I know several people who need to maintain a gluten-free diet and have asked about gluten-free beer. A quick internet search showed me only a handful of breweries have one available and one was in Portland, Oregon. This is the first time I’ve tried a gluten-free beer and what better place than Deschutes Brewery in the Pearl District at 210 NW 11th Ave.

We recently took to the road to visit San Francisco and our first dinner en route was Deschutes on a busy Friday night. The pub was packed and folks were waiting outside as others dined at sidewalk tables. They have an extensive gluten-free menu and one gluten-free beer so I ordered a pint. This light-bodied, sweet and somewhat fruity microbrew was amber in color with very little head. The zippy, clean and yet bitter aftertaste was a nice finish. It has an ABV of 6.2% and IBU is 75. Because it lacks gluten, it doesn’t cover the glass with lace but this beer has plenty of hoppy punch so I really enjoyed it with my fish-n-chips but it didn’t pair well with the pickled vegetables side.

You may have noticed I am a fan of the IPA beer style and being a Star Wars fan besides, how could I pass up the JedIPA? Long story short, I didn’t. This Imperial IPA has an ABV of 8% and IBU is 85, nice and bitter! It was sweet with a pineapple aroma, golden in color and left lace all over the glass with a clean, long, zippy ‘hop-attack’ finish. Yummy!