Drink Craft Beer, Skip the Gluten
If you walk around the grocery store, you may have noticed the recent spike in products proclaiming that they’re “gluten free.” This is in response to a growing percentage of the population becoming aware of gluten sensitivity. While the reactions to gluten may vary, some common reactions are dermatitis or shortness of breath. Unfortunately for those who have gluten sensitivity, beer is made from barley which contains gluten. So should they give up beer completely? Thankfully there are alternatives out there.
First, we need to understand how much a beer can affect gluten sensitivity. The average slice of whole wheat bread has roughly 5 grams of gluten per slice. A serving of pasta can have as much as 6.5 grams. Beer on the other hand has anywhere from 0-400 mg/L. Even the highest levels of gluten in beer would equal less than 10% the gluten contained in a slice of bread. That said, even as little 10 mg of gluten per day can be problematic for those with Celiac Disease.
Luckily, there are numerous options for those who are looking to avoid consuming gluten. While still a specialized product with a narrowly targeted market, there are a few that have risen to the top in terms of RateBeer users getting a chance to try them. Bard’s Original Sorghum Malt Beer, the Green’s lineup of beers (Amber, Dubbel and Tripel), Redbridge by AB-InBev and Lakefront Brewing’s New Grist Sorghum Beer. These beers can be found across the United States at most locations where a wider beer selection is available.
These beers represent an interesting test for the RateBeer community. In general, this community is made up of your typical craft beer drinkers, specifically, those who can consume gluten. When tasting gluten-free beers, we’re holding them to the same standard as we would any other beer. Also, we’re attaching a stigma to the beer, knowing that it doesn’t contain barley.
With that in mind, the highest rated beer among these widely available beers would belong to the Green’s Endeavour. The most popular (or most commonly rated) would be Lakefront’s New Grist Sorghum Beer.
For more Gluten Free choice, I’ve included a list of all of the beers I was able to encounter below. If you know of others, please include them in the comments. One note, if a beer is listed here, that doesn’t mean it will be available locally. For example, All beers from The Alchemist are available only at their pub in Vermont.
- 5 Seasons Westside Gluten Free Pale Ale
- Alchemist Celia IPA
- Alchemist Celia Pale Ale
- Alchemist Celia Saison
- Bards Tale Dragons Gold
- BeerUp Glutenfrei
- Better Bitters Bull’s IPA Gluten Free
- Bi-Aglut 76
- Billabong Blonde Gluten Free
- Deschutes Gluten Free ESB
- Deschutes Gluten Free Kristal Weizen
- Deschutes Rootin Tootin Low Gluten Ale
- Earth Glutenus Minimus
- Greens Discovery
- Greens Endeavour
- Greens Explorer
- Greens Herald
- Greens Mission
- Greens Pathfinder
- Greens Pilgrim
- Greens Pioneer
- Greens Premium Golden Ale
- Greens Premium Pils
- Greens Quest
- Greens Trailblazer
- Jolly Pumpkin Golden Manatee Gluten Free Sour
- Lakefront New Grist Sorghum Beer
- Les Bières de la Nouvelle-France La Messagère
- Les Bières de la Nouvelle-France La Messagère Rousse
- Liebharts Residenz Bio-Reisbier Glutenfrei
- Neumarkter Lammsbräu Glutenfrei
- Neuzeller Lebensfreude Glutenfrei
- OBrien Premium Lager
- Ramapo Valley Passover Honey Beer
- Redbridge
- Riedenburger Gluten Frei
- Schlafly Sorghum Beer (Gluten-Free Ale)
- Scotts Gluten Free Pale Ale
- Sprecher Shakparo Ale
- Sprecher Mbege Ale
5 Comments to “Drink Craft Beer, Skip the Gluten”
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I should add, that one naturally gluten-free option would be hard cider. I didn’t include those in this post because I felt it fell outside of the realm of beer for this topic.
st. peters (UK) makes a sorghum beer. green bottles tho…
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Estrella Damm makes a gluten-removed beer called Daura which contains less than 6ppm. It has none of the unusual flavors associated with sorghum beers. My gluten concerned customers are ecstatic about it. I still carry Endeavor, Quest, New Grist and Bard’s. However, Daura is rapidly becoming the most popular.
New Planet in Boulder makes a few, including Raspberry ale bombers. Haven’t had them myself, but seem to be regarded by my customers as on a similar level to Green’s Endeavor.