Gluten-free beer back on the market

Kereru Brewing’s gluten-free beer, Auro, will soon be back on shelves after a successful crowd-funding exercise.

Kereru had brewed Auro twice before but lost money both times as the demand wasn’t there.

This time they used a Pledge Me campaign to test the market for a third run of Auro. That too looked ready to stall having reached around $7000 of the $10,000 needed until the PAK’nSAVE supermarket in Lower Hutt got the campaign over the finishing line by placing a large order.

Owner-brewer Chris Mills said Kereru was reluctant to brew Auro unless they knew they’d at least cover costs and the Pledge Me fund-raiser has done that.

“The fund-raising meant two-thirds of the batch was pre-sold which gets our costs covered,” Mills told beernation.co.nz.

The beer, which will be sold only in bottles, is made from sorghum and rice syrup and is suitable for the gluten intolerant or those suffering coeliac disease. “There are no other grains or cereals in it,” Mills said.

Mills said the beer was fermented in the normal fashion despite the non-traditional sugars but his normal yeast needed a kick-starter of nutrients to make up for the lack of free amino nitrogens (FANs) that are found in regular malts.

In contrast to previous brews of Auro, Mills will dry-hop this 1800-litre batch to create an added layer of aroma and flavour.

He describes the beer as “light-bodied and lager-like”. And anyone who missed out ordering the beer can still get their hands on some at the subscription piece by visiting http://www.kererubrewing.co.nz/

Mills is also delighted with the sales of his Imperial Nibs following its trophy win in the New World Beer & Cider Awards. It’s selling so well that stocks are running low and he’s had to brew another batch of the wood-fired coconut, cacao and vanilla imperial porter.