Lakefront Brewery Inc. is a Milwaukee microbrewery that was founded in 1987. Its brews are named after Milwaukee neighborhoods, including Riverwest Stein and East Side Dark.
The brewery recently made history when it created the first gluten-free beer.
The beer is named New Grist, because grist – in the brewing world – is the grained material that goes into beer making, said Russ Klisch, president of Lakefront Brewery.
Traditionally, grist is malted barely or wheat, but Lakefront Brewery is using a new grist to make a gluten-free product, he said.
It is the first beer that can be consumed by people with celiac disease.
“For the nearly 3 million people in the U.S. with celiac disease – the inability to tolerate a protein in wheat and related grains called gluten. Beer has been strictly off-limits, until now,” said Kurt Lingel, executive vice president of Celtic Inc., a Milwaukee marketing communications firm.
Fueled by consumer demand, Lakefront Brewery launched a one-of-a-kind beer brewed without wheat or barely.
In addition to hops and water, New Grist is brewed from sorghum syrup – a type of grass grown for grain – and rice syrup, both of which are gluten-free. The yeast used is grown on molasses to ensure the yeast won’t add gluten contamination.
It is the first U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved product of its kind.
The marketing campaign for New Grist is, “It’s Beer Genius.”
As a direct result of offering the celiac-friendly beer, the 13-employee-run brewery has enjoyed an overall sales increase of 41 percent. Lakefront expects total barrel production to increase by about 38 percent, 28 percent of which will be New Grist.
Lakefront Brewery said Anheuser Bush is its major competitor because it too now has a gluten-free beer.
“We’ve been innovators instead of imitators,” Klisch said.
Address: 1872 N. Commerce St., Milwaukee
Web Site: www.lakefrontbrewery.com
Industry: New machinery/manufacturing
Innovations: Created the first gluten-free beer.
