This Cream Ale Skips the Barley Entirely, Runs on Corn Instead

Corn has never needed defending in a cream ale. The grain was there when the style was assembled, a way of building something pale, dry and crisp enough to compete with the lagers that Americans were switching to. It has stayed. Orange Bike Brewing Company's new Cream Ale keeps the corn and leaves out the barley altogether.

That is less of a stunt than it sounds. Orange Bike describes itself as Portland, Maine's first dedicated gluten-free brewery, and says on its website that it is committed to making world-class naturally gluten-free beer. Every recipe there has to be built from grains that were never going to contain gluten in the first place. In this case that means millet, rice, quinoa, malted corn and oats. The beer is hopped with Willamette and was brewed in collaboration with the Southern Maine Homebrewers Club.

The grain bill rewards a second read. Millet, rice and quinoa are doing the structural work that malted barley normally does, and oats are there for body. Malted corn is the one ingredient that gets to be both traditional and necessary: it belongs in a cream ale on style grounds, and it happens to clear the brewery's gluten bar without any argument. The brewery says it supplies a subtle sweetness that balances the beer's dry finish.

Willamette is the quiet choice, and probably the right one. It is an American aroma hop bred from English Fuggle stock, mild and earthy with a faint floral edge. It seasons a beer rather than announcing itself. On a light ale meant to finish dry, that leaves the corn room to be noticed.

Homebrew club collaborations are common enough. Doing one in a gluten-free brewhouse is a narrower exercise, since the recipe has to work without the grain most homebrewers build everything from.

Orange Bike notes that it has been a while since its last new release, with a few more coming this fall. The Cream Ale goes on at the Diamond Street taproom on Friday, August 28.