New Planet Blonde Ale

New Planet Blonde Ale

Gluten Free Blonde Ale

It’s been some time since I last reviewed a New Planet beer. They used to brew both gluten reduced (crafted to remove gluten) beers and gluten free beers brewed with all gluten free ingredients. Since then, they seem to have consolidated their offerings to two gluten FREE offerings: a Pale Ale and a Blonde Ale.

I am personally pretty happy with this change. Not just because I only drink gluten free beers these days, but also because it causes far less confusion amongst gluten free consumers. When breweries brew and sell both, I’m concerned that Celiacs will grab a gluten reduced by mistake. Now you don’t have to worry!

Today’s review is for their gluten free Blonde Ale. This is a 4.8% ABV blonde brewed in Denver Colorado. Its made with a combination of malted millet, gluten free oats, and corn. These two flagship offerings are packaged in 12 ounce cans.

Below is a video of the beer pour so you can see what it looks like…

2021 Taste Test

New Planet Blonde Ale

The New Planet Blonde Ale pours with a sunshine gold color and 100% clarity! It’s so clear that a surgeon could perform surgery through this beer. The clarity reveals a beautiful display of carbonation and the beer pours with a nice head.

Its aroma carries malty flavors of corn and biscuit. It has a faintly sweet smell and not much hoppiness on the nose. The first taste reveals a bright and mildly sweet blonde that’s heavy on the malt and faint on the hops.

To be honest, the overall taste reminds me of chicha (an ancient Peruvian beer brewed with corn). This isn’t a total shock as it is brewed with corn, but the mild hop presence makes it more obvious. 

When this gluten free blonde ale first hits your lips, you immediately notice a crisp and light breadiness, largely carried by the carbonation. By mid-tongue, there’s a bit of fruitiness that fades into a slightly drier finish. The extremely low bitterness allows lots of malt flavor to linger on the tongue.

My favorite part about this Blonde Ale is its body. It has a great mouthfeel and a perfect carbonation level. The carbonation continues to dance up the center of the glass. I find myself watching it…sort of a fishtank effect. Ha!

I feel like the aroma reveals this beer is brewed with millet, the taste hints at its corn, and perhaps the gluten free oats can take credit for the body that I appreciate. 

Overall, this is a light-drinking blonde that can offer a faintly sweet and mildly fruity choice for any season. It’s been many years since I tried the past releases of New Planet’s gluten free offerings, so I can’t quite compare the two without looking back at my own review. 

I have another review coming for them too. This next one will be for their gluten free Pale Ale, so stay tuned!

I’m always curious how far a brewery reaches in distribution, so if you’ve seen this beer (or the New Planet Pale Ale) on grocery store shelves, do me a favor and drop a comment below to tell me where (city, state) you found it.

2017 Taste Test

New Planet Blonde Ale

If you are among the severely gluten intolerant or a Celiac, you may want to stick to one of their 3 gluten free offerings which are the bottled Blonde Ale, Pale Ale, and Raspberry Ale. Two more options exist which are gluten reduced (crafted to remove gluten after being brewed with barley). They are the Seclusion IPA and the Tread Lightly Session Ale.

Today I will be tasting the New Planet Blonde Ale, one of 3 totally gluten free offerings. All of them of recently been reformulated to remove sorghum from the ingredient list. This Blonde Ale is now brewed with millet, GF oats, and non-GMO corn. By the way, I really respect their choice to use non-GMO maize.

This American style, Sterling hopped ale pours a dark and crystal clear golden yellow. It’s head is strong and lingers for a delightfully long time. What starts as big foam bubbles, eventually shrinks into a creamy layer of micro bubbles garnishing the top of the glass.

This beer is very light, crisp and flavorful. It has heavy notes of citrus, but it also tastes quite carmel-y to me. Not sure where its coming from…maybe the corn? The carbonation tastes surprisingly light considering how well it foamed. It’s not at all bitter. In fact, its IBU rating sits right at 15. At a 4.5% ABV, this would be a great choice for hot summer afternoons on the river, ABV-wise!

As you all know, Blondes aren’t my preferred style, but this ale is drinkable. I look forward to trying their hoppier offerings, including a reformulated and completely gluten free Pale Ale.

I also didn’t try their previous version of this ale, brewed with sorghum and corn, but I have to say…I think reworking their recipes was the right choice. Millet and oats make for a tastier beer than sorghum in my opinion. Something tells me I’m not alone in this sentiment.

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