Beer for who suffers from celiac diseases: the new era of “gluten free”
The technique of production of the gluten free beer
Considering that barley is one of the main ingredient to produce beer, it is not easy to imagine how to produce a beer without it. Actually it is a “gluten free” product only if it completely lack of gluten, but also if it has a percentage below 20 ppm. The production technique of a “gluten free” beer can follow two main procedures: in the first case, gluten is extracted during the fermentation, in the second one it is possible to use fermentable cereals that do not contain gluten, for instance rice, millet, buckwheat, corn and quinoa.
The technique of production of craft beer for who suffers from celiac diseases requires the use of a specific tool, different from the one used for the production of craft beer, to avoid the risk that sediments of gluten can affect the product.
The food market for gluten intolerants
In the last fifteen years there have been an incredible increasing in the number of people that suffers from celiac diseases. It is an illness that make people intolerant to the gluten, it a substance rich in proteins contained in the majority of the cereals like oat, wheat, spelt, barley and rye. As this illness spread, it create a strong request of gluten free products and the creation of a real market of gluten free products. Like the producers of food, also the brew masters have been committed in the realization of a gluten free beer. Today, in fact, it is possible to find in the most common market and restaurants.
The food market for people who suffers from celiac diseases is particularly expensive but the State give back the expenses of the patients through the Public health system. Distinctive characteristic of craft beer for who suffers of celiac diseases is its characteristic red colour, tending to brown, the strong smell of malt and of ripened fruit together with its bitter aftertaste. There is a wide choice of gluten free craft beers for sale: clear and high or low fermented, amber or dark, pretty spiced and intense. Another distinctive characteristic is that, once poured it has just a small foam that vanish in a small period of time.
The rules in Italy for the gluten free beers
The Italian regulation define with the law 41/2009 that gluten free beer is an alcoholic drink based on malt, produced with different cereals from barley and wheat. The rules, then distinguish the beers with a low percentage of gluten within 21 and 100 ppm and the ones recognizable with the label “gluten free” and a value below the 20 ppm, specifically addressed to people that suffers from celiac diseases.
The consumption of gluten free beer: precautions
The individual consumption of gluten free beer requires some precautions. The fact that beer has less than 20 ppm is not the only important element. People who suffers of celiac diseases have, anyway to limit the consumption of gluten free beer, because it can be dangerous to drink high quantities of beer.
