Beer of the Week - St. Peter's G-Free Ale

I read a stat somewhere that said that 1 out of every 133 people have some form of celiac disorder, which makes them allergic to gluten in grain products. Fortunately I am one of the 132 people that don't have this, but having high blood glucose levels and read Wheat Belly, I have cut out most wheat products. As a result, my sugar has dropped dramatically and I never feel bloated.

You are likely wondering what this has to do with beer.

I love beer, which, of course, is made with malt, which is made from barley, which is a grain. As I love trying all sorts of beer, there will always be a little grain in my diet but I wondered what a gluten-free beer would taste like. I have heard that most are not very good but came across an article in the Toronto Star by their beer writer Josh Rubin about St. Peter's G-Free, who said that this particular beer is pretty tasty, so I had to give it a try.

The difference between this and other gluten-free beers is that this uses sorghum in place of barley malt. Sorghum is an ancient cereal grain that has been grown for thousands of years and has a very high drought tolerance.


Being gluten-free isn’t sorghum’s only bragging right. It’s also a whole grain that provides many other nutritional benefits. Sorghum, which doesn't have an inedible hull like some other grains, is commonly eaten with all its outer layers, thereby retaining the majority of its nutrients. Sorghum also is grown from traditional hybrid seeds and does not contain traits gained through biotechnology. (The author of Wheat Belly claims that changes made through biotechnology to increase farm yields has made wheat an unhealthy food).

Some specialty sorghums are high in antioxidants, which are believed to help lower the risk of cancer, diabetes, heart disease and some neurological diseases. In addition, the wax surrounding the sorghum grain contains compounds called policosanols, that may have an impact on human cardiac health. Some researchers, in fact, believe that policosanols have cholesterol-lowering potency comparable to that of statins.

So, this could be an extra healthy beer but how does it taste?

I have written about St. Peter's Brewery before. The brewery was built in 1996 but St. Peter's Hall that houses the brewery restaurant was built in the early 1500s, held its first feast in 1539, and comes complete with a moat constructed in the 11th or 12th century.

The G-Free pours golden in colour with an almost non-existent white head that disappears quickly. There are no lacings. This is acceptable though as this ale contains no barley malt. When I snap the cap to the beer, I am hit right away with the aroma of hops. After taking a better smell, I also notice some grass mixing in with the hops.

The G-free starts on the sweet side but then the hops come through in the finish. There is a bit of a different taste to this, not in a bad way, just different. I tell you that if I had a gluten allergy, this would be the beer I would turn to.

Beer of the Week Stats 

Beers Profiled 296
Breweries 266
Countries 45

Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight, and Find Your Path Back to Health

A while ago I read the book Wheat Belly, a groundbreaking book that promotes the fact that wheat is bad for you.

Renowned cardiologist, William Davis, MD explains how eliminating wheat from our diets can prevent fat storage, shrink unsightly bulges, and reverse myriad health problems.

Every day, over 200 million Americans consume food products made of wheat. As a result, over 100 million of them experience some form of adverse health effect, ranging from minor rashes and high blood sugar to the unattractive stomach bulges that preventive cardiologist William Davis calls “wheat bellies.” According to Davis, that excess fat has nothing to do with gluttony, sloth, or too much butter: It’s due to the whole grain wraps we eat for lunch.

After witnessing over 2,000 patients regain their health after giving up wheat, Davis reached the disturbing conclusion that wheat is the single largest contributor to the nationwide obesity epidemic—and its elimination is key to dramatic weight loss and optimal health. In Wheat Belly, Davis exposes the harmful effects of what is actually a product of genetic tinkering and agribusiness being sold to the American public as “wheat”—and provides readers with a user-friendly, step-by-step plan to navigate a new, wheat-free lifestyle.

Informed by cutting-edge science and nutrition, along with case studies from men and women who have experienced life-changing transformations in their health after waving goodbye to wheat, Wheat Belly is an illuminating look at what is truly making Americans sick and an action plan to clear our plates of this seemingly benign ingredient.

At the time, I had just spoken to my doctor about going off Janumet pills which I was taking twice a day to control my sugar and was finding that even by switching to whole wheat bread and pastas, it really didn't help much.

What I read in Wheat Belly totally made sense. Dr. Davis' argument is that this is no longer our parents' wheat that is being used in products, the wheat that was grown in the 50s and 60s all around the world. In the 1960s, geneticists managed to change the genetics of wheat being grown to increase a farmers yield. Agricultural geneticists claim was the new wheat still contained all the same properties of the old wheat. However there are extra properties added such as gliadin. It's not gluten. I'm not addressing people with gluten sensitivities and celiac disease. I'm talking about everybody else because everybody else is susceptible to the gliadin protein that is an opiate. This thing binds into the opiate receptors in your brain and in most people stimulates appetite.

The doctor also deeply stresses how carbohydrates affect blood sugar. In fact, when Canadian Dr. Fredrick Banting was researching and discovering a cure for diabetes, his original 1922 publication speaks of limiting carbs in diabetic children to just 10g per day. One slice of bread can have 25 or more!

Davis talks about a Temple University study of obese diabetics who reduced their carbs to just 21 grams per day. Not only did their blood sugar drop, but there was an average loss of 3.6 pounds per patient in just 2 weeks!

After reading this book, my glucose level was between 13 and 14. I got it down to the low 9s before summer, then got lazy. What I found was when I cut out most wheat, I never felt bloated and was less gassy. I have been eating pasta and had some buns lately and my sugar has risen and I feel bloated and gassy.

Maybe I should reread the book. I believe there are a lot of truths in Wheat Belly! I'll be writing more of my experience of getting back on track by cutting out wheat and carbs.

