Gluten test for alcoholic beverages?

[sddave]

Anyone know if there's a test kit available for alcoholic beverages?

[Ennis-TX]

Nope, due to the nature of alcohol and processing it is very tricky to accurately test. Hince why the golden rule is to stick to hard distilled liquors preferably of non gluten origin and reputable manufactures. And certified hard ciders. Basically stick to making mixers with say rum, taquilia, and certain vodkas. There are some great hard ciders, but they get expensive.

[sddave]

15 hours ago, Ennis_TX said:

Nope, due to the nature of alcohol and processing it is very tricky to accurately test.

So disappointed.

[Gemini]

There really is no need to test alcohol.  For hard liquor, there are brands that advertise well their gluten-free status, like Tito's vodka.  Many hard liquors are inherently gluten free anyway, due to distillation or lack of the use of gluten grains.  I know it has been said there are a very small number of people who react to them but the vast majority don't.  Wine is gluten free.  It is much easier to figure out the gluten content of alcohol than food.  I am a very sensitive Celiac and have never been glutened by the red wine I drink, no matter the brand. I do not drink hard liquor.  If you haven't been diagnosed long, it might be wise to abstain until you heal more.  I could not tolerate alcohol until the 3 year mark.

[sddave]

2 hours ago, Gemini said:

There really is no need to test alcohol.  For hard liquor, there are brands that advertise well their gluten-free status, like Tito's vodka.  Many hard liquors are inherently gluten free anyway, due to distillation or lack of the use of gluten grains.  I know it has been said there are a very small number of people who react to them but the vast majority don't.  Wine is gluten free.  It is much easier to figure out the gluten content of alcohol than food.  I am a very sensitive Celiac and have never been glutened by the red wine I drink, no matter the brand. I do not drink hard liquor.  If you haven't been diagnosed long, it might be wise to abstain until you heal more.  I could not tolerate alcohol until the 3 year mark.

I was reading that wheat paste could be used to seal the barrel. 

Artificial coloring in some whiskey's are allowed that could have gluten.  Like scotch and rums. 

[sddave]

20 hours ago, Ennis_TX said:

Nope, due to the nature of alcohol and processing it is very tricky to accurately test. Hince why the golden rule is to stick to hard distilled liquors preferably of non gluten origin and reputable manufactures. And certified hard ciders. Basically stick to making mixers with say rum, taquilia, and certain vodkas. There are some great hard ciders, but they get expensive.

A beer making friend at work knows this guy who's celiac and adds a drop of two to his beer.    Says it doesn't alter the taste.

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[Victoria1234]

8 minutes ago, sddave said:

A beer making friend at work knows this guy who's celiac and adds a drop of two to his beer.    Says it doesn't alter the taste.

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Does the celiac guy make his own beer or is he adding it to already made beer? 

[sddave]

32 minutes ago, Victoria1234 said:

Does the celiac guy make his own beer or is he adding it to already made beer? 

My friend said he has seen his friend put a drop or two in beers at bars.   But doesn't remember what he does after adding it to beer (like steering) but said he drank it almost immediately.   I would call White Labs in San Diego if your interested.   His friend is a co-founder of Duck Foot Brewing.   They make gluten-free beer and "think" buy the White Labs enzyme to remove from gluten for their gluten-free beer.   And it's what he adds when he goes to bars.

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[Victoria1234]

4 minutes ago, sddave said:

My friend said he has seen his friend put a drop or two in beers at bars.   But doesn't remember what he does after adding it to beer (like steering) but said he drank it almost immediately.   I would call White Labs in San Diego if your interested.   His friend is a co-founder of Duck Foot Brewing.   They make gluten-free beer and "think" buy the White Labs enzyme to remove from gluten for their gluten-free beer.   And it's what he adds when he goes to bars.

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Fascinating. 

