gluten-free Gluten-Free...Beer? There Is Such An Animal (and breweries that brew it)

[PGHammer]

Because of concerns over gluten (dietary, allergens, and other reasons), I started looking at products you would never expect to be gluten-free that actually exist.  Being as the United States has long been considered the third home of beer (after Germany and Australia, of course), I started looking at rumored gluten-free beers when I actually started seeing the darn things at the most EXPECTED place for such critters - Whole Foods Markets.

 

Whole Foods makes sense because they are - and have been - the Amazon of organic food (and of foodies in general) - and that was BEFORE Jeff Bezos acquired them.  Their beer brands are (and have remained very regional - Virginia (outside the Beltway) is very organically-aimed - that is where you are MOST likely to find gluten-free beverages, including beers; this same part of Virginia is also home to the microwineries of Virginia (along both State route 7 and US routes 11 and 15) before the wineries, it was known more for ciders - and still is, especially along US 11 from Front Royal to the VA/WV border.  Still, beer uses hops, yeasts and grains in its "construction"; therefore, a gluten-free beer sounds like a contradiction in terms.  One that I am hoping to try next week (I have to visit my lead GI surgeon and may combine it with a Whole Foods stop) is a Whole Foods exclusive - New Planet IPA, which purports to be a a gluten-free such.  The reason I'm curious is one of my favorite foods is a spinach salad, based around baby spinach leaves, pasta (typically spaghetti), and fruits, other vegetables (such as sliced cucumbers and onions), along with nuts (such as almonds, walnuts, or even pecans) and a Feta (organic or non); for the non-vegans, you can add poultry (such as skinned chicken breast, grilled and diced).  Since this IPA has been suggested as a good pair with Feta, would it pair with this sort of salad?  Call it opening my eyes - AND my horizons.

 

I have nothing against microbreweries - in fact, I prefer Blue Moon or Samuel Adams when eating out, depending on what I am eating - why NOT open the horizons still more, if I can actually find a beer that lets me do so without trainwrecking my taste buds?

[jnelsoninjax]

I thought most beers didn't have wheat in them to start with, so they would be gluten free already?

[fusi0n]

I love beer, but it makes me feel horrible afterwards. I feel tired for 2-3 days after a few beers. I try not to drink beers, but on Saturdays, I like to chill out and relax. You can't  drink vodka all day , well, you CAN.. but you shouldn't.. I really like craft beers and I live in a huge craft beer city. I'm sure I'm somewhat allergic to beer as my head gets congested pretty fast. I try to stick with vodka, but going to a trendy brewery or something, I usually end up getting a few..

 

Also, I found these and I love them. They are GMO and gluten-free,

https://socialsparklingwine.com/

 

 

[Jim K Global Moderator]

51 minutes ago, jnelsoninjax said:

I thought most beers didn't have wheat in them to start with, so they would be gluten free already?

Barley has gluten.

[PGHammer]

49 minutes ago, jnelsoninjax said:

I thought most beers didn't have wheat in them to start with, so they would be gluten free already?

Absolutely not - not any more than any other products made with grains.  Gluten is found in ALL grains - even rice; which is why it can (and usually is) a GPB to have GF grain products; reduced-gluten, or products where gluten is removed later in the process is far easier to get certified - in beer or anything else - than gluten-free.  fusi0n - it is reactions similar to yours with products that contain glutens that sparked the interest in gluten-free diets (and products); in other words, I get it.  In my case, I'm looking at the issue because I am facing the very real prospect of GI-tract SURGERY later this year; such surgery DOES tend to require dietary changes.  (Punting on glutens has, in fact, come up with regards to intestinal surgery (both large AND small) - so I'm trying to look at possible required changes ahead of the surgery itself so I can be ready for them.)  If I have to punt on glutens, I don't want to shank it.

[PGHammer]

13 minutes ago, Jim K said:

Barley has gluten.

It is not the only source of gluten, either. Jim K.; it's why I also mentioned rice.  (Sake - traditional Japanese rice wine - doesn't use barley at all; however, it cannot - due to processes required by regulation regarding it - be certified as gluten-free; hence the problem outside of merely Occidental diets.)

A surprising source of glutens in religious diets is - of all things - unleavened bread (flatbread).  In other words, it isn't the yeast - flatbread doesn't use any! (Flatbread is a common product in orthodox Islam and Jewry; however, if you have gluten-tolerance issues AND are also Orthodox, you may have to do a deep dive on your source of flatbread - not all of it can pass GF muster, though it may well qualify religiously. Ooooops.)

Edited February 24, 2018 by PGHammer

[Jim K Global Moderator]

14 minutes ago, PGHammer said:

It is not the only source of gluten, either. Jim K.; it's why I also mentioned rice.  (Sake - traditional Japanese rice wine - doesn't use barley at all; however, it cannot - due to processes required by regulation regarding it - be certified as gluten-free; hence the problem outside of merely Occidental diets.)

 

I know...I was talking in context to this thread and jnelsoninjax's comment/question...not about sake, wine, etc.  Barley is the most common grain used in beer production.

