Holidaily Brewing Buckwit Belgian Witbier

Gluten Free Witbier by Holidaily Brewing

Brewed in Colorado, USA

This is my second beer review for Holidaily Brewing Company based in Golden Colorado. The last one I published was for their Favorite Blonde Ale. Today I’ll be tasting the Buckwit Belgian, a witbier style beer brewed year-round by Holidaily.

Witbiers are typically brewed with a grain bill split between malted barley and raw wheat, so as you can imagine, this is a challenging beer to brew gluten free while still keeping the flavor profile we expect in a witbier.

Lucky for us, several dedicated gluten free breweries have taken on the challenge. Today’s Buckwit Belgian is is just one beer on Best Gluten Free Beer’s growing list of gluten free belgian reviews. I hope to get a chance to visit this brewery in person one day, both to try some of their taproom-only offerings AND to check out their brewery setup.

While I myself haven’t been to the Holidaily taproom yet, several of my readers have! One of them contributed a fantastic guest review awhile back. If you’d like a behind-the-scenes peak inside the home of Holidaily, be sure to check out this post written by Jason Nelson.

This beer was originally reviewed in 2018, but I have gone through and updated this post to reflect my current observations. The new 2020 Buckwit Belgian poured below has a 4.8% ABV and 15 IBU.

Updated Beer Pour (2020)

The Taste Test

Holidaily Brewing Buckwit Belgian

The Holidaily Brewing Buckwit Belgian beer pours with a tuscany yellow color and a substantial head that takes absolutely forever to bubble away, even if you pour it somewhat gently. Something I’ve noticed lately…gluten free breweries (in general, not just Holidaily) are really dialing in the protein balance these days to achieve these remarkable heads. Not many gluten free beers are pouring flat these days. Soooo different than just a few years ago.

As I update this review, I notice that the 2020 pour of the Buckwit Belgian is much cloudier than the last time I reviewed it. The haziness makes the color denser (from straw yellow to tuscany yellow) and also more consistent as you move it through different light conditions. You can no longer read the can through the brew. You can find the old beer pour on our Instagram (@glutenfreebeers) if you’re curious about the difference.

Apart from the beer’s strong visual appeal, the aroma holds characteristics of citrus and spice. It portrays a texture of malty softness in the absence of sharper hop presence.  It smells very much like a regular (gluten-FULL) witbier…

Which makes it no surprise that the first thought that popped into my mind as I took my first sip of this beer was ‘It’s so soft’. It’s very smooth, and has absolutely no bite. It’s similar to the Blonde Ale in that respect, but has a bit more character behind the flavor profile if you ask me.

The taste is slightly toasty, and carries light orange tones. This beer has a gentle warmth to it…the kind of warmth you get when you add a bit of turmeric to red meat, subtle. Very subtle. Perhaps imparted from the coriander.

The Buckwit Belgian used to be brewed on a base of buckwheat, millet, and rice, but the 2020 recipe omits the rice malt, sticking solely to millet and buckwheat. Holidaily’s assortment of millet malts used gives the beer’s malt background a gentle bready quality. The beer’s body is light-ish and refreshing for a hot summer day. But not in that sharp, bubbles to the nose kind-of-way. Again, it’s super soft on the palate. It just glides right down the throat.

Sometimes buckwheat beers have a very earthy quality to them–which I love, but not everyone does. I don’t really detect that characteristic in this brew. It’s very clean on the palate. In fact, having reviewed two beers from Holidaily now…I will say that this has been a trend for them so far. Their beers are very unoffensive. Very easy drinking.

Do you have any friends that claim to dislike beer? I wonder if they’d feel the same way about Holidaily. Their beer is so smooth, I think even that friend would enjoy it. Let me know if you test this theory, whether you disprove it or not!

I’ve been saving the two Holidaily brews I’m most excited about for last: the Riva Stout, and Fat Randy’s IPA. Secretly, I hope to find they went big with those two brews. My PNW palate craves that punch. Bring on the bitter!

Cheers!

P.S. Like what I do for the gluten free beer community? Consider buying me a beer for my efforts! ;)