[kareng]

4 hours ago, sddave said:

My friend said he has seen his friend put a drop or two in beers at bars.   But doesn't remember what he does after adding it to beer (like steering) but said he drank it almost immediately.   I would call White Labs in San Diego if your interested.   His friend is a co-founder of Duck Foot Brewing.   They make gluten-free beer and "think" buy the White Labs enzyme to remove from gluten for their gluten-free beer.   And it's what he adds when he goes to bars.

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And there in lies the problem... no accurate testing for these supposed " gluten removed" beers.  They test.... but the tests aren't meant for beer or barley...  

 

and putting drops in drinks at bars might get you arrested...

[sddave]

2 hours ago, kareng said:

And there in lies the problem... no accurate testing for these supposed " gluten removed" beers.  They test.... but the tests aren't meant for beer or barley...  

 

and putting drops in drinks at bars might get you arrested...

Your clueless.  Duck Food spent a lot to prove their beer certificated gluten free.

 

Extensive — like lots and lots of — testing shows that this enzyme reduces the gluten content in beer to undetectable amounts (0-5 ppm) and the FDA considers a food gluten-free if it falls below 20 ppm

 

And he added the enzyme to non gluten-free beer at a bar.   Get arrested, ya right.

[cyclinglady]

1 hour ago, sddave said:

Your clueless.  Duck Food spent a lot to prove their beer certificated gluten free.

 

Extensive — like lots and lots of — testing shows that this enzyme reduces the gluten content in beer to undetectable amounts (0-5 ppm) and the FDA considers a food gluten-free if it falls below 20 ppm

 

And he added the enzyme to non gluten-free beer at a bar.   Get arrested, ya right.

I would not say KarenG is clueless.  I think she relies on studies (science) over company advertising.  A study was done to determine if gluten-reduced beers are safe.  It appears that they might be okay for some but not all celiacs.  So, go ahead, drink the beer. No one is stopping you.  But let's hope that you are not one of the celiacs that reacts.   

Read more about the actual study:

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Try reading Duck Foot's website carefully.  No where does it say "certified".   Notice that they are most likely following their attorney's advice stating "most" celiacs....

"Run, gluten, run! Yeah, people are freaking out about gluten and we get it; it’s hard to digest. But we like beer! Give us beer! Duck Foot Brewing Company uses a natural enzyme to break down the proteins in gluten, making it digestible to most people who are sensitive to gluten; even those with Celiac disease, like our co-founder, Matt.

Extensive — like lots and lots of — testing shows that this enzyme reduces the gluten content in beer to undetectable amounts (0-5 ppm) and the FDA considers a food gluten-free if it falls below 20 ppm, so drink away, friends. And note: this enzyme is flavorless and odorless, but clearly not useless. It doesn’t affect the way our beer tastes."

Don't you just love when advertisers talk about "lots and lots of testing" but fail to cite research/testing?  I think it is called bullS#%*.  ?

[Ennis-TX]

4 hours ago, sddave said:

Your clueless.  Duck Food spent a lot to prove their beer certificated gluten free.

 

Extensive — like lots and lots of — testing shows that this enzyme reduces the gluten content in beer to undetectable amounts (0-5 ppm) and the FDA considers a food gluten-free if it falls below 20 ppm

 

And he added the enzyme to non gluten-free beer at a bar.   Get arrested, ya right.

I did a self study with some contaminated hemp that was lab verified at 6ppm. The effects were not immediate, but I slowly began to show a cumulative effect over a week. Started with constipation, slight fog, and by the end of the week I had lost most feeling in my hands, kept on dazing out, had constipation, kept dropping damn near everything, and was starting to have daily bouts of pain. IF YOU WANT, I can send you some "Low Gluten" hemp protein I have left and you can see what it does to you.

Point here is even trace amounts of gluten can have negative effects as it will raise our antibodies and cause our celiac symptoms and intestinal damage (In my case also nerve and brain)   Gluten removed, beers are a mixed lot, and many still make people sick. I can obviously get sick from something below 20ppm only eating a few tsp a day of it. ANY trace amount of gluten can spike your antibodies.

