mxx1's avatar

The snow in New York and the beer in Brazil

[guest entry by Nic]

Gluten is a protein ABCDEFG; however, only the part CDE triggers intestinal damage for celiacs. This is a gross oversimplification, of course, but sometimes that is required. Gluten is (IRL) the whole alphabet all curled up on itself (more than once).

Gluten tests (performed on food and beverages) look for gluten by detecting a part of the gluten molecule. Let’s call it EFG. This is also an oversimplification, but I’m on a roll. If EFG is present, then CDE must be there, and so it is.

When barley or rye is subject to the distillation process to make whiskey, the gluten in the barley or rye is chopped up so much that it is essentially letter soup. The gluten is snipped into A and B and C and D (and so on) and is rendered powerless. Celiacs can drink whiskey. I still don’t know why they would, because of … the taste (gags), but they could.

When making beer, the gluten is also snipped up, just not as much (lower alcohol, less processing). I have read that gluten is reduced by about 70%, and only fragments of gluten remain. Probably some long fragments. In wheat beer, there is evidence to say CDE is still present. However, in some beers, made from barley, people argue CDE is not present. Noone really knows because, firstly they don’t really know which part of the gluten is the problem (is it really CDE?), and secondly all brewing processes snip differently some more aggressively than others.

Corona is one such beer where people argue that CDE is not present. Corona has become the “gluten free mystery”. Even the owner company cannot tell you if Corona is gluten free. They have probably tried to tell if gluten is there, but it’s almost impossible. Since the test for gluten looks for EFG, the test is unreliable. If EFG is detected, it no longer follows that CDE is there because the gluten has been snipped. All the test does now is tell you “something from gluten is there… but not the bad bit”. It actually means the test is useless. There is a researcher at the University of Newcastle or something developing a better beer test. Arguably, there is no such things as gluten free beer – unless it’s made from a starting grain that is not barley or wheat (eg sorghum or rice). Rice beer you can drink all day (gross).

Anyway, back to Corona. Instead of relying on test data, people who claim corona is gluten free rely on human data. Most people who get intestinal discomfort can drink Corona with no problems. They conclude therefore that the CDE is not there. There’s enough anecdotal data that makes the case. Accordingly, I label corona as “may contain”. Celiacs are permitted by celiac gods to consume “may contain” as a personal choice.

Now here’s the exciting part. I am in Brazil and today I was given a Corona after a long day. I noticed Portuguese writing on the back of my bottle, so I read the label. I am interested in where Corona is made, because of the gluten issue. In Mexico, corona is made in Mexico. In the US, the Corona is made in Mexico. In Australia, unfathomably, Corona is made in China. It turns out that in Brazil, Corona is made in Brazil. It also turns out, in no uncertain terms, and in an epically odd move, there is wording on the Brazilian bottle which states: this Corona is made using a Brazilian method and contains gluten.

This stopped me in my tracks. I cannot drink the Corona! Moments like these cause me to wonder why I’m being tortured! Like when the restaurant runs out of GF buns just as I order a burger, or when someone opens a bag of pretzels on the plane and they fly all over my GF meal.

There is nothing about Brazilian Corona on the internet. Nothing. I cannot find anyone even whispering about it in a corner. Possibly it’s because they’re all whispering in Portuguese. Or because no one but me really cares. The waiter tells me they usually have the Mexican stuff out the back, but they ran out. Maybe a run of celiacs came through.

Anyway, I say all this for the ether. I will continue to read the literature on GF beer testing. There are developments afoot. I’ll continue drinking Corona as it may only contain gluten (except in Brazil), and I’ll continue to enjoy myself. Beer is one of life’s great pleasures and I’m rooting for it to be consumable, guilt free. I’m actually hoping more evidence can be found to determine if there are other GF beers, although I suspect it depends on batch and so we will always have a “may contain” label. Unless… guided by the more accurate tests, the brewers can work out how to keep brewing until the bad part of the gluten is gone. If anyone out there wants some grant money, let me know. I’m an interested investor.