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Celiac.com 03/04/2023 - Being diagnosed as a celiac is always a bittersweet moment. On one hand, we are relieved to finally be able to point to the cause of our long-winded illness. On the other hand, we are inundated (or not) with information about the foods that we can no longer eat. For many of us finding out that we can no longer drink beer is quite a shock. Granted, good gluten-free bread seems to top the list of the most requested gluten-free products, and there are now satisfactory substitutes. When it comes to beer, however, there are no substitutes. Yes, we can drink wine and some other alcoholic beverages, but beer has always had a place in the hearts of the millions. Can you really drink a glass of wine while watching a ballgame or eating a pizza? We think not. The key to brewing gluten-free beer is to understand why barley is deemed to be the perfect brewing grain and used as a base ingredient in almost every commercial beer on the world market. Since brewing beer is heavily based upon the principles of chemistry, determining alternative techniques and ingredients is very difficult, though not impossible. As diagnosed celiacs, we felt that by studying the chemical principles of malting and brewing, we could find a suitable gluten-free ingredient mix and brewing process that would result in high quality gluten-free beers. We also feel that using natural ingredients is critical to the beer’s quality, and we would not want to use any processed ingredients even if it meant lower costs. After several years of testing alternative grains and recipes, we were finally able to prove our hypothesis correct—high quality gluten free beer is not only a possibility—but is now a reality! As part of our venture, we feel that it is also important to educate celiacs and non-celiacs about the issues of gluten and alcohol, obviously concentrating on beer. There have been claims by several companies that their beer is safe for celiacs. We have been unable to confirm or refute these claims— but we do know is this: lagers are deemed to have less gluten than ales, with the lighter lagers (such as pilsners) containing the least amount of gluten. Unfortunately, the global medical and scientific communities do not agree on a safe lower limit of gluten that people with celiac disease can ingest on a regular basis. Another area of controversy is based upon the lack of published research on the gluten sub-components known as peptides and their involvement in celiac disease. While most, though not all, gluten proteins are broken into the smaller peptides during the brewing process, it is unclear whether the remaining peptides are problematic for celiacs. More research is needed in this area before being able to recommend barley-based beers to celiacs. After strong showings at The Gluten Free Living Conference of our Pale Ale and at the Celiac Sprue Association Conference of our Blonde Ale, we are extremely confident that commercial production will begin early in 2003. We have received a lot of e-mail inquiring about our beer and expressing the desire to get some as soon as possible. We are working as hard and fast as possible to make this a reality for all beer-drinking celiacs.

Celiac.com 09/01/2021 - Wondering what beers are NOT gluten-free and unsafe for people with celiac disease? We get a lot of questions from celiac community members wondering if certain products are gluten-free. One question we see a lot is about beers. Specifically, what beers are NOT gluten-free and unsafe for people with celiac disease? The short answer is that nearly every commercially available beer on the market is made with barley, which contains gluten, so unless special enzymes and filtering are used during the brewing process to render them gluten-free, would not be gluten-free. We've written about gluten-free and gluten-removed beers. We've also written about individual non-gluten-free beers, such as Budweiser, but here's an attempt too list as many non-gluten-free beers as possible. Consult wikipedia for a more complete list of traditional beers. A List of NON-Gluten-Free Beers: A AmberBock Anheuser-Busch Augustiner-Brau Ayinger B Beck's Bevo Bitburger Bohemia Boston Beer Company - Samuel Adams, Angry Orchard, Twisted Tea, Traveler Shandies, Angel City, Coney Island Craft Lagers, Concrete Beach Breckenridge Brewery Bud Extra Bud Ice Bud Ice Light Bud light Bud Light Bud Light Cup Series Bud Light Lime Bud Silver Budweiser Budweiser American Ale Budweiser Brewmaster's Private Reserve Budweiser Select Busch Beer Busch Ice Busch NA C Carta Blanca Craft Brew Alliance - Widmer Brothers, Redhook, Kona, Omission, Square Mile cider Coors Coors Light Corona Corona Light D Diageo North America - Guinness, Harp, Red Stripe, Kilkenny, Tusker, Bell, Serengeti, Senator Keg Dos Equis Duvel Duvel Moortgat USA - Duvel, Brewery Ommegang, Boulevard, Firestone Walker F Franziskaner G Gambrinus - Shiner, BridgePort, Trumer Pils Guinness H Heineken - Amstel, Desperados, Sol, Affligem, Tiger, Tecate, Red Stripe and Krušovice, Dos Equis, Amstel Light, Newcastle, Sol, Indio, Carta Blanca, Bohemia, Strongbow cider Hurricane High Gravity Lager K King Cobra (malt liquor) L Land Shark Lager M Michelob Michelob Bavarian Wheat Michelob Golden Draft Michelob Golden Draft Light Michelob Honey Lager Michelob Light Milwaukee's Best Light Miller High Life Miller Genuine Draft Modelo Miller Light N Natural Ice Natural Light Negro Modelo North American Breweries - Genesee, Dundee, Imperial, Labatt (U.S. distribution, owned by A-B), Magic Hat, Portland Brewing, Pyramid P Pabst - Pabst Blue Ribbon, Schlitz, Ballantine IPA, Old Milwaukee, Lone Star, Rainier, Olympia, National Bohemian, Old Style, Primo, Stroh’s, Stag, Schaefer, Schmidt’s, Pearl, Blatz, McSorley’s, St. Ides, Champale, Colt 45 Pacifico Clara Paulaner R Rolling Rock S San Miguel Sapporo Schneider Schöfferhofer Shock Top Singha Spaten Stella Artois T Taiwan Beer Tecate Tsingtao Beer V Victoria W Weihenstephaner Y Yeungling Z Ziegenbock If you're looking for a gluten-free beer, then try one of the many gluten-free or gluten-removed beers on the market. Have we missed some favorite, non-traditional beers of yours? Share your thoughts in the comments below, and we'll update the list as new entries come in.

