Gluten free brewer serves ale in Fort Collins
He would go to breweries with friends and family, but was never able to enjoy a beer himself because of a gluten intolerance that prevents him from ingesting the protein found in specific grains.
Gluten is a major component in beer found in barley, wheat and rye. Lundie, a 54-year-old Loveland home brewer, was able to concoct his own gluten free beer recipe that he pitched to Steve Jones, owner of Pateros Creek Brewing.
Jones sampled some of the gluten free beer made with sorghum, a cereal grain, and said it wasn’t bad. Jones and Lundie tweaked the recipe a bit and made five barrels of what is now called Greyrock Cream Ale.
The beer, described as a sorghum and gluten free oats-based ale with a hint of orange peel and a citrusy hop nose, is on tap at Pateros Creek and is a hit with gluten free patrons, Jones said.
Lundie has several more gluten free beer recipes that he is working on at home. He said one day he would like to open his own gluten free brewery in Northern Colorado.
The niche brewery would have a draw, as more than 1,000 people in Fort Collins have gluten allergies. More gluten free products are popping up to meet the needs of customers in what is considered a $921 million industry.
Lundie had digestive issues for years until he tried a gluten free diet.
The difference was like night and day, he said. However, he has never officially been diagnosed with a gluten intolerance. “It was really difficult. Probably the most difficult thing was there were a lot of things I really liked I could not have . things you never would think have gluten, like soy sauce,” he said.
There are intolerances to gluten and then there is a more serious disease called celiac disease, a condition that damages the lining of the small intestine so that the body can’t absorb the food and nutrients needed.
The damage is the result of a reaction to eating gluten found in wheat, barley, rye and oats, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
The exact cause of celiac disease is unknown, but it can develop at any age. Women are affected more than men by the disease, which can be hereditary. Those who have a family member with the disease are at greater risk.
Symptoms associated with the disease range from abdominal pain and indigestion to depression and fatigue. There is no known cure for celiac disease, but it can be managed with a gluten free diet.
One out of every 133 people in the United States has celiac disease, according to the Celiac Disease Foundation, yet 97 percent of people that have it go undiagnosed.
That means an estimated 1,082 people in Fort Collins likely have celiac disease and only about 30 have been diagnosed.
Melissa Wdowik, director of the Kendall Anderson Nutrition Center at CSU, said celiac disease and gluten intolerance is on the rise due to better diagnosis and increased awareness. However, there is still a lot of misinformation and misdiagnoses.
A CD diagnosis can best be determined with an intestinal biopsy, which many people never get. The food industry, which promotes gluten free as a “diet” option, only further muddles the matter, Wdowik said.
“The problem is not everyone knows what they have, so there is misuse of the term,” Wdowik said. “In the medical community, people will do blood and genetic tests first and try to diagnose based on that. A lot of people self diagnose. It could do more harm than good.”
In addition to one in every 133 people having the disease, Wdowik estimated up to 30 percent of the population suffers some sort of gluten intolerance.
Wdowik provides counseling and cooking classes for people with gluten issues and said that her classes always sell out.
Fort Collins has a number of gluten-free options between stores such as Sunflower Market, restaurants like Lark Burger and beer including New Planet beer, contract brewed at Fort Collins Brewery.
Shantel Hansen, co-founder of the gluten free blog, Digestible Diary, moved to Fort Collins with her husband Dave Rizzotto, a beer lover, in part due to the rich brewery scene.
When Rizzoto learned he could no longer have gluten it was hard for him to part with beer, Hansen said.
When Hansen discovered Greyrock Cream Ale, she was so excited that she set up a tasting of the brew for the gluten free community.
More than 50 people from around the region turned out to try the beer and fill out a survey, she said.
“He (Jones) is on to something,” Hansen said. “It’s going to be like wildfire once restaurant owners realize there is a need for gluten free beer. I think it will be awesome.”
Gluten free Recipes with Bill & Sheila
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