Celebrate National Pizza Week

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In honor of National Pizza Week, New Planet Beer wanted to make sure our fans were fully equipped to celebrate. Enjoy this gluten-free pizza recipe from our friend Carol Fenster, author of Gluten-Free 101 (Savory Palate, 2010) and the online weekly cookbook and meal planning service at www.GfreeCuisine.com.

Pizza just naturally goes with beer. This easy gluten-free crust will please the most discriminating palates and can be served to everyone, whether they’re gluten-free or not. Use whatever toppings you like. The sauce is especially good for gluten-free pizza because it is quite thick and won’t make the crust soggy.

Makes a 12-inch pizza

CRUST

  • 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
  • 3/4 cup warm milk of choice (110 degrees)
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 2/3 cup brown rice flour, plus extra for sprinkling
  • 1/2 cup tapioca flour
  • 2 teaspoons xanthan gum
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon cider vinegar

PIZZA SAUCE

  • 1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
  • 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
  • 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder or 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • Your favorite pizza toppings

SAUCE

Combine ingredients in small saucepan. Simmer 15 minutes. Makes about 1 cup—enough for 12-inch pizza.

CRUST

  1. Preheat oven to 400ºF. Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm milk for five minutes. In food processor, blend all crust ingredients, including yeast mixture, until soft dough forms.
  2. Put mixture on greased 12-inch nonstick (gray, not black) pizza pan. Liberally sprinkle rice flour onto dough; then press dough into pan with hands, continuing to dust dough with flour to prevent sticking. Make edges thicker to contain toppings.
  3. Bake pizza crust 10 minutes. Remove from oven. Add sauce and toppings to crust. Bake another 20 to 25 minutes or until top is nicely browned. Cool, then cut into 6 slices and serve.

Where in the world is NPB?

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New Planet Beer fans are a pivotal component of our marketing scheme. Word of mouth is our greatest advertising tool to spread the word about New Planet Beer and increase public awareness of gluten sensitivity and celiac disease.  We know, and want to acknowledge, the role that word of mouth has played in the success of New Planet Beer.

Send us a photo of where you have taken New Planet Beer. We want to see how far our beer travels, the bluest seas, the highest mountains, and the snowiest of ski slopes. Or, take our beer to the University of Miami’s football game like Kiah Barrette did.

Your pictures will be featured on the New Planet Beer website and facebook. Each month we’ll draw a lucky traveler to win free New Planet Beer!

Send photos to info@newplanetbeer.com

Help us continue to spread the word about our beers!

Get Ready For Kickoff

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Gluten Free BeerThe first part of the year brings football craziness. The NFL Playoffs start this weekend, the College National Championship is held on Monday, January 10th and the Super Bowl is on Sunday, February 6th. Don’t be on the sidelines without your gluten-free football watching essentials. Here are 10 gluten-free munchies to add to your shopping list.

  1. The Gluten-Free Bistro Pizza
  2. Corn tortillas with hummus, black bean dip or salsa
  3. Smoked salmon on rice crackers
  4. Edamame
  5. Air popped popcorn mixed with garlic salt and pepper
  6. Mix a bowl of trail mix – raw cashews, raisins, almonds, hazelnuts, dark chocolate chips
  7. Honey crisp apple slices and peanut butter
  8. Sliced deli meat and avocado on a brown rice tortilla
  9. Baked sweet potato with ricotta and sauteed chard or spinach
  10. New Planet Beer – Tread Lightly Ale or 3R Raspberry Ale

Tell us who you are cheering on and why and have a chance of winning a sample of our new beer out later this month – Off Grid Pale Ale.  Leave your comment below. Please limit one comment per person.



Bottles vs Cans: Post 1 of 3

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If you are reading this blog, you have likely sampled a New Planet Beer from a brown bottle. And you may have observed some of your glutenoid friends drinking from cans and wondered when you can enjoy the same?  While New Planet Beer is committed to bottles for the near future, we are open to putting our beers in cans.

Walking through the liquor store it is quickly apparent that there is a new trend in the beer industry, cans. No longer are they traditional cans, constrained by the combination of silver, blue, white and red. Today’s can is a canvas, a piece of art, that makes the experience of drinking beer that much more special. But there must be more to it, after all, bottles have been used for centuries.

Below are four reasons that bottles are preferred over cans. We’ll discuss the benefits of cans in a later post.

  1. History – The story goes that a monk stored his beer in a wine bottle and it kept well. Beer has been in brown bottles ever since and eventually evolved to different bottle shapes to accentuate certain qualities of their beer.
  2. Skunked – If light strikes beer it can change its taste and smell. Ultra-violet light chemically changes iso-humulones (isomerized hop oils, which are responsible for the bitterness hops add to beer) into mercaptans, the exact same ingredient in a skunk’s spray!
  3. Taste – Many people feel beer tastes better from the bottle. Aluminum can leave an aftertaste in beer (however, cans now have added a liner to prevent fluctuations in taste, made from BPA, which has its own downsides.)
  4. Temperature control – Glass does a better job keeping the beer cold. Aluminum convects quicker than glass, warming the beer, however, cozies solve this problem.

