Review #11: Omission Pale Ale

Sorry for the long delay between posts! I moved recently and am still without internet. I'm spending most days getting a feel for the new city and unpacking the seemingly endless stack of boxes.

Today's beer for review comes again from the Widmer Brothers - the Omission Pale Ale. I reviewed their lager in a previous post, which you can check out here.

Omission Pale Ale, like the lager, is brewed with barley and then deglutenized through an enzymatic process. It has 5.8% ABV. Like the other Omission beer, if you are a highly gluten-sensitive person, this beer may not be the right choice for you. It seemed ok to me, but every person is different.

I checked the gluten content on this batch on the Omission website, and it was listed as <10ppm. The 12oz bottle went into my usual pint glass.

Appearance: It pours a clear amber-copper color with a 1" off-white foam head.
Smell: I'm getting a bread aroma with light hops and citrus-y notes.
Taste: Flavor of malt, slightly sweet. Citrus notes with hoppy bitterness. This one tasted a little better after it warmed up a bit.
Mouthfeel: Medium body with moderate carbonation. Refreshing and a bit creamy. finishes dry with bitterness on the palate.

Overall: Omission Pale Ale is not my favorite gluten free beer. It's a bit bitter for my tastes, but not bad. I think put head-to-head, the Omission Lager would win easily. For an easily-found gluten free beer, it's pretty good. I think it would pass the taste test even among regular beer drinkers.

What do you think of this beer? Have you tried both varieties of Omission? Which is your favorite?

Review #8: Omission Lager

Apologies on the long delay between posts! The last week has been a bit crazy for me.

Without further ado, here is my review of Omission Lager from the Widmer Brothers Brewing Company.

This lager is brewed in Portland, Oregon. It is a lighter lager and has 4.6% ABV. It is brewed with barley and then de-glutenized through an enzymatic process, much like the Brunehaut Blonde I reviewed previously. Omission, like the Brunehaut ale, may not be the best choice for those that are particularly sensitive to gluten, since this beer began as a barley beer. You have to make that choice for yourself, though.

Omission has a cool feature on the website where you can enter the date on your bottle of beer and it will tell you how much gluten was in the batch that your bottle came from. My bottle was from a batch that tested  <10ppm of gluten. Good enough for me. I poured the 12oz bottle into my usual pint glass.

Appearance: The lager pours a clear straw yellow with a 1" white foam head that dissipates to leave behind a thin layer of foam. It tries to leave behind lacing but mostly fails to do so. 
Smell: Not much of a nose on this one. There is a slight bready smell with light yeast, a little nutty, and a hint of lemon.
Taste: Bready, grassy with a bit of hop flavor. Very light flavor. Leaves behind a slight bitterness on the palate, but is quite pleasant,
Mouthfeel: crisp, smooth, moderately carbonated. A little watery.

Overall: It doesn't have much going on, but I liked it. Tastes like a real beer and I probably wouldn't have guessed it was gluten free from taste alone. With Omission, the Widmer Brothers have presented an easy drinking, refreshing lager perfect for the Northwest's hot summer weather.  This would be a great beer to bring to a summer BBQ.