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<\/a>Chef Lino Marchi and Jessica Newton during a dinner service at Caprese Ristorante Italiano, Ottawa\u2019s only completely gluten-free restaurant.<\/p>\nCaprese carries two gluten-free beers: La Messag\u00e8re, a buckwheat and rice beer brewed by Quebec microbrewery Les Bi\u00e8res de la Nouvelle-France, and New Grist, a sorghum and rice beer brewed by Milwaukee\u2019s Lakefront Brewery Inc.<\/p>\n
Marchi is happy to provide gluten-free beer options for patrons at Caprese, but wishes they weren\u2019t so expensive.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe beer itself is about twice the price of regular beer,\u201d he says while catching a short break during an evening dinner service. \u201cWe pay about $16 for six beers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Caprese charges $6.95 for the gluten-free beers – the same price as a regular premium beer. Marchi says rather than passing that cost along to customers, the restaurant accepts a cut in its profits.<\/p>\n
For the average beer drinker, going gluten free is \u201ccost prohibitive,\u201d says Roger Mittag, who teaches beer tasting seminars and trains brewers through his Toronto-based company, Thirst For Knowledge Inc.<\/p>\n
Because the ingredients used in gluten-free beers \u2013 most often rice, sorghum and buckwheat \u2013 are less commonly used, the malting process is much more expensive says Mittag.<\/p>\n
If large malters, like the Canada Malting Company, began carrying these ingredients, says Mittag, it could \u201cdramatically bring down the price for brewers.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI also believe that if more brewers get involved in gluten-free beers it will probably drive the cost down.\u201d<\/p>\n
Paying more for common foods and drinks is nothing new to Quintin Wight, spokesman for the Ottawa chapter of the Canadian Celiac Association.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s always more expensive,\u201d explains Wight. \u201cAlways.\u201d<\/p>\n
Contamination is also a fear for celiacs<\/p>\n
Wight and his wife both have celiac disease and eat a completely gluten-free diet. Even a small amount of gluten will make Wight so ill that he has to stay in bed for the day.<\/p>\n
The side effects from eating gluten vary widely among those with celiac disease. Wight\u2019s wife, Willow, is a \u201csilent celiac\u201d meaning that she has no obvious side effects. Wight himself will vomit within a few hours of having contaminated food. Others get diarrhea.<\/p>\n
Since the beers are natural and unpasteurized, the cans have to be refrigerated and last for about six to eight months.<\/p>\n
\u201cCross contamination is a great factor,\u201d he explains. \u201cIt only takes 28 milligrams to do measurable damage. That\u2019s the size of half of a grain of rice.\u201d<\/p>\n
That means that a company making gluten-free products must carefully clean their utensils and machinery.<\/p>\n
This could be a major roadblock for large-scale brewers, where sanitizing production areas would be a major-undertaking. It\u2019s a different story for operations like the Perth Brewing Company, where customers choose custom beer ingredients and add their own yeast during the brewing process.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Our gluten-free beer is] brewed in its own kettle, that\u2019s cleaned, and we filter it in clean, brand-new filters,\u201d says Cathy Brown, co-owner of the Perth, Ontario, business. The custom brewer came up with the recipe for the sorghum beer last spring.<\/p>\n
For $150.00, customers get six cases of beer, with 24 cans in each case. The beer is brewed on site with no preservatives. Since the beers are natural and unpasteurized, says Brown, the cans have to be refrigerated and last for about six to eight months.<\/p>\n