New Planet Beer Hosts a Tasting with Fans

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On June  18th, New Planet Beer invited several of our gluten-free fans to Kakes Studios in Boulder for a tasting of some of the new styles that we’ve been working hard to perfect. To start things off, we offered tastes of Tread Lightly Ale, our flagship style. Still a favorite, our patrons enjoyed Tread Lightly Ale’s light and refreshing taste. Next we offered pours of our 3R Raspberry Ale; it was well received and perfect for the warm Boulder day– 3R Raspberry Ale is definitely going to be popular among New Planet Beer drinkers this summer.

Next, we had our tasters enjoy and give us feedback on two styles in the works, an American-style Pale Ale and a European-style Pale Ale. Designed to deliver that hoppy scent and flavor of traditional APAs, our version of the American-style Pale Ale was well received, with the vast majority of our tasters giving us raving reviews. The beer was described as “hoppy”, “delicious”, and “exactly like the APA’s I used to drink”. Our European-style Pale Ale also received some positive reviews and our tasters provided us with a lot of valuable feedback that will help us make improvements to our recipe.

We really value our fan’s feedback so we can continue to make improvements to our gluten-free beers. Keep checking our upcoming events page so you can also have the opportunity to sample New Planet Beer.

What’s Sorghum?

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New Planet Intern gives us the inside scoop on his internship and sorghum.

New Planet Beer intern, Ryan Gaterman enlightens us on what he’s learned so far during his summer internship.

Before working with New Planet Beer, I was a bit unaware of gluten-free diets and the processes behind gluten-free products. After working for a few weeks and attending the Rocky Mountain Brewfest in Fort Collins, CO, I have learned much more about the beer industry than I thought and what it takes to brew certified gluten-free beer.

I’ve found that in the wonderful world of beer, unless you’re gluten-free, many people don’t know what separates New Planet’s Beer from other beer brands. New Planet Beer’s selection is strictly gluten-free and the ingredients and recipes for Tread Lightly Ale and 3R Raspberry Ale are like no other. I explain to consumers, aside from an outstanding taste, that New Planet Beer uses sorghum instead of wheat, thus making New Planet Beer gluten-free. For those who don’t follow a gluten-free diet or don’t know their crops well, they may ask, “What’s sorghum?”.

In order to answer this question, I did some research and found some interesting facts about the grain sorghum:

  • There are roughly 30 different species of sorghum
  • Sorghum can be used for alcohol, syrup, biofuel, and fodder
  • Sorghum is extremely drought intolerant
  • Sorghum is one of the top cereal crops in the world along with wheats, oats, barley and corn
  • The sorghum plant can grow over 6 feet tall
  • Sorghum is very high in fiber, iron and fairly high in protein
  • Sorghum originated in Africa and is grown most commonly in Africa
  • It makes good beer

If you have yet to try a beer brewed with sorghum, now is the time to start! Whether it be gluten sensitivity or a diet choice, have a taste of New Planet Beer and you’ll be satisfied.

Gluten-Free Fish & Chips with 3/4 cup of Tread Lightly Ale

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What goes well with World Cup Soccer? Gluten-Free Fish & Chips and of course New Planet Beer’s Tread Lightly Ale. I’ve been wanting to experiment with making gluten-free beer battered fish ever since learning that Udi’s Café in Grandview serves a Fish & Chips made with Tread Lightly Ale (as well as fantastic gluten-free pizza, and sandwiches).

So after searching around a bit I decided to use this adapted recipe from COOKS.COM.

GLUTEN–FREE BEER BATTER FISH

Adapted From COOKS.COM

  • 2 lbs fish fillet (any white fish, but cod is more authentic)
  • 1 cup rice flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp paprika
  • ¼ tsp garlic powder
  • ½ tsp dill weed
  • ¾ cup New Planet’s Tread Lightly Ale
  • 2 eggs


  1. Preheat oven to 250°F. Gently wash the fish in cold water, make sure to pat the fillets dry with plenty of paper towels. For large fillets, you may want to cut the fish into smaller pieces.
  2. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mix beer and eggs separately then stir into dry ingredients, mix until smooth. Place fish fillets in batter mixture; coat well, and let stand for 10-15 minutes.
  3. Heat oil to 350°F; gently place small batches of fish in oil to avoid dropping the oil temperature. Fry until golden brown, about 5 to 8 minutes, turning the fillets regularly to prevent scorching the batter. Remove fish to paper towels to drain excess oil. Keep warm in oven until all the fish are cooked.
  4. For a more authentic fish, use cod and skip all the seasoning except the salt. However, spices give the batter a little more flavor than the beer alone would. This batter works well with all kinds of fish and shrimp. If you want to eliminate the beer, try using milk.