[PGHammer]

57 minutes ago, fusi0n said:

I love beer, but it makes me feel horrible afterwards. I feel tired for 2-3 days after a few beers. I try not to drink beers, but on Saturdays, I like to chill out and relax. You can't  drink vodka all day , well, you CAN.. but you shouldn't.. I really like craft beers and I live in a huge craft beer city. I'm sure I'm somewhat allergic to beer as my head gets congested pretty fast. I try to stick with vodka, but going to a trendy brewery or something, I usually end up getting a few..

 

Also, I found these and I love them. They are GMO and gluten-free,

https://socialsparklingwine.com/

 

 

I get those - wines and ciders are a lot easier to get certified GF than any product made with grain.  (Whole Foods carries GF ciders and wines - as do most places that sell craft beers.)  It is gluten-free beers - the contradiction in terms - that hiked up the interest buds - and I happen to like a good craft beer - unfortunately, none of my craft-beer brands (and definitely none of the local ones - and yes, greater Washington, DC actually DOES have a local craft-beer scene) qualifies on that score.  Washington, DC itself has both Capitol City Brewing (inside Union Station itself) and the newer Right Proper Brewing (two locations - one in Shaw and the other in the Brookland section of DC); the closest micro to me is Calvert Brewing (twenty miles northeast in the Prince George's county seat of Upper Marlboro, MD) which launched (within the past week) a new IPA called fittingly - Route 4 IPA (the brewery itself is located on the original path of MD 4) - the labels have the highway's logo - which required approval of the SHA to get; naturally, not exactly easy for an alcoholic beverage.  Their website is here - http://www.calvertbrewingcompany.com.

[techbeck]

Gluten free beer is nothing new.  Been around for a while.  However, they are doing a better job at it all the time where taste is concerned.   Same goes with food.   Gluten free pizza does not even taste different anymore.

[PGHammer]

49 minutes ago, techbeck said:

Gluten free beer is nothing new.  Been around for a while.  However, they are doing a better job at it all the time where taste is concerned.   Same goes with food.   Gluten free pizza does not even taste different anymore.

Not disagreeing with you one bit, techbeck; that it doesn't taste any different IS, in fact, the major difference.  Have we all forgotten the old (if not ancient) proverb, "A difference that makes no difference IS no difference." - and I even applied it to Windows as it has changed from Windows 7 - it isn't just there, folks.  (I used the "ancient" due to the Parable of the Animals (Acts) which is BIBLICAL - in short, it's older - by far - than the oldest Neowinian; it is one of the oldest illustrations of equality - as no less than Dr. King and the recently-departed Billy Graham BOTH agreed upon while alive; and if ministers as wildly different as that pair can find common ground, why can't the most wildly different of Neowinians?

So I'm actually willing to take a trip off the beaten path because the path is actually getting trod toward where I may have to go; in other words, I may actually have company.

 

It's NOT like "it's just me".

[DocM]

2 hours ago, Jim K said:

Barley has gluten.

Also spelt, kamut, farro and durum, products like bulgar and semolina, and also rye,triticale and oats. 

 

Gluten free: corn, millet, rice, and sorghum.

 

Michigan's Short’s Brewing "Space Rock" rice pale ale is pretty good.

[Emn1ty]

Oats are naturally gluten free, but as they are often processed alongside gluten grains (I have celiac disease so I deal with this on a daily basis).

[Jim K Global Moderator]

10 hours ago, DocM said:

Also spelt, kamut, farro and durum, products like bulgar and semolina, and also rye,triticale and oats. 

 

Gluten free: corn, millet, rice, and sorghum.

 

Michigan's Short’s Brewing "Space Rock" rice pale ale is pretty good.

Forgot buckwheat as being gluten free....

[+DKAngel Subscriber²]

13 hours ago, PGHammer said:

Absolutely not - not any more than any other products made with grains.  Gluten is found in ALL grains - even rice; which is why it can (and usually is) a GPB to have GF grain products; reduced-gluten, or products where gluten is removed later in the process is far easier to get certified - in beer or anything else - than gluten-free.  fusi0n - it is reactions similar to yours with products that contain glutens that sparked the interest in gluten-free diets (and products); in other words, I get it.  In my case, I'm looking at the issue because I am facing the very real prospect of GI-tract SURGERY later this year; such surgery DOES tend to require dietary changes.  (Punting on glutens has, in fact, come up with regards to intestinal surgery (both large AND small) - so I'm trying to look at possible required changes ahead of the surgery itself so I can be ready for them.)  If I have to punt on glutens, I don't want to shank it.

umm rice is actually a gluten free grain

[+Mirumir Subscriber¹]

20 hours ago, PGHammer said:

  Being as the United States has long been considered the third home of beer (after Germany and Australia, of course),

Dutch, Czech, and Irish be like  after reading this.

[DocM]

Sumerians were making beer 3,900 years ago, so all of the above "homes of beer" should get in line 

 

[minimeau]

If u want healthy beer, then don’t drink beer

[FloatingFatMan]

11 hours ago, DocM said:

Sumerians were making beer 3,900 years ago, so all of the above "homes of beer" should get in line 

 

With the US right at the very back!