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Your favourite tipple
I P P L E favourite YOUR
A GUIDE to gluten-free ALCOHOL
N A LAND of vineyards, summer barbecues, and cricket games spent with a beer in hand, it can be difficult for people following a strict gluten free diet to know what they can and can’t drink. All types of wine are safe for those with coeliac disease. True ciders (those made of 100% apple) are also safe for coeliacs if they include no additives, although if they contain malt as a sweetener
then they may not be. When it comes to spirits, the distillation process means that no gluten can survive in vodka, tequila and rum – but it’s good practice to always check the label to be sure.
Unfortunately, beer is an unluckier story. As it’s made with barley or wheat malt, standard beer isn’t safe for coeliacs. But there are some Kiwis with their thinking caps on and creating exciting options.
Who’s making it? Phil Scott is a passionate lover of beer and was disappointed when he couldn’t drink any of his favourites after his coeliac diagnosis – so he set about creating his own. Scotts Brewing has now become a 2500-litre brewery in Oamaru, where Phil makes two glutenfree pale and amber ales.
Kereru Brewing also has a selection for coeliacs, with a gluten-free ale currently available and a new glutenfree APA set to arrive in stores within the next few months.
There are also many Kiwis brewing at home. John Thompson was a qualified beer judge before being diagnosed as coeliac, and since then has perfected the gluten-free home brew. His blog at Birdleg Brew shares his brewing experience and is a fantastic read for anyone interested in creating their own brew.
What’s in gluten free beer? To make gluten-free beer, brewers use an alternative to the common beer cereals – typically sorghum, buckwheat, or corn – and use separate brewing machinery to minimise any chance of cross contamination. To be verified as gluten-free, the beer must pass tests ensuring it doesn’t exceed 3ppm.
WHATEVER gluten-free drinks there are to enjoy, they must always be enjoyed responsibly. The amount of alcohol you drink and how you drink can increase your risk of serious health, personal and social problems, and affect those around you. Drinking alcohol is never absolutely safe, and risk of any harm to health can be lowered by adhering to alcohol guidelines (you can find New Zealand’s guidelines at health.govt.nz).
ENJOY A GF TIPPLE RESPONSIBLY
As some breweries try to recreate Kereru and Scotts Brewing’s ales, there are advertisements for ‘glutenreduced’ or ‘low-gluten’ beer emerging. This means that a beer has been brewed using gluten-containing ingredients, and then had an enzyme added to break down gluten proteins. With this method, the gluten can never be fully removed so won’t be safe for people with coeliac disease.
Labelling ‘gluten-free’ alcohol In recent years, there have been efforts to remove health claims from alcohol. For some time, it looked as though that would include information about whether alcohol was gluten free or not, which could have made it difficult for coeliac consumers to know what they could drink. Luckily, that standard was amended to ensure that gluten nutrition content claims could continue to be made about food containing more than 1.15% alcohol by volume.
This means that alcohol producers must declare information about any allergens (including gluten containing cereals) on the packaging and can inform coeliac and gluten intolerant customers if the product is safe for them to consume. CL
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