Contamination When Brewing Gluten Free

[merganser]

Hi all,

I'm a reasonably new brewer with eight extract brews under my belt. My 21 year old son has just been diagnosed as a coeliac so I'm looking at doing some gluten free beers and cider for him. I'll probably start with one of the kits that are available before doing my own recipes. I'm a bit concerned about contamination from using equipment that have been used to brew non-gf beers despite standard cleaning and sanitising practises. I have been told that it is safest to use a brand new fermenter to be on the safe side and to use it solely for gf brews. Does anyone have any experience with this? What about used glass bottles and PET bottles? Are they unsafe to use or would contamination be limited to soft plastics?

On a side issue: would it be safe for someone who is lactose intolerant to drink cider that has had lactose added to it during fermentation to sweeten it?

Many thanks for any advice.

 

[unrealeous]

I presume your contamination concern is gluten in your non-gluten beers? It would be much less than 1 drop of 'normal gluten' beer in 23 litres of non-gluten beer. Surely at these levels it wouldn't cause a reaction.

No for the lactose question. The lactose is not fermented and will cause a reaction. I'm a bit of a lactose intolerant character...

 

[seemax]

Australia's regulation considers gluten free to be 5ppm or less. USA is still 200pm and Europe is now 20ppm.

1ml in 23,000ml (23L) is 43ppm.

Not a big risk in my mind... try and see I guess.

Having said that, it's not a case of "a little bit wont hurt" .. it's all or nothing.. the gut generally reacts adversely to any exposure to gluten.'

A research scientist is oz is currently doing some work on the disease and promises a cure (or treatment) within 7 years... but no one is funding it yet.

 

[merganser]

Thanks, some interesting stats there. I wasn't aware that Oz was so much lower than the others. The problem with even a trace at the moment is that it causes 15 minutes of vomiting after eating. The condition had built up quite badly before we got it diagnosed. Not pleasant, so I'm trying to be extremely careful. Thank god for O'Briens Gluten Free Beer. He likes a beer, but they make him feel sick at the best of times. O'Briens was the first beer he's had in the last year that he could enjoy.

Australia's regulation considers gluten free to be 5ppm or less. USA is still 200pm and Europe is now 20ppm.

1ml in 23,000ml (23L) is 43ppm.

Not a big risk in my mind... try and see I guess.

Having said that, it's not a case of "a little bit wont hurt" .. it's all or nothing.. the gut generally reacts adversely to any exposure to gluten.'

A research scientist is oz is currently doing some work on the disease and promises a cure (or treatment) within 7 years... but no one is funding it yet.

 

[unrealeous]

1ml in 23,000ml (23L) is 43ppm.

That should read 1 ml of PURE gluten in 23L is 43 ppm

After a cleaning and sanitatising of your fermenter - the residual gluten in the fermenter would be at trace levels. My 1 ml example was thinking maybe 1 ml of beer (which would obviously have very little gluten...)

Anyway, where your health is concerned - and the relatively low cost of fermenters - probably best advise is play it safe and use a dedicated one.

Good luck with it.

 

[WilhelmC]

I believe unrealeous makes a good point about the level of gluten in beer. However, I would like to answer your questions further merganser from my experience. I myself do not suffer any substance intolerances and have not brewed gluten free beer, but in my previous job I took training and prepared food for children that had extreme anaphylactic reactions to certain substances that had to be avoided at all costs. In some cases even the substance contacting the skin could cause death in a short period of time without medical aid. These substances (i.e. peanuts, fish and eggs) would sometimes come into contact with items (plastic, wood, glass and steel) used to prepare and serve food. Basically, a really good scrub in hot soapy water and thorough rinse would remove them and make them safe to use with these anaphylactic people. Obviously in your household you are not going to throw out things that have stored or come into contact with milk and gluten laden foods, brewing is the same.

Nonetheless, if you feel safer getting a new primary fermentor I would, because its better so to speak to be safe than sorry. The problem is that plastic is semi-absorbent -- causing slight concern -- but not enough to soak up large amounts of gluten if washed thoroughly. As far as bottles are concerned the normal methods of thorough cleaning and sanitising are more than enough to lift gluten, especially off glass. If in doubt clean again and dedicate these articles to gf brewing only.

 

[Millet Man]

Thanks, some interesting stats there. I wasn't aware that Oz was so much lower than the others. The problem with even a trace at the moment is that it causes 15 minutes of vomiting after eating. The condition had built up quite badly before we got it diagnosed. Not pleasant, so I'm trying to be extremely careful. Thank god for O'Briens Gluten Free Beer. He likes a beer, but they make him feel sick at the best of times. O'Briens was the first beer he's had in the last year that he could enjoy.

If he's that sensitive to trace amounts then I would go with separate equipment, as you might know already not everyone with Coeliac Disease has the same sensitivity. I'm lucky in that I'm not super sensitive myself but I know of others like your son that can't handle even tiny amounts. Glass and stainless steel will be fine to use with both with cleaning and sanitising but any plastics I would suggest using separate equipment just to be sure.

Cheers, Andrew.