Tristan Wright was once an avid whiskey drinker. He and his wife spent time traveling the American Whiskey Trail collecting special bottles along the way. But, Wright says, he was slowly poisoning himself.

The owner of Lost Boy Cider in Alexandria, Virginia, says about four years ago he started developing headaches and severe joint and back pain. His symptoms came to a terrifying head one night when he developed worrisome chest pains. After about nine months of grueling medical tests, he finally found out what was wrong.

“We learned that I have a severe soy allergy,” he recalled. “And [we] also came to realize that all of the large processing plants that process wheat in the nation generally process soy.”

Wright had to give up whiskey and beer. But he still wanted to drink. So, he started making cider. He opened Lost Boy Cider early in the summer of 2019. He says it’s a place where people with similar food restrictions—and those without—can come and enjoy a naturally gluten-free, soy-free beverage.

Imbibing is a tradition in the Washington region, and new watering holes open all the time. But people with allergies to wheat or soy, or who have Celiac disease may have a hard time enjoying some of their favorite libations. One challenge is finding a bar that offers drink options for people with dietary restrictions.

Clearing Up Some Gluten Misconceptions

About one in every 133 people in the U.S. have Celiac disease, an autoimmune disease triggered by a resistance to the gluten protein, according to researchers at the University of Chicago. Many people with Celiac have yet to be diagnosed. Most are not diagnosed with the disease until they are past the age of 20.

Gluten is found in wheat, barley, and rye. When a person with Celiac eats a gluten-based grain, the body treats the protein as a toxin and begins attacking the small intestines, the area of the digestive system where the protein is most prevalent. Celiac is very difficult to diagnose because symptoms vary from person to person. But Celiac is not the same as a wheat allergy or even gluten-intolerance, says Jules Shepard, an expert on gluten-free living and cooking.

“You can have a true allergy to wheat and not necessarily to the gluten itself. So, those folks who have a wheat allergy have to avoid wheat entirely but they may be able to eat barley or rye depending on the nature of their allergy,” Shepard says.

People with allergies to wheat, barley, rye, or even soy will need to stay away from distilled spirits and most standard beers. See more on those types of alcohols below.

Wine, Cider, Hard Seltzer

There are a lot of nuances to finding the right beverage to suit your health restrictions. A few good drink options for people who have issues with gluten or soy are cider, wine, and hard seltzer.

“Not a lot of people know that cider is [basically] wine. It’s not brewed, it’s fermented,” Wright says.

Cider and wine are both made from fermented fruits like grapes, apples, and pears. Fruits are naturally soy-free and gluten-free. Lost Boy Cider is even experimenting with tropical varietals like passion fruit and exotic plants like the butterfly pea flower, which is native to Thailand. The flower is not only safe for people who have issues with wheat and soy, but it’s also loaded with antioxidants. (Imagine, a cider that’s actually kind of good for you.) The deep violet color of the flower is what gives Lost Boy’s “pixie dust” cider its gorgeous purple hue.

Some mass-produced hard ciders like Mike’s Hard Lemonade are often fermented from grains that contain gluten, Shepard finds. She recommends looking carefully at the packaging of malt beverages before indulging.

There are some gluten-cautious wine drinkers that have raised concerns about possible trace amounts of gluten ending up in wines that have been aged in oak barrels that are sealed with a wheat flour paste. The paste is a standard sealant in the wine industry. Tricia Thompson, a registered dietician and researcher, tested several bottles of wine from an unnamed winery and found that the gluten parts per million in the wine were well below the Food and Drug Administration’s standards. Her testing concluded that wine, even though it contained trace amounts of gluten, remains a gluten-free alcoholic beverage.

It’s also important to note that not all winemakers use wheat flour paste to seal oak barrels. Many use wax rings, which do not cause problems for people with gluten issues.

Hard seltzer is a growing fad in gluten-free adult beverages. They’re light, fruity, and refreshing, especially during the hot, Washington summers. These beverages are made with seltzer water, natural fruit flavors, and alcohol derived from fermented citrus and sugar. The libations are certified gluten-free by the Gluten-Free Certification Organization.

Hard Or Distilled Alcohol

Shepard says, despite their ingredients, distilled alcohols are gluten-free. If a product contains grains like wheat, barley or rye and it “…goes through that distillation process. What comes out on the other side—your whiskey, your bourbon, your vodka, your gin—unless gluten is added back to it, there is no gluten in that distilled alcohol.”

The gluten protein is removed during the distillation process. However, Shepard says, distilled alcohol still contains wheat, barley, rye and, as we learned from Wright’s research, even trace amounts of soy. People with allergies to these products may still have issues with spirits and might want to avoid them altogether.

Then There’s Beer!

Beer remains the drink of choice for most Americans, according to research from Nielsen Holdings. Shepard says an easy way to tell if a beer is naturally gluten-free is to check the label.

“If you, as a consumer, turn the package over and you see a nutrition label that we’re all familiar with, then you know it’s regulated by the FDA, which means it’s naturally gluten-free,” she says.

Gluten-free beers are brewed just like standard beers, but instead of using wheat-based grains, brewers use alternative grains like sorghum, millet, and buckwheat.

“They’re interesting grains that don’t quite approximate the flavors you’d expect from barley, rye, or oats,” says Greg Engert, beer director for the Neighborhood Restaurant Group which includes ChurchKey in D.C. “Although I would say that buckwheat is probably the one that approximates the flavors of gluten-laden grains more than others.”

ChurchKey carries about a dozen gluten-free beers at any given time. They also carry gluten-reduced beers, which are made the standard way, but some gluten has been removed during the brewing process. This is done by adding an enzyme that breaks down the gluten protein. Gluten-reduced beers are not recommended for people with Celiac or wheat allergies.

If you can handle a gluten-reduced beer, you might notice the smell and flavor is similar to that of a standard beer because it contains standard ingredients. However, if you’re thinking of switching to gluten-free beer, you will notice the difference.

“Side-by-side, you can say one smells and tastes like a standard beer and one tastes different,” Engert says. “Sorghum, millet and buckwheat have a different flavor than barley and wheat. I think that that’s going to be hard to disagree with.”

It’s important for people who suffer from gluten issues to know that they have plenty of options, Engert says. This includes not drinking at all.

Here’s a list of some local bars and restaurants that offer up specialty drinks for people with gluten issues:

Lost Boy Cider – Alexandria, Virginia

ChurchKey – Logan Circle, D.C.

Fare Well – H Street, D.C.

Brookville Beer Farm – Brookville, Maryland

This story originally appeared on WAMU.