I had some steamed clams one afternoon at a BBQ this past summer, they were soooo gooood. Later on, the hostess steamed up another batch, and it was then that it dawned on me that I forgot to ask if they use beer in the water to steam them! I asked, and she said she did, so even though it had been a few hours from the first batch without incident and they were so yummy, I decided that it was in my best interest not to tempt fate.

I go this BBQ party every August and have been glutened every time I went, most likely from cc on the grill. This year, I was really good and brought my own hot dog and tin foil for the grill and for the first time I didn't get sick!

Any insight as to why the beer from steam did not bother me at all? Would it be the along the same lines that as long as an alcoholic beverage is distilled (steam?) that the gluten is removed?

1. If they weren't submerged then maybe the gluten protein was too large to be carried in the steam

2. You were very lucky.

3. You were lucky in the sense you did not react, but probably still ingested gluten and may be causing damage to your intestines.

Those are my guesses.