Recently, gluten-free Philly posted something very interesting about a new so-called gluten-free beer that is just hitting the U.S. market. There seems to be evidence that some items made with barley can be rendered gluten-free, and therefore might be acceptable for people with celiac to consume. Interesting news in my opinion. gluten-free Philly’s blog post can be found here. This new beer is made from various grains including barley. Due to how the product is processed, it is rendered gluten-free – and tested to be proven so – according to the manufacturer. Some research about this item seems to confirm that many people with celiac or gluten intolerance routinely enjoy this beer made in Spain without issue.
My first thought was that if all the other “normal” beers made with barley contain gluten, how could this one from Spain be rendered gluten-free? Apparently, it’s all related to a process that could be compared to the distillation of grain alcohols. Those are also gluten-free, regardless of what grains were used to create them. Though this fact has been proven time and again, the myth about people with celiac having to drink vodkas made from potatoes or soy simply won’t die. Drink what you will, but according to every celiac expert and dietitian I’ve consulted with, pure distilled alcohols are gluten-free. The only way they can contain gluten is if gluten flavors are added back in after the distillation process.
After reading rave reviews about this new beer from Spain, I sure hope to be able to try it myself eventually. If I’m able to find it, I’ll be sure and review it here. I’ll also be able to confirm if it’s gluten-free or not, based on how I feel after I drink it. It is actually great to be able to know if you’ve mistakenly ingested gluten. There are no ifs, and, or buts about it. My body lets me know without question when gluten has gotten into my system. I can’t imagine not knowing by consuming something if it contains gluten or not. It’s a very nice perk to have that assurance.
One might wonder if it’s possible for companies to make gluten-free beer with barley, and why the major U.S. breweries aren’t doing it here. My guess is that they would have no way of knowing how to since the first thing anyone reads about what contains gluten includes the word barley. Right off the bat, most companies would assume that anything they plan to make for the gluten-free market should not contain wheat, rye, barley, or non-gluten-free oats. Keep in mind that the U.S. is 5-10 years behind many other countries regarding the gluten-free market.
Redbridge is the top-selling gluten-free beer in the U.S. and the sales were so low in Publix stores that the company pulled the beer from its beer schematic back in January of this year. The store near me brings it in on customer request, but it’s stocked in the gluten-free food section and not in the beer cooler. The real estate in the beer cooler is way to valuable to put a product that doesn’t move well. Redbridge was reformulated this spring and tastes better to me, but many people don’t like the fact that the alcohol content was reduced quite a bit with the new formula. At least, that is the situation at Publix stores.
Now that I know that apparently barley can be used to make gluten-free beer, I’d really like to see companies that make wine coolers with barley malt try to render their wares gluten-free. Now that would be something to get excited about!
Tiffany, Many of us who keep gluten free won’t consume anything that started with gluten ingredients and then removed them. Kikoman claims that their brewing process renders all of the gluten inactive. Many of us don’t agree. Unless the people who brew the beer you refer to have submitted it for mass spectrometer analysis, they really don’t know if the beer is gluten free or not – menaing that the toxic peptides have been denatured. The mass spectrometer analysis is very, very expensive. In view of the new research coming from Australia that identified a large number of peptides as being active for celiac disease and three being extremely active, I’m going to hold off judgement and continue staying away from “gluten-removed” foods. I just don’t trust the science, and I am a scientist.
Thanks for wieghing in Vic. I’m not a scientist so I have to trust experts that test products like blue cheese (even those started from mold), alcohols and vinegars for gluten. Maybe Zach at Gluten-Free Raleigh can get a hold of the new beer to test it with the test strips he ordered. So far, I can’t find the new brew in GA. I’ll be sure to try it when/if I find it to see if I react to it. Have a great day!
