<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

Bonnie J. Tyler wrote:

> Because proteins and even short peptide segments cannot evaporate, they
> are removed with 100% efficiency in the distillation process... distilled
> vinegars and alcohols do not contain gluten.

I disagree with the above statement.  Dr. Tyler assumes the distillation
process is allowed to continue until complete (as would generally be the
case in a laboratory or industrial process).  This is not usually the
case in food/beverage processing.

For example, in making whiskey (from barley, corn, and/or rye), the
desired product has a high alcohol content as well as good color and
flavor.  If the distillation process were allowed to continue until
complete, the result would be pure grain alcohol, which has no color and
no taste.  "Everclear" is such a product--it is around 180 proof (90%
alcohol), the remainder being mainly water.  Because Everclear has no
taste (and almost no odor), its only practical use is to spike other
beverages.

In a whiskey still, there will be three main fractions.  The lightest
faction will be primarily grain alcohol (ethanol).  The middle fraction
will be water.  The bottom fraction will be a mixture of proteins,
complex carbohydrates, sugars, etc.  It is the bottom fraction which has
almost all of the flavor.  THE GOAL OF THE DISTILLATION PROCESS IS TO
REMOVE WATER.  This means PARTIALLY distilling the liquid to concentrate
the flavors, and then ADDING BACK the alcohol.  The product is then
filtered, aged, and bottled.

I think it is entirely likely that if a whiskey was made with rye and/or
barley, it contains gluten.  A whiskey made only with corn would be
gluten-free.  The trouble is that often the raw materials are a trade
secret.

The same goes for other products made through fermentation-distillation,
such as certain vinegars and liquors.  **IF** wheat, rye, barley, or
oats were used as raw material, gluten is probably in the end product.