Once upon a time, gluten-free beers were wholly unremarkable. Then came Seattle’s Ghostfish Brewing. The brewery’s approach was different: focus on making good beer that happens to contain no gluten. They accomplish it using grains like millet, buckwheat, certified gluten-free oats, and brown rice in place of malted barley. From the start, the awards came rolling in. Almost singlehandedly, Ghostfish Brewing rewrote the book on gluten-free beers.
This Saturday, Feb. 4th Ghostfish Brewing celebrates its 8th anniversary with an event at the taproom and a special beer release. The public is invited to join in as the brewery marks the occasion.
The Event
- 8th Anniversary Beer – Close Encounters Of The 8th Kind. Milletwine.
- Merchandise package raffle drawings throughout the day.
- Special limited edition 8th anniversary T-shirts available for sale.
- Owner’s anniversary toast at approximately 4pm followed by an array of gluten-free cupcakes (from 5b’s Bakery of Concrete, WA).
- Special announcement for 2023 VIP membership.
The Beer
This year’s anniversary brew is a cask-aged Milletwine. The casks were supplied by Westland Distillery, which happens to be right across the street. Ghostfish aged the beer in Westland whiskey casks for 10 months. It will be available in 16.9-oz glass bottles. These bottles will be available for sale at the taproom and, sometime thereafter, in select local retailers. The anniversary beer will also be available on tap in the taproom starting this Saturday.
Ghostfish Brewing’s Head Brewer, Reid Ackerman, shared some thoughts about this year’s anniversary beer.
“The impetus behind this beer is to give another solid example that gluten-free/alternative grains deserve a space at the table across the brewing community. This isn’t the first of its type and certainly won’t be the last with the gradual growth and proliferation of talented gluten-free breweries across the US and internationally.”
“While Milletwine isn’t an officially designated/defined style yet, this beer hopefully creates some more justification to do just that; develop sub-styles that specifically call for and celebrate these alternative grains and the characteristics they contribute to beer.”
“In the meantime, this beer stands as a solid representation of the style it is meant to mimic, simply trading in Millet in place of Barley. While it’s hitting those classic Barleywine notes, there are other noticeable attributes that differ including the body and flavor, that instead of lessening as an interpretation of another style, make it something great in and of itself.”