<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>
 
>Date:    Fri, 11 Oct 1996 14:00:31 PDT
>From:    "Donald D. Kasarda" <[log in to unmask]>
<snip>
>                                      I would say that the general
>conclusion last time around was that no beers brewed from barley or wheat
>are safe, even though the amount of harmful peptides in them may be very
>small. I would guess that any beer that is made from hops is also based on
>barley or wheat, but I could be wrong.  We didn't deal directly with
>Sapporo, but someone checked on Modelo Negro and posted that it was brewed
>from barley.
 
I'd tend to agree w/ Don.  I brewed beer for several years before
being diagnosed late last year.
 
Purists will say that "beer" is made from four ingredients (and four
ingredients only): barley (malted or somtimes toasted), hops, yeast
and water.  The barley is the source of fermentable sugars; the hops
are used for their aromatic and bittering characteristics; and the
yeast is the source of fermentation.  Brewers will sometimes use
other ingredients to take the place of some (but not all) of the
barley.  Common adjuncts are wheat (in a Hefewiezen), rice and corn.
 
To give you an idea of the quantities of each of these ingredients,
for a 5 gallon batch of beer (about 9 6-packs), you'd use about 7 pounds
of malted barley, 2 to 3 ounces of hops, and a small package of yeast.
So the hops make up a very small (though very potent) portion of the
beer.
 
Don't get me wrong, there are beers brewed from stictly GF ingredients.
There are beers brewed solely from rice, corn, millet, sorghum, etc.,
but I'd bet that they are not widely available.  I'd also hazard a
guess that a beer made w/o barley will not really taste like the beer
we knew and loved.  I'd be interested in hearing from those who have
reported success in making GF beer to see if it really does taste like
a regular (malted barley) beer, or if it merely is an acceptable
substitute (which I'd very much enjoy having right about now :-)
Maybe I'll have to get my act together and brew myself a batch of GF
beer.
 
Jack Rann
Portland, OR