Nitro Coffee Stout Beer Collaboration with Buck Wild Brewing
We are super excited to announce a new beer collaboration! This time we’ve partnered with our neighbors at Buck Wild Brewing to make a tasty Nitro Coffee Stout, that also happens to be gluten-free. Expertly brewed with our delicious cold brew coffee, this smooth dark beer was layered with roasted millet and rice to give it complex flavors of currant, dark chocolate, and coffee (of course). As an additional bonus, a portion of the sales will be donated to Bike East Bay. That’s right, by drinking this beer you’re supporting the East Bay bicycle community. It’s a win-win.
Gluten Free Beer?
Maybe you know someone that has an adverse reaction to gluten, or maybe you are that person, and if so, you know that it can be tough to find a gluten free beer. The majority of beers are brewed with grains that contain gluten like barley, wheat or rye. If you do find yourself searching for a gluten-free beer in your local grocer you may be stuck with an uninspiring bottle of Anheuser-Busch's Redbridge or Coors Peak, which is similar to Coors Light but made with brown rice instead of barley.
Ratcheting up the flavor meter in the Nitro Coffee Stout is a harmonious blend of rice and roasted millet, a cereal grain harvested in developing countries across the world, making the perfect complement to our cold brew coffee - which we craft in-house with our Espresso Roast blend. Now you can have the best of both worlds by respecting your taste buds and sensitivity to gluten at the same time.
Buck Wild Brewing
Recently, many small craft breweries have hopped onto the gluten-free beer scene, giving much needed variety to this market. One of our new favorites is Buck Wild Brewing, who just happen to be a few blocks from our Oakland coffee roastery in Jack London Square.
Buck Wild Brewing, started by Mike Bernstein after he adopted a gluten-free diet in 2006 and realized that his craft beer options had dwindled, giving him great reason to begin brewing his own gluten-free beer at home. After lots of trial and error, he made something that his friends and family said was actually drinkable- and delicious! Mike reminisces that it has been an amazing journey to go from homebrewing in his tiny garage to building out a full production brewery and beautiful taproom in Oakland’s historic Jack London District.
Buck Wild’s beers are brewed with gluten-free malts and grains such as rice, millet, oats and buckwheat. All the ingredients are carefully sourced to make sure that the entire supply chain is gluten free, and it turns out, even people that aren’t gluten free like the taste of these beers.
Head brewer Cameron Collier says that everyone has really gotten into their beers. When asked his opinion on the subject, Cameron thinks “People that aren’t gluten free appreciate the variety we offer,” adding that, “Our heart and soul is to put out quality beer that is also gluten free.” Cameron would know a thing or two about beer - before joining Buck Wild, his work experience includes Gordon Biersch, Pacifica Brewery and Fort Point breweries.
Some of Buck Wild’s year round favorites include a pale ale, session IPA, kolsch, and amber ale. You will also want to keep your eye out for their rotating selection of beers, with one of their newest releases being the Nitro Coffee Stout brewed with Bicycle Coffee. Buck Wild’s beers are available by the glass in their tap room or you can pick up one of their four-packs to-go.
Coffee Beer
Some of us may remember a 90’s sitcom called The Drew Carey Show where Drew and his friends created Buzz Beer, a beer and coffee concoction that balanced out the effects of alcohol and caffeine. Well nowadays that sitcom dream is very real, giving real life to these brewed hybrids.
Buck Wild’s Nitro Coffee Stout strikes a nice balance between alcohol & caffeine. At 6.8% alcohol it’s stronger than your average beer, but it won’t knock you out, and the coffee will get you going without the jitters. As Cameron says, “It has enough caffeine to give you a little pep, but not a full blast.”
This beer is infused with an extra-strong version of our popular cold-brew coffee. We used a blend of Central American and Ethiopian coffee beans. The natural processed Ethiopian beans add a slightly fruity taste that compliments the cleaner, smoother profile of the Central American coffees.
Overall, the Nitro Coffee Stout is dark with a creamy nitro head. While this beer definitely has coffee notes, it is also slightly fruity and sweet, with flavors of currant and dark chocolate. Buck Wild is currently advertising it as a “brunch beer,” which coincides nicely with their new gluten free weekend brunch menu offered by Kitava Kitchen. Cameron notes that this beer is great in the morning with something on the sweet side like pancakes or Belgian waffles. From Buck Wild’s menu, Cameron recommends enjoying it alongside their chia pudding with fruit or as a pairing with an after dinner dessert, such as vanilla ice-cream or peach cobbler.
How to enjoy this Nitro Coffee Stout
The Nitro Coffee Stout is currently on-tap at Buck Wild’s beautiful, new brewery and tap-room in Jack London Square. On-tap is probably the best way to enjoy this beer. It’s hard to beat a freshly poured, cascading nitrogen stout. While you’re there, be sure to order something from their kitchen which is operated by San Francisco based Kitava. Kitava is well-known for their mouthwatering dishes that are 100% free from inflammatory ingredients such as gluten, dairy, corn, soy, peanuts, refined sugar and seed oils.
If you’re in a hurry or just wanna enjoy this beer from the comfort of your own home, grab a 4-pack to-go. When pouring this nitro stout from a can, following these simple steps to maximize enjoyment:
- Gently shake the can 2-3 times
- Pop the top
- Turn can 90 degrees and pour into a pint glass
- Admire the cascade of this beautiful beer and start sipping
Summary
Whether or not you’re gluten-free, Buck Wild offers some quality ales. Our recent collaboration with them is a Nitro Coffee Stout that is brewed with an extra-strength version of our popular cold-brew. The result is a smooth dark beer layered with notes of currant, dark chocolate, and coffee. Stay for a pint or get some cans to-go, but fair-warning, there is a limited supply of this tasty brew, so don’t sleep on it. Cheers!
Have you tried it? Let us know what you think. Tag us on Instagram @bicyclecoffee & @buckwildbrewing
