California’s Stone Brewing Co. puts out a plethora of new beers each year, most of them aggressively hoppy and usually eyebrow-raising for some unique addition to the brewing process.
The brewery’s latest, Delicious IPA, definitely lands in the hoppy category, with its bright tropical-bitter notes from Calypso, Lemondrop and two other hop varieties. And it’s certainly unique, but not for what Stone adds to the brew but for what it takes out: gluten.
Delicious IPA is Stone’s first gluten-reduced beer, brewed with an enzyme that breaks down gluten proteins during the fermentation process. Although it can’t technically be called gluten-free because it’s brewed using malted barley, most batches of Delicious IPA clock in at less than 10 parts per million of gluten protein (Stone’s website posts lab results for each batch).
Bravo, Stone — Delicious IPA is the best gluten-reduced beer available.
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