It took a while to fry each of the pieces individually so it helps to have a low heat oven to keep the fish warm. We used Grapeseed Oil as it has a high flash point and good fats. We served it with red potato “chips” and some over cooked broccoli (appropriately British). The taste was subtle but enjoyable. Pedro commented he hadn’t had breaded fish in probably 10 years. We did use Atlantic Cod which turned out to be quite expensive (over $14.00/lb) but amazingly light and flaky. Most interesting was the fish tasted even better the next day cold!

Which brought up a question of why use beer in batter in the first place? We guessed that it might have to do with the British traveling to their colonies and using beer for cooking because it was safer than water. A search on Wikipedia instructs:

UK chippies traditionally use a simple water and flour batter, adding a little bicarb soda (baking soda) and a little vinegar to create lightness as they create bubbles in the batter. Other recipes may use beer or milk batter, where these liquids substitute for water. The carbon dioxide in the beer lends a lighter texture to the batter, and also an orange color. A simple beer batter might consist of a 2:3 ratio of flour to beer by volume. The type of beer makes the batter taste different: some prefer lager whereas others use stout and bitter. In all cases, the alcohol itself is cooked off, so little or none remains in the finished product.

Given that  Tread Lightly Ale is a light tasting beer, that is probably the reason for our subtle tasting beer batter. Next time we hopefully will have our hoppier beer available and I will give it a try. Have you tried a gluten-free beer batter recipe?  What is your favorite recipe to cook with using beer?

By Seneca Murley, co-founder of New Planet Gluten-free Beer Company


Rocky Mountain Brewfest 2010

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New Planet Beer was thrilled to be at Estes Park Brewery last Saturday for the Rocky Mountain Brewfest! Despite the chilly and wet weather, the event had a great turnout. The Rocky Mountain Brewfest featured beers from several Colorado breweries, live music, and great food. We were grateful for the opportunity to dispense samples of Tread Lightly Ale to festival attendees, which made many new fans of New Planet Beer.

Both gluten-free beer drinkers and regular beer drinkers alike showed up to sample New Planet Beer. Many people said that they were pleasantly surprised with the way that Tread Lightly Ale tastes so much like regular beer, despite the use of sorghum and corn instead of wheat. We are glad that our efforts to provide a delicious gluten-free beer are bringing enjoyment to beer drinkers in Colorado.

If you’re sad you missed us at the Rocky Mountain Brewfest, never fear. We will be at the Colorado Brewer’s Festival in Fort Collins on the 26th and 27th of June, sampling our Tread Lightly Ale and debuting our 3R Raspberry Ale. Please come and find us, say hello, and enjoy a cold one, compliments of New Planet Beer!

Brewing and Bottling at Fort Collins Brewery

If you’re as fortunate as us to be living in Colorado, it’s a weekend pastime to visit local breweries (we have 92+ statewide). For those of you who don’t have that kind of brewery access, we documented the brewing and bottling of New Planet Beer at our contract brewer, Fort Collins Brewery. Check out the Tour photos>

During the process, New Planet Beer is mixed, brewed and stored in 60 barrel tanks. The brewers go through extra steps and procedures to ensure our gluten-free certification standard, and we can safely say they have the cleanest equipment around! The whole bottling process operates as an assembly line, making sure no step is missed. We observed the clean bottles pushed into single file formation on the conveyor belt, filled with  New Planet Beer, capped, labeled, put into the six pack carriers and then boxed to be shipped out to all of our accounts.

