Educating the Servers, One at a Time

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Since Pedro, our CEO was diagnosed with Celiac Disease in 2003, he has had to get used to dinning out with a gluten intolerance. Learn how he manages the limited selection:

My mission aside from celebrating life with a great gluten-free beer and doing good things for the planet is to instruct every restaurant server I ever meet about the meaning of life –a gluten-free life that is. Before I get going on with my tirade, I have to say that more and more servers are aware of gluten intolerance and allergies and really work hard to make sure that their customers are fed properly. Caveat out of the way. The majority of servers do not truly understand the havoc that gluten can cause on a person who is intolerant or allergenic to gluten.  I guess for selfish reasons I want my dining out experience to be fun, nourishing, and healthy. Not a lot to ask considering I’m paying just like everybody else.

It’s sad to say that many dining out experiences begin with a protracted and guarded process trying to figure out what to eat.  First, I have to gauge the restaurant’s knowledge of the gluten free diet. Here are my steps:

  1. I begin with a simple question: I am gluten free…do you have a gluten free menu? I ask for the menu not because I expect them to have one but because I am trying to educate the server about the possibilities and as a way to introduce the subject. By the way  I rarely get treated to a GF menu or dishes that are designated GF on a conventional menu. So I move on most of the times to …
  2. Do you have any gluten free dishes?  A server staring into space is never a good thing.
  3. My next step in the process is most likely to instruct them about gluten (you know the routine) and to inquire about the details of the menu. I can make it easy on myself and the server and order a salad (with no croutons) and with olive oil and balsamic vinegar on the side or I can dig deep into the  details of their offerings to find a dish that fits.
  4. Since my goal  is education I press on most of the time – I study the menu and  quiz the server until  we together reach agreement on a safe dish to order. By keeping the server engaged in the process I am able to educate them about which dishes are safe in their menu and so future gluten-free customers can have a better experience.
  5. Finally I get to enjoy the dining experience.

Someday, us gluten-free educators will consistently walk into a restaurant and find gluten-free knowledgeable servers and clearly labeled menus.  That day will come soon!

Until then lets educate the servers.

July 28th: Wheatless Wednesdays at the Sink

Wheatless Wednesdays at the Sink continues with a delicious menu featuring many gluten-free options and drink specials on 303 vodka and New Planet Beer!  Sample menu offerings include: Certified Angus Beef Top Sirloin Steak with New Planet Ale onion compote on quinoa with chef vegetables, 303 vodka cream and grilled shrimp over brown rice and vegetables, and Grilled gluten free flatbread with aged balsamic, figs, goat cheese and olive oil. Come and enjoy these and other amazing gluten-free food items a great drink specials and receive a free taste of Tread Lightly Ale or Triple R Raspberry Ale.

When: Wednesday, July 28th, 2010 5-7pm
Where: 1165 13th Street Boulder, CO

New Planet Beer Customer Survey

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Tell us what you think!

New Planet Beer would like to better get to know you and hear what you think of our beer. Please take a few minutes and fill out our quick survey. What’s in it for you? A chance to win one of five New Planet Beer t-shirts-and the opportunity to tell us what the next style of delicious gluten-free beer should be! Thank you for your time in advance and we look forward to reading what you have to say.

Check it out>

New Planet Beer Enjoys a Weekend of Fun

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Great bands, crowds and gluten-free beer at the Breckenridge Beer Festival!

On Saturday, July 17th, New Planet Beer traveled up to Breckenridge for a weekend of music, food, and great beer at the Breckenridge Beer Festival. The event was a great success, drawing large crowds of beer lovers and a collection of great breweries such as Stone Brewing Company, Widmer Brewing Company, and Sam Adams Brewing Company, who are not seen at many Colorado beer festivals.

As with past festivals, New Planet Beer featured our Tread Lightly Ale and 3R Raspberry Ale at the Breckenridge Beer Festival. We are once again pleased to say that both styles of beer received much praise and were enjoyed as a refreshing summer treat by many. With fabulous bands, friendly crowds, and great craft beers, New Planet Beer recommends the Breckenridge Beer Festival to our friends and fans as a great opportunity to enjoy beautiful mountain views and some of the best brews around!


Blind Tastings of Gluten-Free Beers

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See how New Planet Beer performed in a blind beer taste test.

Fellow gluten-free blogger, Peter Bronski of No Gluten, No Problem, recently had a gluten-free beer tasting party of eight beers for a few friends. There were only three rules to this blind tasting:

1) The tasters knew that they would only be drinking gluten-free beer and had no prior knowledge of which beers would be part of the tasting.

