If you were an evil deity wanting to design a condition that would cause beer-lovers maximum pain, you couldn’t do better (or, rather, worse) than coeliac disease or the other forms of intolerance that make gluten a punishment.
Gluten is a structural protein complex found in some cereal grains. With coeliac disease, the body’s immune system mistakes gluten as a threat and, in its attempts to destroy it, attacks the small intestine. Gluten intolerance isn’t quite as bad but causes similar symptoms, including diarrhoea and stomach cramps. There’s no cure. If you have either, all you can do is avoid gluten.
The heartbreak for beer-lovers is that gluten is a natural component in wheat, barley and rye — the three main grains from which beer is brewed. If you’re looking for gluten-free grain alternatives in your diet there are plenty, including rice, sorghum, millet and buckwheat. You can make some lovely dishes with these. You can, in theory, make beer from them too. But no one does — or not the brewers who make the gluten-free beers I could find that are commercially available in the UK. That’s because they don’t taste as good as beers made from barley. Brewers often include maize and rice because they’re cheaper and lighter in flavour. But in any beer worth drinking, the base grain is always barley.
Fortunately for the beer-loving coeliac, good brewers can find their way around any problem. Enzymes such as Brewers Clarex were initially used to help clear haze from beer, as an alternative to the traditional way of clarifying beer, with the ground-up swim bladder of a sturgeon (just who discovered this method — and how — is a mystery). However, researchers discovered that the enzymes did more than make vegan-friendly beer — they also neutralised gluten, removing that from the finished beer. As improved diagnosis means the number of gluten-intolerant and coeliac people grows, so too does the number of excellent gluten-free beers.
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There is a caveat. In the UK, for a beer to be classed as gluten-free it needs to contain fewer than 20 parts per million (ppm) of gluten. That’s hardly anything. But while most coeliacs remain unaffected by such a low gluten content, this could still be enough to set the immune system of those with severe coeliac disease on the warpath. There’s also a risk of cross-contamination in a brewery. A brewery could test every batch but there’s no legal obligation to do so. New Zealand and Australia are among countries where these beers would be labelled gluten-reduced rather than gluten-free — but the UK doesn’t use that term.
So here are some excellent “gluten-free” (ie gluten-reduced) beers that are on a par with good regular beers in that style. If you have a severe reaction to gluten, or are concerned, check out the brewery and read up on their practices. Several of these brewers are coeliac themselves and regularly get their gluten content much lower than 20ppm, doing everything they can to make the beers as safe as possible and detailing the process on their websites.
Birmingham Brewing Co Bitter Brummie (4.1%)
birminghambrewingcompany.co.uk, 330ml, £2.95
A modern take on a traditional style, this has the perfect balance of fruity, gently bitter hops and sweet, biscuity malt, with just a hint of liquorice. A great traditional bitter for anyone.
Peroni Nastro Azzurro gluten-free (5%)
tesco.com, 12x330ml, £20.10
You already know whether or not you like mainstream lagers such as Peroni, and many drinkers do. If you’re one of them, the gluten-free version is indistinguishable from the regular one and is probably the best mainstream gluten-free lager out there.
Bellfield Lawless Village IPA (4.5%)
bellfieldbrewery.com, 12x330ml, £31.20
Bellfield was founded by two coeliac friends. This, their most celebrated beer, is a clear, copper-coloured traditional American IPA that has won multiple awards.
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Abyss Brewing Super Pale (4.4%)
abyssbrewing.co.uk, 440ml, £4.25
This hazy pale ale is better than most gluten-rich beers of the style. Tropical fruit hop aromas, creamy and smooth, are perfectly balanced on the palate by gentle bitterness.
Nene Valley Egyptian Cream (4.5%)
nenevalleybrewery.com, 6x440ml, £20
When Nene Valley’s brewers decided to go gluten-free they didn’t tell their drinkers for months and no one noticed. This milk stout proves the claim that they can brew great beers in any style, and they just happen to be gluten-free.
Westbrook Karussell (4.9%)
westbrooksbrewery.co.uk, 8x440ml, £19.99
Founded by the former racing driver Richard Westbrook, Westbrook only makes gluten-free and low-carb beers. This has everything you’d want from a traditional pilsner — a bready, grassy nose and clean palate.