I had thirty minutes to kill before a business dinner last night, so I stopped into the always uplifting Busboys & Poets at City Vista for a quick beer.
Gluten-free dining has gotten a lot of attention lately, and I want to spend more time in the future concentrating on that issue as well as other diner restrictions (vegan cuisine, quiet dining rooms, etc.) so that everyone may benefit from these reviews.
A bottle of Bard’s ($6) is made from sorghum malt, and is gluten-free. It is (so the website says) “America’s first gluten-free beer and the only beer made from 100% malted sorghum.”
None of this matters unless it tastes good, however. This is the first time I’d ever tried a Bard’s, and was both surprised and somewhat pleased with what I found. The nose has malt tones, as well as an extremely mild, Gueuze-like sourness that carries into the fore-palate. As strange as it sounds, this tapers off into a neutral, almost unsweetened sun-tea finish that’s supported by enough acidity to keep it interesting. It’s worth ordering if you’ve never tried it, even if you’re not worried about staying gluten-free.