Gluten-Free Beer or Not, Friday Night's for Chug-A-Lug

This beer's for you

Last Friday I remarked that since I was retired I had kind of forgotten what Fridays were all about. But as luck would have it, I remembered and took Kathleen to a local brew pub for beer and nachos - had to leave Sam home, of course. Sorry Sam.

Did you know there is such a thing as gluten-free beer? Apparently, gluten can cause celiac disease and a type of dermatitis. So, sit right back and you’ll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful brew (sung to Gilligan’s Island theme). Take a long pull or two on your hefeweizen and I’ll enlighten you.

According to Wikipedia, gluten-free beer is beer made from ingredients that do not contain glycoproteins (gluten). People who have gluten intolerance can have a bad reaction to certain proteins in grains, such as barley and wheat, commonly used to make beer. Something called hordein, found in barley, and gliadin found in wheat, are types of gluten that can trigger symptoms in celiac and dermatitis herpetiformis sufferers.

“Coeliac (celiac) disease is an autoimmune disorder of the small intestine that damages the villi (little wormy finger-like thingies) of the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients from food. Celiac disease occurs in genetically predisposed people of all ages from middle infancy onward. Symptoms include pain and discomfort in the digestive tract, chronic constipation and diarrhea, failure to thrive (in children), anemia and fatigue. Vitamin deficiencies are often noted in people with celiac disease. Celiac disease can lead to a number of other disorders including infertility, reduced bone density, neurological disorders, some cancers, and other autoimmune diseases.”

“Dermatitis herpetiformis (DH), or Duhring's disease, is a chronic blistering skin condition, characterized by blisters filled with a watery fluid. Despite its name, DH is neither related to nor caused by herpes virus: the name means that it is a skin inflammation having an appearance similar to herpes.”

So, I guess I might owe an apology of sorts to gluten intolerance sufferers. I’ve been pretty vocal about taking the gluten out of our foods, but man! If you can’t quaff a tall, cold one on a Friday night because of gluten intolerance that's harsh. My only question is, since it’s estimated that only 1 in 133 Americans or about 1% of our population have celiac disease why are we going so overboard (the typical American way) and eliminating gluten from nearly everything on our grocery store shelves?

Gluten be danged, Kathleen and I risked our lives to hoist a couple of locally brewed pale ales Friday night. We didn’t ask if our beers were gluten-free, but they tasted pretty darned good going down. I’m not usually a very enthusiastic imbiber of brew pub micro-brewed, handcrafted (or whatever they call them) beers though. Call me unenlightened and old fashioned, but I generally prefer the taste of good old Bud. I’d still drink Oly and Hamms too if they were still around and if I still drank much beer - which I swear I don’t (I only had two officer). Strangely enough, Bud is supposed to be fairly gluten free, because it is brewed mostly with rice rather than wheat or barley.

I wonder if dogs can be gluten intolerant? I’ve known a couple of dogs who really liked their beer. Sorry though Sam, this brew is not for you.