You have all but eliminated gluten completely from your diet and you are proud of it. The unexplained rashes has stopped. No wheat and wheat byproducts for you for life.
And then weekend arrives when the boy gang is out partying. The caveat is that you are left sipping on a glass of lemonade while the rest of them are cranking the most deliciously chilled craft.
‘Did someone mention gluten-free beer?’
One of the biggest challenges of going gluten free is to find alternatives that can satiate your occasional craving for an alcoholic carbonated drink.
But it’s not half as difficult as it was a decade or two ago when the term ‘gluten-free’ was yet to make it to the mainstream vocabulary. An occasional tippler would ask for gluten free beer and would have to make do with a glass of hard cider instead.
Today, more than 1/3rd of America is on a gluten-free rampage and if gluten free alcohol is not available, then manufacturers might as well shift to manufacturing soda. They woke up and smelled the coffee a long time ago to be honest.
It started with gluten free beer which made an appearance a few years ago. But buyers were pretty skeptical. Beer is gluten from start to the end. There’s barley and wheat. How would it be possible to create gluten free beer?
Gluten and wine
Wine does not even warrant a second thought about being gluten-free because ingredients wise, it does not contain anything even remotely close.
However, there have been rare incidences in which a wheat based sealant that was used for sealing the wine barrels, leaked into them and caused contamination. Please bear that these incidents were incredibly rare.
For this reason, most wineries have started to eliminate using any type of wheat products in their barrels.
Having said that, it does no harm in confirming what you already know. Just contact the respective wineries to know if they do use a sealant or if their wines have traces of gluten. Most people are pretty helpful and would be glad to help you find a wine that is best suited for your purpose.
Irrespective of whether you have chosen to go gluten-free because you were diagnosed with celiac or gluten intolerance, or, whether you have chosen it as a lifestyle choice, it is completely possible to live a normal life and enjoy an occasional drink. You just need to be aware of the choices you have.
