Hold Tight and "Steadfast"

Steadfast Beer Company

Steadfast Beer Co. is a Gluten-Free craft beer company founded in Albany, NY in 2011 (Lots of amazing things come from Albany, NY, like our favorite band "Sirsy". After making their debut in 2012 with the hoppiest Gluten-Free beer on the market, Steadfast Sorghum Pale Ale, company owners Mark Crisafulli and Jeremy Hosier have set enthusiastically on a path to create a collection of Gluten-Free beers for the true craft beer enthusiast. 

Steadfast uses only naturally gluten-free ingredients like rice, sorghum, honey, sugar cane, and tapioca in its beers. The company works closely with the owners of the breweries it contracts (Steadfast doesn't own its own facility) to ensure equipment is totally cleaned of gluten. Their Pale Ale and Golden Blonde Ale is available year round and the company is planning to add more brews to its portfolio. They just released the world's first gluten-free Pumpkin Spice Ale and is also testing out recipes for the world's first gluten-free oatmeal stout.  

I picked up the Blonde Ale yesterday when I went to Joe Canal's in the Princeton, NJ area. Their "certified beer guy" (who also happened to have quite possibly the most amazing beard I have ever seen) stated they had just got Steadfast in and had not had the opportunity to test it out. I figured I give it a shot.

Golden Blond Ale

Their Golden Blond Ale contains 5.5 % alcohol by volume. The body has a hazy, golden-pale almost yellow into a pint glass. Highly effervescent when poured, but eventually calms down to virtual tepidness. The smell is a light aroma of flowers, sorghum, and a hint of spice. Judging by the description and ingredients list, it seems this beer is intended to be the equivalent of a gluten-free witbier. Honey, coriander and orange peel create for a relatively familiar, summer seasonal-type palette. It’s not a beer I would describe as "spicy" though. The spices are enough to notice and taste, but mild enough that they don’t overwhelm. Same thing with the sorghum base. There’s a "twangy" flavor on the finish, but it’s mild and easily tolerable and you barely notice it after a while. The flavor is quite refreshing, and the thin, tepid body makes it highly drinkable, especially considering how smooth the finish is. 

Overall, this was definitely one of the more consumable Sorghum based beers I have had. However, I’m not going to say that it is the best so far. I am still in search for the “Holy Grail” of sorghum beers.