A Look at 4 Years of Holidaily Brewing Co & Their Great, Gluten-Free Craft Beer

Celebrate Leap Year this Saturday, February 29, with some incredible craft beers at Holidaily Brewing Co!

This weekend, February 29 – March 1, Holidaily Brewing will be celebrating 4 years of gluten-free brewing. Whether you follow a gluten-free lifestyle or not, Holidaily Brewing has a full lineup of incredible craft beer and we’re certain you’ll find one (or several) favorites to raise in their honor. What better way to take advantage of the extra “leap day” in your 2020 calendar than by enjoying some delicious brews with one of Colorado’s best craft breweries?

The Story of Holidaily Brewing Co

In 2016, Karen Hertz opened Holidaily Brewing in Golden, Colorado. After surviving melanoma and thyroid cancer, Hertz was put on a treatment plan that included a gluten-free diet. Hertz worked in the beer industry and was a craft beer enthusiast, so we imagine this wasn’t the best news ever. Hertz quickly realized that the gluten-free beer options available for her and others with gluten sensitivity weren’t great. There were limited options, and many of the wheat-free beers available were lacking more than just gluten. Hertz spent years of testing gluten-free beers and researching the ingredients, and believed there was a better way.

“The concept behind Holidaily Brewing Company is driven by a personal understanding and a passion to provide those with celiac diagnosis, gluten sensitivity or any interest in trying a tasty gluten-free craft beer, a guaranteed safe, delicious beer to enjoy.”

Karen Hertz, on the Holidaily Brewing Co philosophy

From the day Holidaily Brewing Co opened four years ago, the brewery has only made 100% gluten-free beer using high-quality ingredients, including gluten-free malts such as millet and buckwheat. The malts come from Grouse Malt House in Wellington, Colorado. Grouse Malt House specializes in gluten-free malts roasted in varying degrees, similar to barley malts. The fact that no barley ever enters the brewery is a big deal. It means that the gluten-sensitive beer drinker can trust that Holidaily beer is made with zero gluten contaminates, and no risk of cross-contamination.

The end result of all of Hertz’s research and her brewing team’s hard work has been a lineup of delicious Holidaily craft beers that taste like beer. They don’t taste “kind of like” beer. They aren’t “good for gluten-free” beers. Holidaily Brewing Co makes great craft beer, period. The proof is in their taproom, where you’ll find a mix of customers who are there because the beer is gluten-free, and customers who are there because the beer is delicious, locally-sourced, Colorado craft beer.

The Importance of Gluten-Free

Being on a gluten-free diet has been all the rave the past several years. Gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye, and barley, isn’t bad for most people. A lot of folks jumped on the anti-gluten bandwagon for trendy reasons or for perceived health benefits, even if they don’t have a medical diagnosis. And to that, we say GO FOR IT, our gluten-free-by-choice friends! Whatever makes you happy and feeling good is fine by us. You do you. All the more gluten for us!

However, for an increasing number of people with Celiac disease or other non-Celiac gluten sensitivities, avoiding gluten isn’t just a trendy phase. For them, avoiding gluten is a serious health concern, as consumption of any amount of gluten can make them sick.

Gluten-Free vs. Gluten-Reduced

Further complicating things for the gluten-sensitive crowd is the fuzzy designation of “Gluten-Reduced” products. To help us make sense of it all, we got some help from bestglutenfreebeers.com. Here’s what we learned:

Gluten-Reduced beer is brewed with barley, wheat, rye, and other grains that contain gluten. After the beer is brewed, gluten is reduced using an enzyme or filtration so that the gluten level falls below 20 parts per million. While this gluten-reduced beer may be fine for people with minor sensitivities, for others, it could still make them sick. It’s a risky gamble that many people with gluten intolerances won’t want to take.

