Category: News

It’s Oktoberfest time in Germany and during this time a special beer is available which is bottom-fermented, contains strong alcohol but has a very smooth taste. Just don’t drink too much of it to avoid a headache. But what about the level of gluten? There are previous studies which show very low gluten for two tested Oktoberfest beers. According to a research from  November 2009 done by the National Food Agency of Sweden the gluten content is as follows:

Hofbräu Oktoberfestbier – 26 ppm
Löwenbräu Oktoberfestbier – 21 ppm

I will test both again. Stay tuned for the test results.

Today I received a free sample of GlutenTox Home Kit (5 tests). Everything in the box looks very tidy and professional. The kit seems to be easy to use to detect gluten in foods and beverages.

I had a very nice conversation with Juan Garcia from Biomedal (manufacturer of the kit) who provided some additional information on the kit’s capabilities. For testing beer the extraction step is also required, hence all kit equipment is needed. With this kit gluten can be detected based on thresholds. To measure down to a level of 5 ppm 10 drops of the extraction solution need to be added to the dilution solution, 4 drops for 10 ppm, 2 drops for 20 ppm and 1 drop for 40 ppm.

Each kit consists of the following:
-a bottle containing extraction solution (yellow cap)
-a bottle containing dilution solution (blue cap)
-a plastic spoon
-a plastic pipette
-a GlutenTox Home stick with another pipette

Here are some pictures of the kit (click on the thumbnails to enlarge).

Today I received a free sample of Imutest’s Gluten-in-Food Kit (5 tests). After reading the instructions it seems to be very simple. Food samples require a gluten extraction step before testing but for beer it is even simpler as the gluten (if present) is already solubilised.

Peter McCulloch, Chief Executive of Imutest Ltd., wrote me a nice email explaing the detection limit of gluten in beer will be even lower (1-2 ppm) than for solid food (10-20 ppm). This means that this test kit will give a very sensitive and accurate positive result even if there is only a tiny amount of gluten present.

Each kit consists of the following:
-a tube containing yellow food sample extraction solution ***
-a tube containing colourless diluent liquid
-a tube containing pink visualisation solution
-a scoop 0.5cc = 0.5ml ***
-a blue coloured centrifuge tube ***
-a self-measuring pipette 0.15ml
-a cotton bud ***
-a GFT (Gluten Flow-Through) test unit

*** not required for testing beer

Below are some pictures of the kit (click on the thumbnails to enlarge). I will now start testing the first beer – stay tuned for the result.

Welcome to my blog about gluten content in beer. I already have a nice collection of different beer which I hope to get tested soon. I am now looking for a test kit which is easy to use on one hand but gives useful results on the other.

I am going to test the most relevant and best selling beer in the world as well as some of the ones I personally like. I guess I will start with these ones:

Corona – Mexican beer which is believed to be gluten free (we will see)

Gambrinus – From Czech Republic, one of my favourite beers.