Hi Tiffany,
I saw your article and thought you may be interested in what has happened to my sourdough bread tested in Australia as not detectable for gluten….so gluten free. I have had numerous friends and relatives with Coeliac disease eat my bread now for months without their normal severe reactions. Would you like to do an article, or for now would you like a copy of the bread test results? Have sent 5 more away for testing expected to receive in time for Christmas. Kind Regards Rick Nelson from The Pocket Storehouse Bundaberg QLD Australia
I have had the new beer from Spain (Estrella Damm Daura) and it is wonderful. Most US beers are likely to be under 20 ppm gluten content. I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease five years ago and I still drink Bud Light and Corona with no problems. In fact, I’ve had follow-up endoscopies and blood work and my Celiac is in remission because I stick to a gluten-free diet. According to a study conducted in Sweden, they have listed which beers are under 20 ppm. I wish Anheiser Busch and other US beer companies would simply do the test on all their beers and share it with the public. I’m sure AB would rather sell Redbridge at 7.99 a six-pack to Celiacs. However, wouldn’t they have a broader consumer base if they showed us that Bud Light is indeed “gluten free” and under 20 ppm? Redbridge is not widely distributed so many Celiacs don’t have access to it but they ALL have access to Bud Light. Just a thought. Here’s the Swedish study:
Well, I too have had celiac for almost 10 years now, and although I loved our WI Lakefront Brewery ‘New Grist’ it was super cidery, onward to Redbridge and I liked it a lot more, then onto our WI Sprecher “Shakporo” and I was in love!!! While visiting friends out in CO, I came across this same one from Spain and LOVED it the most. I did not get sick, and from a girl who has lost her colon to a missed Celiac diagnosis, who gets immediate reactions when she ingests gluten, this says a LOT for this beer! I just got my local grocer in MKE to carry it for me =)
I live in UK and was diagnosed with Celiac about 3 years ago. I have been drinking Redbridge and a UK based Ale GFA by Hambleton. also made from Sorghum. While I have never had any reaction to these, every time I have tried the Spanish or Belgian deglutenized barley beers I have had a strong reaction. My digestive system cannot tell the difference between normal barley and deglutenized barley, and I’m not alone.
I too had a reaction to Estrella.
I love Estrella Damm Daura, the beer from Spain. It is less than 6ppm and is made using a product that is not yet available for home brewers – Brewer’s Clarex. The product has been used for years in commercial brewing. It is supposed to be available for home brewers, through White Labs. Until I start making my own beer, I will continue to drink the Estrella Daura. The first time I drank it, I was in a bar & was sure they had given me a regular beer (it tasted so good). I started to have a reaction but realized, it was in my head (because I was so sure I had been “glutinized”.
Once I checked out the information on the beer, I decided to try it again. I have not had any reaction and I am a Celiac who must remain on a strict GF diet.
If you get the opportunity, give it a try.
Has anyone else tried a “standard” beer in the U.S. like Bud Light or Corona Light w/ no problems? With the summer coming, I really am wishing I could kick back with a lite beer on weekends and at cookouts. I do drink some GF beers, but they are all so “heavy” in my opinion (not to mention high in calories). Could it really be true that the gluten be distilled out??
YES–Alex! My husband and I both drank Bud Light last night with no apparent reactions. And we react very quickly after ingesting gluten—heartburn, stomachache etc. We don’t like Redbridge, plus more often than not we have reactions to it. The other GF beers are not only expensive and really hard to get, but we have also reacted to many from overseas. We need another couple of days to be 100% sure the Bud Light is GF—-but considering my gut feeling that it is GF enough for occasional drinking, I will now condone it. We regularly get sick from Labeled GF items and are tired of getting what we call GF Gluten. If I am going to get glutenized these days—-I think I’d rather enjoy the food item that makes me sick to begin with!
Just as an update, the “de-glutinizing” process is now used on on at least these all-barley-malt beers: Two Brothers Prairie Path Pale Ale, made in the suburbs of Chicago and on store shelves her, and Omission (Lager and Pale Ale), made by Widmer Brothers in Oregon and launching nationally. The Omission is certified at less than 20 ppm by third-party testing with each batch. There’s even a code on each bottle you can use to look up its test results. I know this won’t help everybody, but it shows the process is being more broadly adopted.