01/18/2022 - Pretty much every gluten-free beer drinker wants the same thing: a really good beer that just happens to be gluten-free. That may soon become a common thing, if new research has anything to say about the matter. Compared with traditionally brewed beers, gluten-free beers often have an inferior taste and body because they are produced using syrups and sugars introduced during the mashing process. Imparting flavor on gluten-free beers is challenging in the absence of barley malt, which contains key enzymes used to make traditional beers. Producing gluten-free beer from gluten-free malts is challenging because gluten-free malts have lower enzyme activities, points out researcher Darrell Cockburn, assistant professor of food science in the College of Agricultural Sciences. A new mashing process could help to change that. Cockburn and colleagues at Penn State University, including Ryan Elias, professor and associate head of food science, and Helene Hopfer, Rasmussen Career Development Professor in Food Science, have developed a modified brewing procedure using gluten-free malts and lower temperatures to retain enzyme activity, and produce high fermentable sugar concentrations. The process, called the "ExGM Decoction Mashing Procedure" uses malts from gluten-free grains to produce high-quality beers. The process will help brewers using gluten-free grains such as teff, sorghum, rice, millet, corn and buckwheat to produce better-tasting gluten-free beers. By showing that gluten-free grains can produce quality beers, the researchers hope that brewers will use their process to craft higher-quality gluten-free products. Could a simple adjustment to the malting process and temperature lead to major improvements in gluten-free beer quality? It's an exciting prospect. Stay tuned for more on this and related stories. Read more at PSU.edu

Celiac.com 12/23/2016 - As gluten-free beers gain in popularity, it's not unusual that more beer schools are offering lessons in the art of gluten-free brewing. From just a few products ten or so years ago, there are now dozens and dozens of commercially available gluten-free beers. Taking note of the trend, more beer schools are beginning to tailor new classes on the art of crafting fine gluten-free beers. This summer, for example, students at a beer school run by Edmund's Oast pressed into three new classes, including one aimed at drinkers with celiac disease and gluten-intolerance. Taught in summer 2016, Oast's class, "Gluten-be-Gone!" covers gluten-free beers and other brewed options for celiac sufferers. In addition to making gluten-free beers from ingredients rice, sorghum, and honey, brewers have experimented with various enzyme treatments, and other processes, to remove gluten from beer. "It's cool to offer up a beer school class that appeals to folks that can't really attend any of the other ones," Charleston Beer Exchange manager Brandon Plyler says. The class costs $45. If you are interested in learning to brew gluten-free beer, keep your eyes open for local classes, and be sure to share your information in our comments section. Know about any gluten-free brewing classes near you? Let us know in the comments below.

Celiac.com 07/15/2016 - Germans are particular about their beer. Since the 14th century, they have had a beer purity law, called Reinheitsgebot. That law says that beer must be made with wheat or barley, if it is to be called beer. That means that many gluten-free beers brewed without wheat or barley cannot be considered beer in Germany. Now, German brewers are using special "ultra-low" gluten Australian barley to brew the first gluten-free beer that conforms to the strict requirements of the law. The barley is called "Kebari" barley, and was developed by Csiro, an Australian government scientific research agency, which used conventional breeding to reduce the gluten levels to 10,000 times less than regular barley, which more than meets the World Health Organisation's recommendation for calling a grain gluten-free. German brewer Radeberger is using Kebari barley to brew a beer named Pionier, which is the first such beer to conform to the German beer purity law, Reinheitsgebot. Pionier beer is currently only available in Germany, where it can be legally labeled gluten-free. However, while Pionier has gluten levels well below the 20 parts per million levels used by the World Health Organization to classify products as gluten-free, products made with Kebari barley still cannot claim to be "gluten-free" in the United States, Australia or New Zealand under current labeling standards. The first gluten-free beer to meet German purity laws will be very big news among gluten-free beer lovers. Read more at: Foodnavigator-asia.com.

Celiac.com 11/27/2015 - The results of the 2015 Great American Beer Festival are in and the big winner in the gluten-free category is Ghostfish Brewing of Seattle, which brought home the gold and the bronze in that category. Washington Breweries did very well overall, raking in 13 medals across all categories. The Gluten-Free Beer category had 24 submissions, with Ghostfish Brewery taking home the gold for their Watchstander Stout, and the bronze for Ghostfish Grapefruit IPA, while Portland’s Ground Breaker Brewing took home the silver for their IPA No. 5. See the Ghostfish website for a full list of Ghostfish Brewing’s award-winning gluten-free beers. A complete list of all GABF medal winners can be found at SeattlePI.com.