Gluten-Free Beer and Line Dancing

 About a month ago, a friend of mine started doing line dance lessons at a local bar. We desperately needed a night out, and we were going to go to dance lessons before our wedding anyway (have I mentioned I'm engaged?), so we figured we would check it out. My friend knew we were coming, and she is on a gluten-free diet also, although she does not drink beer. She asked me which beer I would prefer, and I essentially gave her a list of every gluten-free beer (except the ones that remove the gluten--I'll talk about those later) and said she could get whichever one was the most convenient.

The first week, there weren't many people there, but she had successfully gotten Redbridge Gluten-Free beer into the bar. At $3 a bottle, I thought it was a great deal. She said she had gotten a case for us, and we were responsible for finishing it off. I figured we could easily finish off a 6-pack in a night or two (we're not big drinkers). I soon found out a case was an actual case--as in 24 bottles as opposed to 6 bottles. That might take a bit longer. 

I quickly figured out my fiance cannot dance. He sort of has rhythm, but for the most part, he just can't dance. Lucky for him, I'm not marrying him for his dancing skills. Despite his inability to dance well, he actually tries, which makes me love him even more. 

The second week there were even less people there. In between group line dance lessons, she took the time to start teaching us the two-step. We probably spent half the night practicing. I was actually looking like I absolutely knew what I was doing for the line dances, while he continued to struggle. 

We missed lessons last week because we were both sick, but we made an extra effort to make it out tonight--we have a whole case of beer to go through, so we have to show up ;)

There were about the same number of people tonight as there was the first night. We arrived late, so we missed the initial lessons, but lucky for him, we showed up in time to actually do the dances without the lessons...or not lucky for him... 

My point is that I'm incredibly thankful there is gluten-free beer out there. I think we've gone through 14 of the 24 bottles at this point. I know I never would have paid attention to how much beer a bar had left prior to requiring a gluten-free diet, but despite paying attention to how much is left, there is something incredibly "normal" about going to a bar and drinking a beer out of a bottle. 

I still remember the first time I had a drink out of a bottle after switching to a gluten-free diet. I was at a bar with co-workers when a friend of mine from out of state called. She said she was at a a bar drinking Woodchuck Cider and noticed it said gluten-free right on the label. She was VERY excited about finding this, and she told me that I would probably be able to find it in a bar in my town. One of my co-workers heard me talking, and when I got off the phone, they informed me that the bar we were at carried Woodchuck Cider. The night ended with me drinking too many and getting a ride home which meant walking to work the next day. Thankfully that was only a little over a mile. What can I say, I was excited.

I'm all about those things that make me feel "normal." Getting a beer in a bottle at the bar ranks at the top of the list. Ordering a burger WITH a gluten-free bun is way up there too. 

We normally never go out on Friday nights. We're doing our best to save for our wedding, so nights out are few and far between. Our original plan was to only go the first night for line dance lessons, but we had so much fun, we chose to downgrade our cable package to the lowest package instead so we would have the money to go out once a week. 

I'm tempted to re-read this and post this tomorrow because I've consumed three beers tonight, but I'm going to trust my (future) readers won't judge me too much for not making the best sense when slightly inebriated ;)