Gluten Free Beer

A Guide To Gluten Free Beer

What Is Gluten Free Beer?

This refers to beer that does not contain gluten, which occurs in wheat, barley and other grains used during the brewing of standard beers. The Federal Alcohol Act defines beer as any product that contains one-half of one percent, or more of alcohol by volume, brewed or produced from malt wholly or in part, or from other substitutes. These substitutes include rice or other grains, bran, glucose, sugar and molasses. Thus, gluten free beer usually produced from ingredients such as sorghum, rice, hops, sugar, molasses, buckwheat or corn; is part and parcel of the beer family.

How Do You Know That Beer Is Gluten Free?

The Federal Alcohol Administration Act prohibits anyone from bottling alcoholic beverages without a certificate of label approval. Therefore, beer makers must conform to this law by seeking approval of their products from the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB). However, as from July 7, 2008, the TTB handed the FDA, full mandate over non-barley beers.

Click Here For More Indepth Info And A Very Effective Gluten Free Diet

Currently, the Food and Drug Administration is seeking to establish official standards for gluten free products including beer, in order to develop a level playing field for purveyors of these products. However, they do allow the use of the term gluten free on product labels, given that the claims are completely genuine. Hence, any beer with the gluten free label on it as from January 2012 is safe for consumption, given that it contains less than 20 ppm gluten and does not contain prohibited grains such as barley, wheat, rye, kamut and oats.

How Does Gluten Free Beer Differ From Conventional Beers?

Traditional beer is produced from brewing and fermentation of sugars derived from malted cereal grains like wheat and corn, flavored by hops. This gives it a distinct bittersweet dry taste and smell with some fizz on it. As such, producing this effect using different ingredients is a difficult task. Gluten free product manufacturers agree that beer remains the hardest beverage to make without the protein.

The use of different ingredients to brew gluten free beer slightly alters its familiar smell and taste. Brewers attempt any means necessary to make their beers conform to traditional ones by using different ingredients in different quantities. For instance, brewing of beer from sorghum and millet gives it a distinct tart flavor. This is usually offset by the use of malt or other ingredients such as rice or sugar.

Is Gluten Free Beer Safe For Individuals With Celiac Disease?

Celiac disease refers to adverse affects to the gastrointestinal lining due to ingestion of gluten into the body. The condition affects over two million Americans with thousands more experiencing intolerance to the protein. Due to the presence of gluten in traditional beer brands, individuals with the condition cannot enjoy tipple without risking their health in the process. This is what has led brewers to introduce gluten free beer brands in the market.

The safety of this beer for celiac patients is somewhat controversial. This is because there are no stringent standards yet, to level the playing field among brewers. Currently, you can find two gluten free bottles of beer with differing quantities of the protein. Some manufacturers also incorporate small amounts of barley and rye to their supposedly gluten free beers; claiming that they boil and filter out the protein alongside the barley skins to make their beer safer.

An expert from the USDA argues that such processes are not completely harmless. Gluten occurs in wheat and barley used to brew beer. It occurs in the form of hordeins in wheat and gliadins in barley. These proteins break down to form long peptide chains, during the malting and fermentation brewing stages. Since peptides are water soluble, they remain in the beer throughout its processing until it is bottled. Beer, unlike vodka, whiskey or other spirits, does not undergo distillation to remove particular impurities.

Thus, it may be true that hordeins are not present in beer, but its polypeptide chains remain intact. Typically, hordeins contain polypeptide chains with over 300 amino acids. Laboratory analysis shows that as little as 15 amino acids may affect celiac patients adversely. Therefore, even if the beer contains no actual hordeins, its peptide chains may react with celiac antibodies and harm the patient. Albeit there is no conclusive scientific data that points to the exact level of interaction between peptides and antibodies, it is not possible to tell how many of these amino acids are present in some beer brands. They may be few in number, but regular drinking might eventually become problematic to the patient.

Doctors advice to patients with celiac is to opt for completely gluten free beer and products. If you feel like you must drink beers with moderated malted barley or rye, it is imperative to consult your physician ever so often, to ensure that the peptides in the beverage do not affect your body.