I’ve been a bit radio-silent on the blog front recently–for several reasons. Life has been pretty hectic recently: I moved, accepted a new job, and am starting grad school in a couple of weeks. On top of all of that craziness, I just happened to have a 2 week international vacation on the books. On top of THAT, part of the vacation (and the impetus for it) was my very dear friend’s wedding in Israel.

Still with me? To recap: new home, new job, new school, and a huge trip to a potentially war-torn area of the globe.

Putting aside all of the crazy new and exciting life things for a minute, let’s focus in on my vacation adventures. First and foremost, clearly I am home and safe. Thankfully there was a cease-fire in effect the entire time we were in Israel, so everything went off without a hitch. And we had a wonderful time during the first two thirds of our trip, which we spent in Berlin, Krakow, and Prague.

Barring a few mishaps and challenges, I ate and drank my way through Europe and Israel like a gluten free queen!! While I’ll chronicle my eating adventures in at least a couple of upcoming posts, I wanted to shout out my most important discovery: I found THE BEST gluten free beer. Hands down. I was diagnosed with Celiac at 21 and I’ve tried em all: Dogfish Tweason’ale, Omission, Glutenberg, Redbridge, Bard’s, New Planet, Trader Joe’s NGB, Estrella Damm Daura, etc., etc… and this one takes the cake.

To back up: J and I spent our second anniversary exploring the beautiful little city of Krakow.

I was a little bit nervous to be somewhere slightly off the beaten path–which generally makes it tricky to find things that I can eat. Boy, was I ever wrong! This gorgeous little city was bursting with gluten free gems. When I saw this sign I knew good things were coming my way.

Enter: Celia Lager, from the Zatecky brewery in the Czech Republic. (Sidenote: it is apparently brewed in a castle. Yes, a magical castle that brews gluten free beer. I want to go to there!) The beer was light, crisp, refreshing, and tasted GOOD–none of the metallic, sour, or vegetable-like edge that other gluten free beers have.

It even got two thumbs up from J and from my dad–I sometimes bring in ringers to see if something actually tastes good or if it just tastes good to me since I can’t really remember what gluten-ous foods taste like.

Ladies and gents, this one is a winner. I found it again in Prague and happily slurped down another bottle. So here’s the challenge: while the delicious treat is all the rage in the UK, the interwebs seem to be telling me it’s not available here in the US. Why oh why, Celia?? We need you here–big time!

Does anyone know where I can find this wondrous beer stateside? Have you ever tried it? What’s your favorite gluten free beer?