[Don Engstrom]

Hi All,

My wife was recently diagnosed with celiac disease so she is now strictly gluten free. She isn't a beer drinker so I'm not looking for GF recipes, I am just trying to figure out how safe it is to continue brewing "traditional" (ie has gluten) beers at home.

Should I be grinding grains/doing my boils outside? OK to do inside if she is out for the day? I do my ferments in the house. Any issues there? Trying to figure out what the best practices are. Searched the forms first, but most of the posts look like brewing GF beers which I am hoping to avoid if it's safe to do so.

This all new to me so any guidance would be much appreciated, thanks!

[Slowbrew]

I have a sister-in-law who has celiac disease and both of their kids do too.  They are also very sensitive to gluten, so brewing at home is out of the question for my brother.  Generally you need to find a way to isolate the grain/grain dust from coming in contact with her as much as possible.  If you can designate an area where you brew and isolate it from the rest of the house that would be best.

Second best is to move at least the grain grinding and initially mixing the mash outside to control the dust.

Beyond that, it depends on how sensitive she is to external contact.  In the days before COVID I would have said to schedule your brew days on days she goes shopping or with her friends.  Now days it is more difficult.

Good luck on finding a combination that works for your family.

Paul

[ahgrafx]

Wherever there's a chance of a gluten containing grain to be airborne you should be doing outside. Once it's wet it should be airborne and can come in the house.

Sent from my HD1905 using Tapatalk

[Don Engstrom]

Thanks Slobrew & ahgrafx,

This mostly confirms what I was thinking. So grind the grains outside, but once the grains are wet, I'm good to go, correct?

The room where I ferment (and where my wife spends a lot of time) has a strong beer smell, especially during primary. I normally love this, but with the celiac diagnosis so new, it had me paranoid.

[Richard]

There is no gluten in the aroma. Read up on what gluten is and where it is. My wife was diagnosed with celiac disease about 15 years ago. Her problem is mild, so I can use the same toaster that she does, bake regular bread in our kitchen, etc. She eats her own bread, pasta and crackers but that is about it. I use Clarity Ferm in all my beer and she can drink that with no problems, but I understand that doesn't work for everyone.

[Steve Ruch]

Switch to extracts?

[Don Engstrom]

Hey Steve,

I'm an extract brewer but it's the additional speciality grains that I'm thinking about. I usually crush them at home but will either crush them outside (probably better practice anyway) or at my local homebrew supply store.

[pete b]

Crushing at lhbs seems best

[Steve Ruch]

Hey Steve,

I'm an extract brewer but it's the additional speciality grains that I'm thinking about. I usually crush them at home but will either crush them outside (probably better practice anyway) or at my local homebrew supply store.

There are some good extract blends that can be used instead of extract and specialty grains. I have a Zymurgy piece about extracts that is scheduled for the  July/August issue.

[Don Engstrom]

Cool. I'll keep an eye out for extract blends and the Zymurgy article.

[Steve Ruch]

Cool. I'll keep an eye out for extract blends and the Zymurgy article.

I made an excellent schwarz bier with the Baltic black extract from Williams: pilsner, munich, midnight wheat, melanoiden, and special b.