[muawiyah]

At the same time the "wheat" gluten (a protein found in wheat, barley and rye) is essentially a poison to those with wheat intolerance, a not insignificant percent of the adult population (3.4% in fact).

It simply makes beer impossible to drink.

Ergo, beer with barley malt is not really beer to that population.

[Mr. K]

Is barley malt beer gluten-free???

[Redcloak]

 Ergo, beer with barley malt is not really beer to that population

While it's possible to make alcoholic concoctions that don't contain barley or other grains, as a brewer, I wouldn't call them beer. Beer without barley is like barbecue without meat. A certain percentage of the population might find that appealing, but most of us would not.