2) They were able to taste the beers in any order.

3) They were able to return to a beer and re-taste it at any time.

The eight beers were separated into two categories. Flight one was made up of “clear” beers: lagers and light ales which included: Lakefront Brewery’s New Grist, Bard’s Beer, New Planet’s Tread Lightly Ale and 3R Raspberry Ale. Flight two was made up of “opaque” beers: yeasty, Belgian-style ales which included: Green’s Tripel Blonde, Green’s Amber Ale, Zonder Gluten Belgian Wit and Green’s Dubbel Dark.

After the two categories were evaluated, the tasters were asked to rank the beers and choose which gluten-free beer was “best in show” overall.

New Planet Beer’s Tread Lightly Ale ended up on top in the Flight one category, “3 out of 4 tasters rated New Planet’s Tread Lightly Ale their overall favorite.” We also were voted with top honors, “2 out of 4 tasters ranked New Planet’s Tread Lightly Ale their Best in Show.” We invite you to read more about the blind beer test and see what people had to say about the New Planet Beer and the competition.


New Planet Beer at the Colorado Brewer’s Rendezvous

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As members of the Colorado Brewer’s Guild, New Planet Beer had the pleasure of attending the 14th annual Colorado Brewer’s Rendezvous on July 10th in Salida. Organized by the Colorado Brewer’s Guild for member breweries and pubs only, the Rendezvous features only Colorado-made craft beers. With nearly 50 breweries and pubs in attendance and over 75 beers on tap, the Rendezvous featured a beer for every taste, and enough beer to satisfy every one of the festival’s 2500 guests!

New Planet Beer tapped a keg of our new 3R Raspberry Ale and served Tread Lightly Ale from bottles at the Brewer’s Rendezvous. People who sampled our beer commented on it’s drinkability and good taste. If you didn’t attend this year’s Colorado Brewer’s Rendezvous and want to make sure not to miss out on future events and tastings, check out our events page for opportunities to join in the fun with New Planet Beer.

Are you experiencing a shortage of Tread Lightly Ale?

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If your store is out of New Planet Beer, don’t worry – we have new stock on the way.

New Planet Beer has some exciting news to share – our beer is going to be brewed in a new and bigger facility! What does that mean? Well, Fort Collins Brewery, who we contract to brew our beer, has upgraded their production facility so they can brew even more beer, which means more New Planet Beer for all of you. In the short term you may experience a shortage of Tread Lightly Ale in this transition, but don’t fret because in August we’ll be back in full stock and ready to serve our fans. After this move you should experience less Tread Lightly Ale shortages in the stores you frequently visit. Don’t forget we just launched 3R Raspberry Ale, so if you don’t see that on the shelves, please let that store know you’d like them to carry the product. It takes fans like you to help gluten-free customers get the selection they deserve. Thanks for all of your support during this transition and we’ll make sure the beer is heavily stocked going forward.

September 16th-18th:Great American Beer Festival 2010

With nearly 50,000 attendees each year, the Great American Beer fest is a festival giant! Over 2000 types of beer can be sampled from over 450 American Breweries. New Planet will be at the festival delivering tastes of our Tread Lightly Ale and 3R Raspberry Ale. Act fast! Tickets to this event sell out every year!

When: September 16-18, session times vary

Where: Colorado Convention Center, Denver, CO

August 29th: Gluten-free Vendor Fair from Denver’s Celiac Sprue Association

The Denver Celiac Sprue Association is proud to present a vendor fair featuring only gluten-free food and beverages! New Planet is excited to participate this year and will be passing out free samples of our beer to all event attendees over 21. Last year’s event was a huge success and this year promises to bring even more vendors and more people. Come taste the best of what Colorado’s gluten-free retailers have to offer!

When: Sunday, August 29th 1-4pm

Where: Jefferson County Fairgrounds, Golden, CO

July 7th: Wheatless Wednesday at The Sink

Come join New Planet beer at The Sink on the hill in Boulder for their first Wheatless Wednesday.  This event will feature 10’ gluten free pizzas for $7.99 and discounted prices on Tread Lightly Ale! We will be there to support this great event by passing out free samples of Tread Lightly Ale as well as New Planet Beer bottle openers. Stop by and say hello and grab some delicious gluten-free beer and pizza!

When: July 7th 5:30-7pm

Where: 1165 13th Street, Boulder CO