST STE 101, DENVER, CO80230

LUKAS LIQUOR SUPERSTORE
8457 S YOSEMITE, LONE TREE, CO80124

MARDI GRAS LIQUOR
2401 8TH AVE, GREELEY, CO80631

MAYFAIR LIQUOR
1385 KRAMERIA ST., DENVER, CO80220

MILE HIGH WINE & SPIRITS
435 S VANCE ST, LAKEWOOD, CO80226

PARKER PAYLESS LIQUORS
9749 S. PARKER RD., PARKER, CO80134

RIDGE LIQUORS
3333 ARAPAHOE RD, ERIE, CO80516

SPORTSMANS DISCOUNT LIQUOR
1817 MAIN STREET #201, LONGMONT, CO80501

STROH RANCH LIQ
12939 S. PARKER RD, PARKER, CO80134

SUPER LIQUOR MART
6700 S PIERCE, LITTLETON, CO80128

SUPER MARKET LIQUORS INC
1300 E MULBERRY, FT COLLINS, CO80521

WALLABY S LIQUOR WAREHOUSE
1550 S PARKER RD, DENVER, CO80231

WILBURS TOTAL BEVERAGE
2201 S COLLEGE AVE 108, FT COLLINS, CO80525

WINDSOR DISCOUNT LIQUOR
1215 L MAIN STREET, WINDSOR, CO80550

After many months fiddling with a clunky beer locator, we found a new and improved upgrade. Now you can easily find your favorite style of New Planet Beer. Not only can you type in your zip code and see what store or restaurant is closest to you, but you can also see which beers they offer. Follow these simple steps.

  1. Select Locate Beer
  2. Insert your Colorado address or zip code (For example: “Denver CO”, or “80206″)
  3. View the map pins or see the list of locations below the map
  4. Select a location
  5. Enjoy New Planet Beer!

There’s no sound quite as satisfying as when you crack open a can of ice cold beer. While there are many traditionalists who believe that beer belongs in a bottle, there is a new push to put many kinds of beer in cans. So what’s the difference? In a recent blog post we discussed the benefits of bottling beer.

Why the sudden surge in cans? Below are a few reasons why brewers are looking to cans.

  1. Portability – the ease of taking your beer to public events, pools, music venues where glass is not allowed
  2. Weight – Many folks enjoy taking beer with them into the backcountry and find the ease of packing cans (think of foot stomping crunches) is much easier (and easier on the back) than bottles.
  3. Lower Carbon Footprint – it is reported that cans have a lower carbon footprint than beer containers because they are lighter and more compact in transportation. In addition, cans are more readily recyclable and made from a high percentage of recycled aluminum.

Why do you like cans? Leave a comment below and tell us why.

If you are reading this blog, you have likely sampled a New Planet Beer from a brown bottle. And you may have observed some of your glutenoid friends drinking from cans and wondered when you can enjoy the same?  While New Planet Beer is committed to bottles for the near future, we are open to putting our beers in cans.

Walking through the liquor store it is quickly apparent that there is a new trend in the beer industry, cans. No longer are they traditional cans, constrained by the combination of silver, blue, white and red. Today’s can is a canvas, a piece of art, that makes the experience of drinking beer that much more special. But there must be more to it, after all, bottles have been used for centuries.

Below are four reasons that bottles are preferred over cans. We’ll discuss the benefits of cans in a later post.

  1. History – The story goes that a monk stored his beer in a wine bottle and it kept well. Beer has been in brown bottles ever since and eventually evolved to different bottle shapes to accentuate certain qualities of their beer.
  2. Skunked – If light strikes beer it can change its taste and smell. Ultra-violet light chemically changes iso-humulones (isomerized hop oils, which are responsible for the bitterness hops add to beer) into mercaptans, the exact same ingredient in a skunk’s spray!
  3. Taste – Many people feel beer tastes better from the bottle. Aluminum can leave an aftertaste in beer (however, cans now have added a liner to prevent fluctuations in taste, made from BPA, which has its own downsides.)
  4. Temperature control – Glass does a better job keeping the beer cold. Aluminum convects quicker than glass, warming the beer, however, cozies solve this problem.

What are your thoughts? Do you prefer bottles or cans? Leave a comment below and tell us why.

Holiday season is not always the most fun when you are gluten-free. Big family get-togethers, potlucks, stuffing, gravy, and of course…desserts.  Luckily with New Planet Beer you are now able to partake in the drinking festivities, and with the great recipe below you’ll be able to enjoy a common Thanksgiving treat with an extra gluten-free twist.

3R Raspberry Ale Cranberry Sauce

  • 1 (12 oz.) bag whole cranberries
  • 1 cup New Planet 3R Raspberry Ale
  • ¾ cup sugar
  • ¼ cup honey
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • A few cloves
  • Zest from one orange
  • Pinch salt

Gluten Free BeerIn a large saucepan, add 3R Raspberry Ale, sugar and salt and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved, about 4 minutes. Add the honey, zest, cinnamon, cloves and cranberries; reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer until the cranberries have popped and the sauce has thickened, about 15 minutes. Serve immediately or chill until ready to serve.

Cheers to a  wonderful Thanksgiving!