Is barley pure barley?

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Muddydisco

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For the geeks :geek:
Is Barley from the maltsters Pure? or are the strains of barley now hybrid with Wheat?

It comes about cos a mate has asked to make Him a Wheat free Lager?
Having read several sites some claim barley isn't pure anymore and may contain wheat? Is this right???

I also have asked Warminsters this as well seems My malts come from them in a roundabout way.
 
Has your mate got Celiac Disease??
I'd like to know cos my sister in-law suffers with it and I'm wondering if she could drink my lagers if there isn't any wheat malt in.

BB
 
No he's just on a 6 month Allergy test and told to stay away from wheat. Which is fine, but warminsters have just come back and said that barley is barley but may contain traces of wheat from previous years crops etc. <1%
A celiac cannot have either wheat or barley as they both contain Gluten.

Looks like I need to make something out of rice or Sorghum just to make sure there is not wheat floating in it.
 
muddydisco said:
No he's just on a 6 month Allergy test and told to stay away from wheat. Which is fine, but warminsters have just come back and said that barley is barley but may contain traces of wheat from previous years crops etc. <1%
A celiac cannot have either wheat or barley as they both contain Gluten.

Looks like I need to make something out of rice or Sorghum just to make sure there is not wheat floating in it.
Thanks' for the info MD :cheers:

BB
 
muddydisco said:
warminsters have just come back and said that barley is barley but may contain traces of wheat from previous years crops etc. <1%

Sounds like a standard disclaimer. Theres probably nothing else in it apart from mud, small stones, insects and hay, but they dont want to be sued.
 
I think It's more hassle than this is worth i shall Tell my mate to buy commercial beers that are wheat and Gluten free. Other than that drink spirits!
 
Barley Is Barley, Wheat is wheat.

You can get traces of other grains due to crop rotation and storage silos etc, however it is negligible amounts, if barley was part wheat it would be a Hybrid grain that was neither barley or wheat.

Brewing with sorghum good luck Its a real Pain in the **** to mash and the finished beer is :sick:.

You can buy Gluten Free beer in tesco's in the celiac section, just buy a bottle and try it, it will soon put you off the idea of making beer with sorghum.

UP
 
She is a coeliac, and I've been down this road before :roll: As has been said Barley is 99.99% barley, and foreign seeds will have come from the storage silos (unlikely but possible), but most likely from previous years crops of wheat/rye . . . etc . .. either through a missed years germination or more likely from seed fall out during harvesting.

Gluten is a small protein fragment (and the actual allergy component is only around 8 or 9 amino acids long) and is present in a massive amount of grains (in different qtys though) Wheat is certainly out . . . as is barley . . . and rye . . . Corn is OK . . . just a PITA to malt. Sorghum well that is OK too, and generally the extract from sorghum is made by pressing the plant rather than malting . . . although it is possible to malt it . . . and I have a supplier if you are interested . . . minimum order 1 tonne. . . . It is also possible to malt millet (Nigerian Guinness Comes to mind)

It is not all bad news however He can still drink malt whisky . . . which is why mine are now under lock and key :lol:
 
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