What are your thoughts? Do you prefer bottles or cans? Leave a comment below and tell us why.

A Gluten-Free Halftime: Recipe 2

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Make your football festivities gluten-free friendly. Gluten-free food + gluten-free beer = a good time! Here is one of our favorite recipes for finger eating football fun, provided by Gluten-Free Goddess.


Nachos Fabuloso Recipe

Your shopping list:

  • 3 heaping cups organic blue corn tortilla chips
  • 3 heaping cups organic yellow corn tortilla chips
  • Extra virgin olive oil, as needed
  • 4 oz. Cheddar or Jack cheese, shredded
  • A big handful of organic sweet grape tomatoes, halved
  • 3 tablespoons chopped pickled jalapenos, or chopped mild green chiles
  • Good chili powder or chipotle powder, to taste
  • Chopped fresh cilantro or parsley, if desired
  • Optional for carnivores- Add pieces of cooked chicken, turkey or grass fed ground beef.

Make it just right:

  1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a large roasting pan with foil or parchment paper.
  2. Layer the blue and yellow corn tortilla chips in the bottom of the lined pan; drizzle with some extra virgin olive oil [to be truly decadent a la Rocco, pour the chips into a bowl first, drizzle with olive oil, and toss well to coat evenly].
  3. Sprinkle with half of the shredded cheese. Layer the tomatoes, jalapenos, and the remaining shredded cheese. Believe it or not, drizzle a little more olive oil all over the the nachos. Add a dusting of spice, to taste, and chopped cilantro, if desired.
  4. Bake for about seven to ten minutes, or so, until the cheese has melted and the nachos are happy and sizzling.
  5. Crack open some crisp and cold New Planet Gluten-Free Beer, and enjoy!



Gluten-Free Friendly Restaurant of the Month: 4580

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Eating at restaurants can be an arduous activity for those wishing to follow a gluten-free diet. However, it doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the ambiance of your favorite restaurant or bar. Restaurants are increasingly aware of the gluten-free community and are improving their menus to accommodate their clientele.

Right here in Colorado many restaurants already offer a wide array of gluten-free options.  At New Planet Beer we are trying our hardest to make our beer widely available in restaurants and bars across the state. Each month we’ll feature a gluten-free friendly restaurant…..that serves New Planet Beer of course!

4580

Restaurant 4580, located on Broadway in North Boulder, offers a great selection of gluten-free entrees and appetizers, more than half of their menu is gluten-free, including items like “Butternut and White-Bean Hummus” and “Wild Mushroom Risotto.” Or try the 4580 burger on a gluten-free bun and order Tread Lightly Ale to wash it down.

They have a great bar, and on Sunday nights it’s happy hour all night long, which means $2.50 New Planet Beer all night long!

If you are looking for a great gluten-free friendly restaurant that supports the gluten-free community, local farmers and businesses, this is a great choice.

Naturally Gluten-Free and Delicious

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It’s our goal as a company, not only to bring our fans and fellow beer drinkers the best tasting array of gluten-free beers available, but also, to be a resource to our community.

There can be a lot of hesitation when starting a gluten-free diet. It’s incredible how many items contain gluten.  It may seem a daunting task, but it doesn’t need to be. In fact there are plenty of grains and carbohydrates that are naturally gluten-free and most of them contain more nutrients compared to the ones with gluten!

Our favorite naturally gluten-free foods (part 1):

  1. Brown Rice – packed with essentials like manganese, fiber, essential fatty acids and fiber. It has been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease, and has been tied to weight loss.
  2. Quinoa – the Super Crop: loaded with protein, 9 essential amino acids and is a good source of magnesium, which can help reduce migraine headaches.
  3. Almonds – another high protein seed, almonds have been shown to lower LDL cholesterol, reducing likelihood of heart disease and weight gain.
  4. Millet – grown locally in Colorado, Nebraska, Wyoming area, it is a non acid-forming food which means it’s easy to digest.  Loaded with phosphorus, magnesium and manganese.
  5. Sorghum – The main ingredient in New Planet Beers!  Is a popular substitute for flour and is full of protein.

New Planet Beer Goes Beer Bloggin

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New Planet Beer attended the world’s first International Beer Bloggers & Online Media Conference that took place November 5-7, 2010 in Boulder, Colorado. Beer bloggers, industry bloggers, and other beer and social media professionals gathered from throughout North America and beyond to meet, learn, and share. What a fun event!

Beer bloggers shared topics ranging from blogging best practices to beer and food pairings. Another hot topic was how to better connect women and beer, which turned out to be a heated conversation…but in the end, it turned out to be an extra reason to raise the glass, so everyone was happy.

The most exciting event at the conference was called Live Beer Blogging, in which New Planet Beer participated. It was kind of like speed dating, but with a lot of beer. Bloggers were seated at 12 round tables of 8-10 people per table, who were armed with computers with a constant connection to their blog, facebook and twitter accounts. We had five minutes per table to pour a sample, educate them about our beer, our company, and field questions. At the end of each time slot, a bell would sound and we’d run to the next table. After 60 minutes of the New Planet Beer pitch, voices were lost, but we had a wonderful time connecting with these beer connoisseurs.