Look for non gluten based liquors, and hard ciders and play it safe, if you want to experiment a tad with gluten-free beers that is your choice but I might suggest you wait til you have healed a bit......and yes if your caught putting drops in a drink at a bar you will be arrested. It will be ASSUMED your trying to drug someone. They do not joke about that stuff.

[kareng]

8 hours ago, sddave said:

Your clueless.  Duck Food spent a lot to prove their beer certificated gluten free.

 

Extensive — like lots and lots of — testing shows that this enzyme reduces the gluten content in beer to undetectable amounts (0-5 ppm) and the FDA considers a food gluten-free if it falls below 20 ppm

 

And he added the enzyme to non gluten-free beer at a bar.   Get arrested, ya right.

Well....That is nice.  First, if these enyzmes work like they claim, I don't think they were meant or tested to add to some random beer at a bar.

 

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"The effectiveness of “removing” gluten by breaking it down into smaller fragments has not been validated or accepted by the scientific and medical communities.  This is because currently available gluten testing methods are not sufficiently reliable/accurate when it comes to fermented and hydrolyzed products."

There are more involved articles explaining why the testing may not work on these gluten removed beers...but they can be hard to read for those of us with just a basic college chemistry 1 class from years ago.  lol

 

Let me add - I really hope we can prove these beers are gluten-free.  It would really open up our world!  and drops that instantly eat up gluten in a drink?  That would be an amazing discovery!

[Jmg]

17 hours ago, sddave said:

My friend said he has seen his friend put a drop or two in beers at bars.   But doesn't remember what he does after adding it to beer (like steering) but said he drank it almost immediately.   I would call White Labs in San Diego if your interested.   His friend is a co-founder of Duck Foot Brewing.   They make gluten-free beer and "think" buy the White Labs enzyme to remove from gluten for their gluten-free beer.   And it's what he adds when he goes to bars.

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They're just up the road from my old place. Must say the beers look pretty nice. 

It's interesting, there's a few breweries now doing this, making beers with traditional ingredients but then adding enzymes to break down gluten proteins to the point they're no longer a problem. I followed the finings link to this video from an Escondido brewery with an interview with the WhiteLabs representative following on. Gluten discussed from about 1 min in:

 

I think the problem here is the lack of sufficient testing. Does the enzyme reach all the proteins or do some get through? How sensitive are you? etc.  There do appear to be some people that can drink these beers, see:

 

I wouldn't go for it, preferring to only drink from non gluten sources, but in the end its a choice for you to make, be sure you've done your research and are happy with the risks you're taking. 

[Gemini]

23 hours ago, sddave said:

I was reading that wheat paste could be used to seal the barrel. 

Artificial coloring in some whiskey's are allowed that could have gluten.  Like scotch and rums. 

Read this:

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Did everyone hear my groan over the wheat paste on the barrels question?    While some wine makers may use wooden barrels for their wine, and some may use wheat paste to seal them, they most likely go to great lengths to make sure that it does not get into the wine itself because that could change the taste and taste is very important to a wine maker.  The Celiac Disease Foundation and other organizations have never, ever warned us not to drink wine fermented in wooden barrels either.  Not to mention that I drink my fair share of red wine and am a very sensitive Celiac who has never become sick from red wine.  I am pretty sure that after 9 years of enjoying red wine, if there were any wheat in the wine, I would have Refractory Celiac by now. My antibody levels have been super low since healing so I trust that as evidence, along with what I have read from reputable Celiac information sites....meaning medical.  There are just too many crazy bloggers out there with tons of misinformation.

Artificial colors/flavorings are made from chemicals and not from anything derived from nature so the odds of there being a harmful protein derived from wheat, barley or rye in them is almost nil.  You  notice I said "almost" because nothing in life is absolute except death.  As I do not drink hard liquor, you should always do your research BUT I highly doubt artificial color has gluten in it.  The article I referenced lists artificial flavors as safe so artificial colors should follow suit but if you are doubtful, find something else to drink. I know some companies will label their product as gluten free so maybe search for those brands. I know Tito's vodka is a much loved safe product for us.