Recipe - Paleo Slow Cooker Classic Beef Stew

Teena received a copy of the cookbook, The 163 Best Paleo Slow Cooker Recipes, and did a review on it. All the recipes are 100% Gluten Free and many look delicious.

The Paleo Diet is one that is similar to that of our ancestors, who were hunter-gatherers, which means eating food that is as close to its natural state as possible.

Some key points include: increasing your consumption of protein in the form of naturally raised meat and wild fish and seafood limiting carbs sources to include fruit and veggies that are low in starch, as well as certain nuts and seeds forgetting most of what you have been taught about fat ... as long as it is "natural", fat is fine no grains or legumes no refined sugars and oils or processed foods.

I flipped through the book and marked the recipes that I wanted to try. I am not a fan of stews as all the food in a stew seems to taste the same, whether it is the meat, potato or vegetable. Teena loves stews so I thought this would be a chance to try a stew recipe from scratch to see if it makes a difference for me, so I decided to make the Classic Beef Stew. Interestingly enough the photo of this recipe also graces the cover. If I don't like it, I'm sure Teena will!

This recipe is for a 3 1/2 to 5 quart slow cooker. The ingredients needed are:

2 tbsp (30ml) extra virgin olive oil 
2 lbs (1kg) stewing beef cut into 1 inch (2.5 cm) cubes
2 onions, finely chopped
4 stalks of celery, thinly sliced
4 large carrots, peeled and diced
2 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp (5 ml) dried thyme or 1 tbsp (15 ml)  fresh thyme
1 tsp (5 ml) sea salt
1/2 tsp (2 ml) cracked black peppercorns
2 bay leaves
1/2 cup (125 ml) dry red wine (or beef stock)
1 cup ( 250 ml) beef stock
1 tbsp Beef demi-glaze

To start with, I did not have any demi-glaze or homemade stock. The idea of a demi-glaze is that it is an intensely flavored stock that has been reduced to a state of concentration to add a burst of flavor to dishes. Properly done it becomes very jelly-like. What I did was I took a half a can of Campbell's Concentrated Beef Bullion, added about a half cup or so of regular beef stock to it and reduced in a pot 'til there was about a tablespoon left.

So here is the recipe:

In a skillet on medium heat, add the beef in batches to brown. This takes about 4 minutes to do for each batch. Transfer to the slow cooker using a slotted spoon to save the juices in the pan.

Add the onions, celery and carrots and cook about 7 minutes, stirring often until the vegetables are softened. Add garlic, dried thyme (if using fresh, set it aside) sea salt, peppercorns and bay leaves, then cook for only a minute.

Add the wine and continue stirring scraping up any beef bits that are stuck to the bottom or the pan (called deglazing). Then add the stock and bring to a boil. This is where you add the demi-glaze.

Transfer mixture to the crock pot and stir well. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours, or on high for 3 to 4 hours. If using fresh thyme, add it in 3/4 of the way through.

Make up mashed potato using a drier potato and when the stew is done, pour it over top or to the side. I like it to the side. The recipe says this serves 6.

I enjoyed it and more importantly, Teena really liked it. She wants me to make it again for her sometime and to me, that says it all about this dish!

Italpasta Gluten Free Pasta Dinner at 7 Numbers

Teena was invited to a gluten free dinner, hosted by Italpasta to promote their gluten free pasta line. The event was held at a very nice Italian restaurant,  7 Numbers on the Danforth.

This event will be hosted by Italpasta and will feature enticing (and easy to replicate!) gluten free dishes that are sure to tickle your palate. Guest speaker Julie Daniluk, acclaimed nutritionist, author and TV personality will be speaking about the different types of gluten sensitivities and how accommodating those restrictions doesn`t mean sacrificing taste.

We started with drinks and then moved into the dining room for supper. I loved the wine holder on the wall.

Laura Dal Bo, Marketing Manager for Italpasta, told us the history of Italpasta, which was founded in 1989 and is located just outside of Toronto. They have many lines of dried pasta and just last year introduced the gluten free line. It is made with both rice and corn, so should have some sweetness. They just obtained their gluten free certification from the Canadian Celiac Association which will soon appear on all their gluten free products.

Laura then introduced Julie Daniluk who is a well-known nutritionist, author and speaker and has appeared on shows such as Dr Oz. She explained how gluten is found in wheat, barley, rye, durham spelt and some oats. Apparently 1 in every 133 people have a serious gluten issue, one that will actually eat away at their stomach lining. Julie knows this as she has the issue. Many other people have various degrees of gluten allergy.

The menu was all vegetarian, which is unusual for me, but it was all excellent ... not enough to turn me into a vegetarian, mind you.The first dish of the night was Eggplant Pasta Salad. Turns out it was my very favorite of the night. It was so flavorful and refreshing that I would love to make this to take to work! The recipe is not yet on the recipe section of their website, but I was promised it soon would be.

Next up was Primevra Pasta. It too was fabulous!

This was followed up with Penne Rigate with sun-dried tomatoes and roasted garlic. I liked it but admittedly picked out the sun-dried tomatoes which I don't like.

The final pasta dish was Spaghetti with Fava Bean Pesto. I am a pesto fan and enjoyed this dish. The fava bean sauce made this a very hearty dish!. If I were vegetarian, I would have this quite a bit!

I am not a great fan of vegetables but enjoyed the grilled zucchini, that I only captured blurred pictures of, and surprisingly liked the grilled asparagus, something I don't usually like.

It was a fabulous night and I met a lot of nice people and had a great meal. We came away with gift bags, featuring the Italpasta products which I plan to use in the future.

Thanks to Italpasta and 7 Number for a great night!