Celiac.com 08/03/2022 - We get more than a few questions from our readers about which items, brands and products are gluten-free. Lately, we've been getting numerous questions about gluten-free beers. Specifically, what are the best beers that are gluten-free, and safe for people with celiac disease? 

Gluten-Free Beers vs. Gluten-Removed Beers

First, not all gluten-free beers are the same. There are two main types of gluten-free beers: Gluten-Free Beers and Gluten-Removed Beers.

Naturally Gluten-free Beers

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Naturally gluten-free beers are made with all gluten-free source ingredients, and use grains like rice, sorghum, buckwheat, and millet, instead of barley. This is important to many people, especially those with high sensitivity, or the belief that gluten-removed beers may trigger celiac-related problems.

Pros: Guaranteed gluten-free from start to finish. As close to 100% gluten-free final product as it gets.

Cons: Beers made without barley can taste tart, or have a shallow flavor profile. Aren't considered beer under German standards.

A good example of a recent naturally gluten-free beers is award-winning La Grosa Rita  Maragrite-Style Ale. Using without barley or wheat, malted with Rice Extract, and brewed with Zeus and Willamette hops, La Gosh Rita Maragrita-Style Ale offers "All the makings of a margarita, minus the tequila. Bright lime tartness, a bit of agave and orange sweetness and just the right amount of sea salt saltiness, brought together in this super refreshing Margarita Ale.

Gluten-Removed Beers

Gluten-removed beers use traditional source ingredients like barley to brew beer traditionally, then use various enzyme processes to break down the gluten to render the final product under 20ppm gluten.

Pros: Traditional source ingredients. Traditional beer flavor. Test under 20 ppm gluten. Can be labeled as beer according to German purity laws.

Cons: While many people with celiac disease seem to be able to tolerate gluten-removed beers, many claim that these beers trigger adverse symptoms. Still, in Europe, these beers are considered gluten-free, and safe for people with celiac disease.

So what's the real difference? Mainly, taste, and labeling. Currently, the FDA only allows products that are gluten-free from the start, like Holidaily’s millet-and-buckwheat brews, to be officially labeled as “gluten-free.” 

According to the FDA, reduced gluten beers cannot be sold with a gluten-free label. However, most people with gluten sensitivities, even celiacs, are okay drinking them. Also, to further complicate matters, gluten-removed beers are allowed to be sold as gluten-free in Europe.

Gluten-removed beers taste more like traditional beers, because they are made with wheat or barley. The beers made by Portland-based Omission Brewing are a good example. 

Omission beers are made with the standard ingredients: barley malt, hops, water, and yeast. The difference? When the product goes into fermentation, an enzyme called Brewers Clarex goes in with it. The resulting brews contain less than 20 parts per million of gluten are as good as gluten-free. Omission maintains a transparent testing page on its website where you can check gluten levels in their products. Omission beers are brewed and finished to have zero detectable gluten. 

Other breweries, like New Belgium brew and finish their beers to test under 10 parts per million, stricter than the FDA standard.

So, both gluten-free and gluten-removed beers are likely fine for most people with celiac disease and gluten-intolerance. 

Of course, trust your gut, and avoid anything that doesn't agree with you. But, if you tolerate gluten-reduced beers, rest assured that they are likely every bit as safe as naturally gluten-free beers.

Have we missed a favorite gluten-free or gluten-removed beer? Let us know in the comments below.

Naturally Gluten-free Beers

• Anheuser-Busch Redbridge
• Bard's Gold
• Bard's Tale Beer
• Belipago by Jolly Pumpkin
• Brasserie Dupont Forêt Libre
• Brasseurs Sans Gluten Glutenberg Blanche
• Brunehaut Bio Ambrée
• Brunehaut Blonde Bio
• Brunehaut Blanche
• Burning Brothers Brewing
• Coors Peak
• Dogfish Head Craft Brewed Ales: Tweason'ale
• Drummond Gluten Free
• Epic Brewing Company: Glutenator
• Ghostfish Brewery
• Glutenberg American Pale Ale
• Glutenberg Blonde
• Glutenberg Belgian Double
• Glutenberg India Pale Ale
• Glutenberg Rousse
• Green's Discovery Amber Ale
• Green's Endeavour
• Green's Enterprise Dry-Hopped Lager
• Green's India Pale Ale
• Green's Quest Tripel Blonde Ale
• Ground Breaker Corsa Rose Gold Ale
• Ground Breaker IPA No. 5
• Ground Breaker Dark Ale
• Holidaily Blonde
• Holidaily Buckwit Belgian
• Holidaily UFO
• Ipswich Ale Brewery: Celia Saison
• Joseph James Brewing Fox Tail
• La Grosa Rita Margarita-Style Ale
• Lakefront New Grist Ginger Style Ale
• Lakefront New Grist Pilsner Style
• Minhas Lazy Mutt Gluten Free
• Mongozo Premium Pilsener
• New Planet Belgian Style Ale
• New Planet Blonde Ale
• New Planet Pale Ale
• New Planet Raspberry Ale
• New Planet Seclusion IPA
• New Planet Tread Lightly Session Ale
• Nickel Brook Gluten Free
• Nouvelle France La Messagère
• Nouvelle-France Messagère Aux Fruits
• Nouvelle-France Messagère Red Ale
• Otherwise Brewing Calrose Crisp
• Otherwise Brewing Hella Nibs
• Otherwise Brewing IFLS
• Otherwise Brewing Meringue & Tang
• Otherwise Brewing Western Addition
• Schnitzer Bräu Hirse Lemon
• Schnitzer Bräu Hirse Premium
• Sprecher Brewing Company's Shakparo Ale
• Steadfast Beer gluten-free Blonde and Pale Ales
• Steadfast Beer Company's Oatmeal Cream Stout
• To Øl Reparationsbajer Gluten Free
• Whistler Forager

Gluten-Removed Beers

• Alley Kat Scona Gold Kölsch
• Brunehaut Bio Tripel
• Celia Dark
• Estrella Damm Daura
• Estrella Damm Daura Marzen
• Lammsbräu Glutenfrei Lager Beer
• Mikkeller American Dream Gluten Free
• Mikkeller Green Gold Gluten Free
• Mikkeller I Wish Gluten Free IPA
• Mikkeller Peter, Pale And Mary Gluten Free
• New Belgium Glutiny brand Golden and Pale Ales
• Peroni senza Glutine (Lager)
• Short's Brewing Space Rock
• Stone Delicious IPA
• Sufferfest Brewing Company Pale Ale and Lager
• Widmer Omission Lager
• Widmer Omission IPA
• Widmer Omission Pale Ale
• Wold Top Against The Grain
• Wold Top Marmalade Porter
• Wold Top Scarborough Fair IPA

Award Winning Gluten-Free Beers

• Ghostfish
• Jolly Pumpkin's Belipago IPA
• La Grosa Rita Margarita-Style Ale

Award Winning Gluten-Reduced Beers

• Omission