You know how sometimes we just chalk an ‘ailment’ up to getting older? I had just that experience this summer.

It was a hot day and I had just finished cutting the grass and cleaning up the yard. The whole time I was labouring I was thinking of the ice cold beer that I had in the fridge waiting for me. My daydreams created a very romantic interlude between myself and that beer (frankly I don’t even remember the beer’s name). I finished my tasks, removed all dirt and grass before entering the house (I am well trained), got changed, grabbed the book I was reading at the time (Cellist of Sarajevo – great read and the author lives in Richmond), went to the fridge and opened the door.

I swear that streams of light flew out of the fridge, there was a light breeze that blew  tufts of my hair back. My eyes met the bottle which, in anticipation of our meeting, had a hint of condensation beading around its neck.

I gently put my hands around the bottle and gazed longingly at its label. As I opened the top, the sounds of angels rang in my ears. I lovingly poured it into my glass and as the golden nectar of the gods filled the glass, a chill grabbed the glass as if to say ‘hold me, love me.’

Bard's Gluten Free Beer

I proceeded to the deck, arranged a chair for the best view, and allowed my lips to touch the glass. As the brewed ambrosia cooled my body I sat back with a contented smile and thought ‘I am the master of my domain.’

I drank about half the bottle when my peace was broken.

About 20 minutes later I was not feeling well. I had some heartburn, felt really bloated, and more dazed than usual.

This was not the first time this had happened after having only a few sips of beer. I started to notice the same feeling after having bread, pasta, and anything, as it turns out, that contained wheat… gluten.

Since then I have dramatically reduced my intake of gluten and have never felt better. I have lost weight, I don’t have ‘food comas’ in the afternoon, and most importantly, I no longer need my medication for acid reflux.

I started to look into gluten free beverage alcohol products and found some very interesting facts.

#1 Anything not made with wheat or barley contains no gluten. This includes wines, rum, gin, brandy & cognac and most liqueurs.

#2 Anything distilled, even if the base product is wheat or barley, contains no gluten. This means Scotch, Rye, Irish Whisky, Bourbon and wheat Vodkas contain no gluten.

#3 Beers made from rice or sorghum, do not contain gluten.

All the above would be fine for those who wish to reduce or control the amount of gluten in their diet. However they can not be certified as gluten-free.

Items can only be certified as gluten free when there is zero threat of any resulting product being ‘contaminated’ with gluten. That means if there is barley or wheat, or any gluten products in the winery, distillery or brewery, that facility cannot be certified as gluten-free.

This certification is very important to those who suffer from Celiacs disease or have significant gluten intolerance.

At present there are a very few items that are certified as Gluten-Free. This designation is relatively young and like organics, there are different certification boards and standards around the world.

There are only a few beers currently available in B.C. that are gluten free and they are generally more expensive than others, given that they have to do their own malting of sorghum. However we will continue to seek out more and, I suspect that in the years to come demand will be high enough to encourage a reduction in prices and appropriate labelling.