Gluten-Free beer is brewed with only gluten-free ingredients and is safer for Celiacs to drink. However, depending on the brewery and their brewing processes, cross-contamination may still be possible. Gluten-free beer is usually a safe choice, still, there’s one better choice for the highly gluten sensitive…

A Dedicated Gluten-Free brewery, like Holidaily Brewery Co, has committed to being a 100% gluten-free facility. They use only gluten-free grains, so no gluten products ever enter their brewery. It’s the safest option for those with Celiac Disease and other serious gluten sensitivities.

Holidaily Brewing’s Impressive Growth

On their website, Hertz calls Holidaily Brewing a passion project. She set out to create great-tasting, gluten-free beer for people who normally couldn’t drink beer, like her. If anyone else liked it, that would be great, too. But to say that things went better than expected would be an understatement. Sales grew year-over-year, and before long it was clear that they would need to grow fast to meet customer demand.

The New Holidaily Production Brewery

Holidaily Brewing Co opened a new 10,000 square-foot production brewery in May 2019, making them the largest dedicated gluten-free brewery in the United States. The expanded brewhouse, which is just a stone’s throw from their taproom, increased capacity enough to meet the demand for their beer in Colorado and beyond. Earlier this month, Holidaily began distribution out of state for the first time, making their gluten-free craft beer available in Arizona.

We got a sneak peek of the new Holidaily production brewery last May. The equipment was all new and shiny, and the brewery space was substantial, with plenty of extra room for growth. And while seeing a sparkling new brewery is always lots of fun, we were more impressed that Holidaily Brewing invested in some truly state-of-the-art equipment for their new facility, including a Meura Mash Filter. We heard that it was only the 2nd or 3rd filtration system of its type in Colorado, so we were excited to check it out.

The Meura Mash Filter uses cloth filters and pressure to squeeze every last bit of wort from the grain. It’s not a commonly-used device and is certainly pretty pricey, but it’s perfectly suited for the buckwheat and millet used in Holidaily’s beers. With traditional brewing equipment, these grains can be challenging. The new Meura system offers more efficient wort extraction from the mash, which in short, means more delicious Holidaily beer and better beer flavors for us.

Winner Winner, Gluten-Free Chicken Dinner

As if a shiny new brewery wasn’t enough big news for one year, Holidaily Brewing was awarded a gold medal for their Boombastic Hazy IPA at the 2019 Great American Beer Festival. They beat out 58 other entries in the Gluten-Free beer category to take top honors. This IPA is described as hop-forward and juicy, low on bitterness but big on citrus flavor thanks to the hops, including Mosaic. The Boombastic Hazy IPA and many more great beers will be available at the 4th Anniversary celebration this weekend.

Celebrate 4 Years of Holidaily Brewing Co!

Holidaily Brewing Co truly has a lot to celebrate, so they’re pulling out all the stops for their 4th Anniversary. Stop by Saturday, 2/29/2020 or Sunday, 3/1/2020 to join the party and enjoy some incredible craft beers.

On both days Holidaily Brewing will have special beer releases, including their first-ever Brut IPA. To celebrate 4 years, you can get a select flight of 4 IPAs, including the Brut IPA, Fat Randy’s IPA, Confidence Booster Double IPA, and the GABF gold medal-winning Boombastic Hazy IPA. Who cares how you feel about gluten… if you like hops, you’re going to want to check these IPAs out!

In addition to the beer releases the weekend celebration will include giveaways, discounted swag, a photo booth, and food trucks – with gluten-free options, of course! You can sign up to tour the Holidaily Brewery or compete in their cornhole tournaments on both days (see the event link below for instructions on how to sign up.) And because it’s not a party without music, they’ll have DJ Mango on Saturday and live music from Clory Martin on Sunday. It’s going to be on heck of a party!

For more information on Holidaily Brewing’s 4 Year Anniversary Celebration visit the event page on Facebook at facebook.com/events/502071223770734/

To learn more about Holidaily Brewing Co, or to use their beer locator to find gluten-free Holidaily Brewing Co beers for sale near you, visit holidailybrewing.com

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