Campaign For Beer!

[Turtle]

Okay....that's it! It's summer, it's hot and i'd really like to be able to crack open a cold beer!

I've concluded that we, as celiacs, need a gluten-free Beer Campaign or something to see about getting these beer companies to make gluten-free beer more accessible. And it would be a dream to have someone come up w/ a beer that tastes similiar to a good ol' American Beer (Bud, Coors, Miller, etc.).

I have not been able to find gluten-free beer ANYWHERE and any website we can order it from is WAY outta my budget. Geez, by the time you pay for the beer and the shipping costs one would have to dip into their retirement to cover the costs.

Is anyone else as frustrated about this as I am??

[tarnalberry]

Talk to your local retailers about contacting the companies who make the products or distributors. Much of it depends on state law (that's the reason we can't get it in WA).

[Turtle]

Ok, I can do that. But what does the state law have to do w/ whether they can get it or not???

[tarnalberry]

Well, here in WA, a liquor store cannot buy from a manufacturer. It must go through a state approved distributor, and the distributor decides what liquors it will 'supply'. The closest we've come around here is, apparently, a distributor that will only require seven different retailers to purchase the same item from them. There's a non-trivial logistical problem to solve there, particularly when you're talking about competing businesses and a niche market.

There are a number of regulations which affect the distribution of alcohol across state lines (that's one of the reasons that shipping is expensive) and dealing with the resale of alcohol is yet more complicated and handled on a state by state basis. Kinda stupid, IMHO. ;-)

[whitball]

I'm with ya on the beer thing. I loved beer. Nothing like an ice cold beer. Fosters, Labattes, Blue Moon, Molson, XXX's, I could go on and on. I live in Midland, MI, I would really like to have a store in this area that has a gluten free beer. Tara

[Turtle]

State Laws, politics...AGH!

Now I need an antacid, but thanks for clarifying the state law thing for me none the less.....