| Eating only gluten free products is vital to any celiac | | | | render 'normal' beer gf" "beer contains gluten, either |
| or gluten intolerant person, so what about alcohol in | | | | in the grains used within the brewing process, or |
| general? | | | | even the yeast itself may be grown in a medium |
| Firstly it appears that there are three distinct types: | | | | which contains the protein. Therefore if you are a |
| General liquor, gf beer and gf wines. | | | | Celiac, you can not drink Beer that contains G |
| GLUTEN FREE ALCOHOL Many articles suggest that | | | | otherwise you will become sick." All articles are |
| as long as alcoholic beverages are not based on | | | | definitive on the point that if a celiac wishes to drink |
| wheat or other gluten grains that they will be without | | | | beer, they must drink gfree beer only. |
| gluten. They suggest using liquors such as grappa | | | | GLUTEN FREE WINE Wine is one of the most |
| (made from grapes), ouzo (aniseed, fennel seed | | | | contentious areas of the liquor industry. The majority |
| aromatic plants ) rum (sugar Cane ), sake (rice ) etc. | | | | of articles suggest that wine is naturally free of |
| Other articles have suggested that the protein is | | | | gluten as it is made from grapes and no grains are |
| destroyed in the distillation process so that all | | | | involved in the preservative process. However other |
| alcoholic beverages will be gf. However a 1992 | | | | articles suggest a different story."Some wines are |
| Flemish Celiac Society report found gluten in several | | | | aged in barrels that once contained another |
| varieties of distilled liquor. The levels varied from zero | | | | substance that could have held a glutinous product. |
| to 200-mg gluten/liter with the highest amount in | | | | This is rare, but can happen. Also you will want to |
| "Creme de Framboise" (200 mg/liter) and French | | | | avoid Wine Coolers. Wine Coolers are NOT GF, |
| brandy VSOP had 180 m g/liter. Subsequently, sites | | | | because they contain barely malt." "There is also |
| have speculated that the "protein might be derived | | | | some concern with cross contamination with wines |
| from the caramel coloring" and suggests that it is | | | | that involves the practice of sealing the barrels with a |
| best for celiacs to "abstain from brown colored liquor" | | | | flour/water paste that is common with European |
| There is a note of caution that the detection of the | | | | Union barrel manufacturers. Most US based |
| protein in alcoholic drinks is very unreliable as "the | | | | manufactures currently use a neutral food grade |
| proteins could have been broken down to small (but | | | | paraffin to seal the barrels during the construction |
| still toxic) peptides and in that case a sandwich-type | | | | process, but there are some manufacturers that |
| ELISA might produce false negative results because | | | | import and use the flour/ water based barrels." A |
| in that case you always need to two epitopes | | | | hard paste that is part of the wheat glue may not |
| (binding sites for the antiserum) on one molecule to | | | | be fully removed in the cleaning process and that you |
| get a positive reaction." The difficulty with general | | | | can mostly trust wines that are "almost always" |
| liqueurs is that since this has not been recognized as | | | | made without a barrel aging process such as: "Whites |
| a major problem in society, and as testing is difficult | | | | - Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand, Italian |
| and potentially expensive, liquor makers are unlikely | | | | Pinot Grigio, Bag-In-The-Box wines; and Reds: |
| to test and label their products as gf any time soon. | | | | Bag-In-The-Box wines." Many wineries list themselves |
| Your best option appears to be either to avoid liquor | | | | as g-free but this is because their cafes provide gf |
| altogether or choose types not based on g grains, | | | | food. And this is often a matter of just including |
| such as whiskeys. | | | | special bread in their offerings. While rare, but still in |
| GLUTEN FREE BEER The beer area seems relatively | | | | existence, are wineries that also sell wine labeled as g |
| clear cut. In the same study as above "The beer | | | | free. |
| test, which consisted of a set of 50 different brands, | | | | It is suggested that while gluten contamination of |
| showed that most brands (35) did contain | | | | wines in America may be relatively rare that a celiac |
| immunoreactive protein in amounts between 1 and | | | | should consider asking wine makers if the wine is gf, |
| 200 mg/liter. Only 15 contained less than 1 mg/liter. | | | | if it is then ask if it is certified by a g-free authority. |
| There was a strong correlation between the gluten | | | | If they don't know if it is, then maybe you should |
| content and whether wheat had been used as an | | | | ask what kind of barrels they use? And so the end |
| ingredient!" The Technical Officer of The Coeliac | | | | of this story is one of 'better safe than sorry', |
| Society of Australia also agrees by saying that " the | | | | especially if you have been so good with avoiding |
| (beer) brewing process unfortunately does not | | | | gluten in the rest of your diet! |
