Gluten Free Beer Kits
A new range of gluten free barley malt extracts and gluten free beer kits. Barley NOT sorghum. These glutenfree malt extracts (LME) contain less than 20 ppm of gluten. Beer made from them typically contains less than 3 ppm gluten.
Colour are taste are unaffected compared to the existing LME so you can simply switch to gluten free malt extract for all your recipes.
The beer kits are full of hops (approximately 100 grams of hop pellets) and were designed to expose the compete hop characteristics: bittering, flavor and aroma. The instructions for each kit describe 2 methods to make them: the traditional method, and a new method that uses a standard stock pot so that special extact beer making equipment is not required. So all you need is the standard beer kit making setup and a medium sized stock pot.
So what is the problem with gluten? Its a protein found in wheat and barley, and hence in just about every beer kit or malt extract. Typical liquid malt extracts contain between 500 and 5000 ppm of gluten. Coeliac disease is triggered by exposure to gluten and symptons are not pleasent. Patients must avoid gluten as there is no treatment; fortunately only 0.4% to 0.7% of Europeans are affected.
However a recently identified syndrome called "non-coeliac gluten intolerance" affects somewhere between 1% and 6% of us depending on where we live (not sure about the stats for Ireland, but it seems we are at the top end of the scale). Those affected are sensitive to gluten without diagnosis for coeliac disease. For a very interesting article in the Irish Independent, click: Should you give up gluten?
There is a widespread perception that gluten free is associated with safety and good health, so why not switch to gluten free beer kits? Especially if the beer is effectively identical otherwise to standard beers? .
Colour are taste are unaffected compared to the existing LME so you can simply switch to gluten free malt extract for all your recipes.
The beer kits are full of hops (approximately 100 grams of hop pellets) and were designed to expose the compete hop characteristics: bittering, flavor and aroma. The instructions for each kit describe 2 methods to make them: the traditional method, and a new method that uses a standard stock pot so that special extact beer making equipment is not required. So all you need is the standard beer kit making setup and a medium sized stock pot.
So what is the problem with gluten? Its a protein found in wheat and barley, and hence in just about every beer kit or malt extract. Typical liquid malt extracts contain between 500 and 5000 ppm of gluten. Coeliac disease is triggered by exposure to gluten and symptons are not pleasent. Patients must avoid gluten as there is no treatment; fortunately only 0.4% to 0.7% of Europeans are affected.
However a recently identified syndrome called "non-coeliac gluten intolerance" affects somewhere between 1% and 6% of us depending on where we live (not sure about the stats for Ireland, but it seems we are at the top end of the scale). Those affected are sensitive to gluten without diagnosis for coeliac disease. For a very interesting article in the Irish Independent, click: Should you give up gluten?
There is a widespread perception that gluten free is associated with safety and good health, so why not switch to gluten free beer kits? Especially if the beer is effectively identical otherwise to standard beers? .