New Planet Beer was the only gluten-free beer represented as both Tread Lightly Ale and 3R Raspberry Ale were sampled. With a heavy gluten friendly audience, our gluten-free beer fared well. Here is a snap shot of what was said about New Planet Beer.

Some of the Tweets:

MrSanjiv: @newplanetbeer: tread lightly ale and 3r raspberry ale. I’m not anti-gluten, but this could turn me. #bbc10

sodakbeer: #BBC10 @newplanetbeer Raspberry Ale – raspberry aroma/taste – gluten free – light bodied – easy drinker!

iBT_Jake: Oh , hello gluten free beer, nice to meet you. 3R Rasberry Ale and Tread Lightly Ale from @newplanetbeer. Very cool what they’re doing.

billybroas: Impressed with my first gluten free beers from @newplanetbeer. It’s made from sorghum.

Goats_Udder: #BBC10 @newplanetbeer 3r raspberry AMAZING RASPBERRY HONEY FLAVOR

Thanks to all the beer bloggers for such a great event!

A Gluten-Free Halftime: Recipe 1

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Football has seemingly taken over the television, and beer, generally in large quantities, is the ideal drink of choice. While many of you are now aware of New Planet Gluten-Free Beer, you may still be searching for that perfect game time snack to compliment your delicious, gluten-free brew.

Of course there are corn chips. While most are gluten-free, not all are, so it is best to read the labels. The full line of salsas and corn chips from Green Mountain Gringo are gluten-free and are absolutely delicious.

But halftime calls for more than just chips and salsa. We’ll be posting a series of gluten-free snacks to go with your ice cold Tread Lightly Ale throughout the football season. Here is the first one to add to your mix – Artichoke and Roasted-Pepper Dip.

Artichoke and Roasted-Pepper Dip

You’ll have some dip left over for impromptu entertaining–try it with raw vegetables, pita chips, or plain crackers. It also makes a delicious sandwich spread.

Yield: 2 servings (serving size: 1 artichoke and 1/3 cup dip)

Ingredients

  • 2  red bell peppers
  • 2  artichokes (1 pound)
  • 12  cups  water
  • 3  lemon slices
  • 1  bay leaf
  • 2  teaspoons  olive oil
  • 2  teaspoons  Dijon mustard
  • 1  teaspoon  red wine vinegar
  • 1/4  teaspoon  dried fines herbes
  • 1/8  teaspoon  black pepper
  • 1  tablespoon  finely crumbled feta cheese
  • 1/2  teaspoon  capers

Preparation

  1. Preheat broiler.
  2. Cut bell peppers in half lengthwise, discarding seeds and membranes. Place pepper halves, skin sides up, on a foil-lined baking sheet; flatten with hand. Broil for 10 minutes or until blackened. Place in a zip-top plastic bag; seal. Let stand 20 minutes. Peel and set aside.
  3. Cut off artichoke stems, and remove bottom leaves. Trim about 1 inch from tops of artichokes. Bring water, lemon slices, and bay leaf to a boil in a large Dutch oven. Add artichokes; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 25 minutes or until a leaf near the center of each artichoke pulls out easily. Drain well; discard lemon and bay leaf. Set aside.
  4. Combine bell peppers, oil, mustard, and vinegar in a blender; process until smooth. Combine bell pepper mixture, fines herbs, and black pepper. Spoon 2/3 cup into a serving bowl; sprinkle with feta and capers. Serve with artichokes. Cover and chill remaining dip.

Leslie Revsin, Cooking Light, DECEMBER 2000

The Results Are In

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The survey results are in.
We have the results from our customer survey. Thanks to everyone that participated. We appreciate all of the great feedback and we wanted to share some of the highlights. As a small, local company, it’s important to know what fans think and what they want so we can continue to improve and provide the best gluten-free beer possible. Here are the top three findings of our survey.

1. It’s all about the taste.
When asked why people choose New Planet Gluten-Free Beer, over two-thirds responded that it was because of the taste. Just because a beer is gluten-free doesn’t mean that taste has to be compromised. Our pledge to our customers is to deliver a certified gluten-free beer without sacrificing taste. We are working diligently to ensure the same taste and quality is in all of our beers, including our newest product development – Off Grid Pale Ale.

2. What comes to mind.

  • Superior Taste
  • Refreshing
  • Local
  • Sustainable
  • Tastes like beer
  • And Fun!

3. Tell your friends.
We rely on our fans to help get the word out about New Planet Beer. In our survey, half of the respondents said they heard about us through friends. About thirty percent said they first heard about us from other press and events. You can help spread the word of New Planet Beer by telling your friends and by informing us of any events and/or festivals that we should attend in the future. Feel free to send us a note, join our facebook page or follow us on twitter @newplanetbeer.

Thanks for all your help!