Sweet news for people in the Pittsburgh area who can't drink beer because they can't tolerate gluten:

	John Heller, Post-Gazette Ramapo Valley says its gluten-free beer "goes against the grain," because it isn't made with any. Click photo for larger image.

A gluten-free beer is now available here.

Oh, and it's also kosher for Passover.

Passover Honey Beer is made by the Ramapo Valley Brewery of Hillburn, N.Y.

It contains no barley nor any grain. It's brewed with just honey, a "hint" of molasses, hops, kosher-certified yeast and water.

That makes it safely drinkable by people who have celiac disease, a condition in which gluten proteins -- found in wheat, barley, rye and other grains -- destroy the nutrient-absorbing lining in their small intestines, leading to other health problems.

Many would say that without some kind of malted grain, it's not really beer -- more like mead.

But Ramapo's co-founder, Egon Lizenberg, insists that Passover Honey is a beer -- "I haven't seen any wine with hops yet" -- and the federal labeling authorities apparently have agreed.

Mr. Lizenberg acknowledges, "It's hard for it to taste like the beer that you and I know because we've taken everything away from it. But it does have a trace of a beer taste."

And that's enough for celiacs across the country who have been clamoring for the brew and making it the brewery's best seller.

Gluten-free beer is hard to find. A sorghum-malt brew, Bard's Tale Dragon's Gold, was being contract-brewed in Buffalo for about two years and was very popular in places as near as Youngstown. But it never was available here and now is temporarily unavailable anywhere. "We have some pretty unhappy customers," says George Fisher of Cavalier Distributing in Blue Ash, Ohio, who's telling them he expects it back in March.

A few gluten-free beers are commercially available in Europe, Australia and Canada, but not yet in the United States. Milwaukee's Lakefront Brewery just this fall started making a version, New Grist, that's also selling like gluten-free hot cakes. It's carried by some stores in Ohio -- see www.lakefrontbrewery.com -- where some Pennsylvanians have been driving to get it. Brewery co-owner Russ Klisch says the brewery is talking with Pennsylvania distributors now.

Lakefront has found out, as did Ramapo Valley, that celiacs are a thirsty and vocal lot.

"The celiac community demands their products," says Mr. Lizenberg, whose Passover Honey Beer started as a novelty that he says tasted "horrible."

Celiacs seized on it, though, and soon, he was taking kegs of improved versions to celiac gatherings around the country. He now sells it in several states and is having a hard time keeping up with demand. The brewery is soon is to start offering a gluten-free raspberry beer (www.ramapovalleybrew-ery.com).

Bringing Ramapo's gluten-free brew into this region is the South Side's Frank B. Fuhrer Wholesale Co., which began delivering it to area outlets Tuesday. General manager Ed Haubrick says a case retails in the high $30 range. One outlet that's just started selling six-packs ($13.49) and singles ($3) is 3 Sons Dogs & Suds in Pine. Owner Bill Sukitch says he's already had many inquiries.

One came from Linda Weissert of McCandless. The U.S. Steel secretary found out about a year ago that she can't tolerate gluten. She's not a big beer drinker but was nonetheless excited to learn, from a colleague who is an officer in the Greater Pittsburgh Celiac Sprue Support Group, that the gluten-free beer is available. "I use it so much in cooking. It's killing me to make chili without a bottle of beer in it," as well as other recipes such as beer batters and fondues.

She and her husband picked up a six-pack at 3 Sons Tuesday night, the first night it was to be available, and she liked it. "The initial taste tasted just like beer, and then it's very sweet." She planned to use it last night to cook beer steak.

Other celiacs can ask their local distributor or other outlet to carry the brew.

Mrs. Weissert notes that one in 133 people is affected by the condition, a figure used by the Celiac Disease Foundation. Last year, the National Institutes of Health estimated it at up to one in 100, roughly 3 million Americans.

Many have different or no symptoms, so this autoimmune disease is difficult to diagnose. Untreated, it can leave the intestines unable to absorb nutrients. Problems range from diarrhea and fatigue to anemia, osteoporosis and other conditions.

Most celiacs are fine if they vigilantly avoid anything containing even minute amounts of gluten, which -- even with the new 2006 rules requiring labels to note if a food contains wheat and seven other potential allergens -- is no easy task.

"Now the only thing we need," Mrs. Weissert says with a laugh, "is a pizza place in town that makes real, honest-to-God pizza" -- with celiac-safe crust.