La Messagere Red Ale

Took a quick road trip to Montreal for the long weekend and picked up a variety of Quebec microbrews from Paradis de la Biere, an unassuming depanneur with a really impressive local beer selection.

Today's brew is La Messagere Red Ale from the Nouvelle-France brewery. This is a gluten-free ale made from rice and buckwheat.

The beer is quite a full bodied as I'd normally expect from an ale. There's definitely flavor there, but just a little too watery for my taste (the website calls it "delicate"). I think the predominant flavor is coming from the rice, unfortunately I don't know the right flavor word to describe it (the website describes it as "woody", but that's not the word that I would choose).

Not a beer I'd seek out again, but not offensive or overly boring, just not too exciting. If you're looking for a gluten free beer then this is worth trying. Three and half thumbs up out of seven.