Fort Collins Brewery is in the process of building a brand new brewing facility. This new facility will be able to hold 100 barrel tanks, which means even more New Planet Beer in stores and restaurants near you. We’ll be sure to share a deeper look into the new brewery later this summer.

Thanks to the Fort Collins Brewery for helping us bring Gluten-Free New Planet Beer to our fans!

August 20th: Art and Ale Brew Festival

Mark your calendars for the 7th annual Art and Ales Festival to be held at The Wildlife Experience in Parker, Co. The event features musical entertainment and samples of the best food and beverages from local breweries and restaurants. Guests are welcome to peruse wildlife art and sculptures from around the world as well as The Wildlife Experience exhibits. New Planet Beer will be providing tastes of our Tread Lightly Ale and 3R Raspberry Ale, come tell us what you think and take home some fun swag.

When: August 20th 6-10pm

Where: The Wildlife Experience, Parker

July 10th: Colorado Brewer’s Rendezvous

The Colorado Brewer’s Guild hosts the 14th annual Colorado Brewer’s Rendezvous, featuring 35 Colorado breweries. New Planet Beer is a member of the Colorado Brewer’s Guild, a trade association dedicated to the Colorado craft brewing industry. All attendees will receive a collectible beer glass to commemorate the event. Come and join us in beautiful Historic Salida for a day of celebrating Colorado craft brews!

When:  July 10th, 1-5pm

Where: Riverside Park in Historic Downtown Salida

Colorado Brewer’s Rendezvous Poster

Become a Beer Festival Expert

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We are excited to be participating in many beer festivals and other events this summer, including the Rocky Mountain Brewfest, Colorado Brewer’s Festival, and Denver Summer Brewfest. With all of these fun opportunities to sample beers from New Planet Beer and other Colorado breweries, we thought we’d share some of our advice as tenured festival attendees and fellow beer-lovers. To get the most out of a beer festival, follow these simple tips to have an enjoyable beer fest experience:


  1. Eat before the event: satisfying your hunger before you get there will help to lessen the effects of the alcohol in the beers you will be sampling.
  2. Stay hydrated: staying hydrated will help to minimize the effects of the heat and sun. Plus, sipping water between tastings will help to cleanse your palate so you can savor the individual characteristics of each brew.
  3. Use sunscreen: in the spirit of outdoor events, remember to apply sunscreen before arriving. If you plan on staying more than four hours, you should reapply throughout the day.
  4. Visit your top brewery selections first: research the breweries attending and sample your top selections first. The more samples you taste, the more fatigued your palate will become and the less likely you’ll taste all of the complexities and differences that make each brew great.
  5. Learn about the beers and breweries: to get the most out of your attendance, make your tastings educational experiences. Ask the staff questions, learn how they brew their beer and what makes them different from everyone else.
  6. Don’t be afraid to try new things: Beer festivals will often give you the opportunity to try beers you’ve never sampled before. So don’t be afraid to enjoy that smoked porter, farmhouse ale, hoppy IPA or our specialty– gluten-free beer. You never know when you’ll find a new favorite.

Check out our events section for the most up-to-date listing of fun festivals and events that New Planet Beer will be participating in. Come see us, say hello and try our gluten-free beer – Tread Lightly Ale and 3R Raspberry Ale.

Remember to be responsible and have fun!

9NEWS: Gadget for Dear Old Dad

Gadgets for Dear Old Dad On June 2nd, New Planet Beer made it’s first TV appearance on the morning coverage of Channel 9News. If you were busy sleeping, you can still read and watch what they had to say on 9NEWS.com. 9NEWS thought Tread Lightly Ale would be a great “gadget for dear old dad,” for this Father’s Day and so do we! Share your comments and reviews of Tread Lightly Ale so more dads can appreciate its great, fresh (and healthy) taste.

June 12th: Rocky Mountain Brewfest

New Planet Beer is looking forward to attending the Rocky Mountain Brewfest, located in beautiful Estes Park. Join us at Estes Park Brewery for an afternoon of food, live music, and tastings from several of Colorado’s local breweries.

When: June 12th, 2010 12-5pm

Where: Estes Park Brewery, 470 Prospect Village Drive Estes Park, CO 80517