Midwestern Sorghum Beers

At Lakefront Brewery in Milwaukee I noticed a beer I hadn't tried before, New Grist, brewed from sorghum and rice. It's made without a trace of barley or wheat and is one of the first beers to be certified gluten free in the US. This makes for an interesting beer but not necessarily in a good way. It's highly carbonated but the head dissipates quickly. The first flavor to hit your tongue is sourness followed by a molasses-like aftertaste that just won't quit. It seems very lightly hopped. I drank two bottles a few weeks apart and my overall reaction was the same—thankfulness I don't need to avoid gluten. Still, those who can't tolerate gluten might want to give it a try. It seems to be filling a niche; I'm told that Lakefront can't keep up with demand. I believe New Grist is available in Chicago (I think I saw it at Binny's).

Lakefront offers short, entertaining tours (with a beer break midway through as well as after) on Fridays and Saturdays and serves a well-regarded Friday fish fry (see their website). One of these days I might get around to posting about it.

New Grist's Label


Three Tons of Sorghum at Lakefront


In Indianapolis I stopped at Alcatraz Brewing, a newer downtown brewpub. The very knowledgeable bartender recommended Chibuku as her favorite and mentioned it was brewed with sorghum which made me wary. I'll be darned but it was an interesting beer, mostly in a good way. It turns out it's brewed with a significant amount of barley and plenty of hops which makes all the difference. While I was enjoying my Chibuku I spoke with Omar Castrellón, the brewmaster and a real nice guy. He's been experimenting with nontraditional grains and brought me a stack of reading material on sorghum (if you're interested have a look at the excellent Wikipedia article). Omar is currently working on a batch of pure sorghum beer that apparently isn't turning out as well as the Chibuku ("I thought maybe I did something wrong."). Regardless, I hope to be back to sample it when it's ready in a few weeks.

A Pint of Chibuku at Alcatraz


Lakefront Brewery
1872 N Commerce St
Milwaukee WI
414-372-8800

Alcatraz Brewing
49 W. Maryland St (Circle Centre Mall)
Indianapolis IN
317-488-1230

Rene G wrote:I believe New Grist is available in Chicago (I think I saw it at Binny's).

A sucker for novelties, I bought a six-pack of New Grist from Provenance a couple of months ago. I drank two and ended up pouring the rest down the drain; really not a product I would recommend or ever try again. It reminded me of nothing so much as a bottle of skunked Russian beer I once bought, also for the novelty factor (the novelty was the Russian part, not the skunked part). Blech. It sounds from your experience at Alcatraz that sorghum is not necessarily poison to good beer, and I may try it next time I am in Indianapolis -- although the New Grist is an experience I won't be repeating.

Saw New Grist at Whole Foods-cool label, but after reading the above I'm quite thankful that I didn't buy any-sounds putrid.

Very lightly hopped, eh? Sounds like I should try it. (I don't drink beer because I don't like hops.)

I guess the question is, is it really nasty, or just unacceptable as a beer?

Cynthia wrote:Very lightly hopped, eh? Sounds like I should try it. (I don't drink beer because I don't like hops.)

I guess the question is, is it really nasty, or just unacceptable as a beer?

To my taste, really nasty. I would prefer a Budweiser. Or just plain water.