San Francisco's First Gluten-Free Brewery to Open Taproom on Polk Street

Celiac.com 03/14/2023 - Otherwise Brewing, a brewery that uses gluten-free malts instead of traditional barley, is set to open San Francisco's first gluten-free taproom on Polk Street later this year. The taproom will serve gluten-free food and flagship beers, such as the Calrose Crisp rice lager and IFLS juicy IPA, as well as smaller experimental batches brewed on-site. Otherwise co-founders, Aaron Gervais and Stellar Cassidy, envision Belgian, nitro beers, and sours among the new offerings.

Despite previous failures in impressing the craft beer crowd, the better-for-you alcohol movement and the proliferation of gluten-free foods have driven innovation and improved gluten-free beer quality. According to research company Technavio, the global gluten-free beer category grew nearly 20% in 2022 compared to 2021. Otherwise Brewing joins Buck Wild Brewing in Oakland as the only gluten-free breweries in the Bay Area.

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Gluten-free brewers now have a variety of alternative grains, such as rice, millet, quinoa, buckwheat, and gluten-free oats, to experiment with. These malts are often more sustainable than barley and have a smaller carbon footprint, said Otherwise co-founder Stellar Cassidy. Millet, for instance, is drought-resistant.

Barley, the craft beer bar that Otherwise is taking over, will continue to operate as usual until Otherwise's taproom opens this summer. The founders do not plan to make significant changes to the design of the small space. Their renovation will focus on "safety steps" to transition the building into a gluten-free brewery, such as replacing beer lines so that they never touch gluten, giving the kitchen a deep clean, and prohibiting outside food. Otherwise has launched a crowdfunding campaign to support the new taproom.

Gervais and Cassidy are not gluten-free themselves, but they believe there is demand for a gluten-free taproom in San Francisco. They aim to change the stigma of gluten-free beer and increase accessibility to alternative grains. "Brewing for the future is something that is also important to us," said Cassidy.

Find out more at Otherwisebrewing.com