Low Gluten in Beer

Pilsner beer style is the most common in Germany. Around 50% of the beer lovers prefer Pilsner rather than the many other styles like Weissbier (wheat beer), Lager, Helles etc.

Krombacher is the second best selling beer in Germany. It is actually quite good, nothing special but not bad at all. Due to smart marketing e.g. in football, handball, hockey and basketball it is one of the few brands which grow.

Beer: Krombacher Pils
Producer: Krombacher Brauerei
Originating country: Germany
Brewing location: Germany
Bottle size: 0.5 l = approx. 16 Oz.
Alcohol by volume: 4.8%
Ingredients: water, barley malt, hops, hops extract
Miscellaneous: –

Test Kit: GlutenTox Home Kit

I tested with a threshold of 5 ppm. The limit of detection depends on the number of drops taken from the extraction solution, please find some more information here.

Test result: There is no indication of the presence of gluten above 5 ppm. According to the instructions there should appear a clearly visible red test line on the right of the test area ( T ) to indicate the presence of gluten. The blue line on the left test area ( C ) is a control line and indicates that the extract/sample is suitable, the test has been performed correctly and all reagents are active. Again please don’t take any of my test results as a medical advice – please see my facts page.

You have voted for Heineken in the recent poll. After I tested Heineken already on a 40 ppm threshold a while ago here is the test result with a more useful 5 ppm threshold. And because of the result I tested Heineken a third time – on 20 ppm. Please see below what happened and my conclusion.

Beer: Heineken
Producer: Heineken Brouwerijen
Originating country: Netherlands
Brewing location: Netherlands
Bottle size: 0.4 l
Alcohol by volume: 5.0%
Ingredients: water, barley malt, hops extract (translated from German)
Miscellaneous:  –

Test Kit: GlutenTox Home Kit

I tested with a threshold of 5 ppm. The limit of detection depends on the number of drops taken from the extraction solution, please find some more information here.

Test result: A barely visible red line appears on the right of the test stick ( T ). The red line is quite weak however, it indicates the presence of gluten equal to or above 5 ppm. The blue line on the left test area ( C ) is a control line and indicates that the extract/sample is suitable, the test has been performed correctly and all reagents are active. Even though this test is positive please note it is not a medical advice – see my facts page.

From my first Heineken test in 2013 we already know that the level is below 40 ppm. The second test now shows that the 5 ppm threshold has just breached. So we are getting closer to a result but we are still not there. Hence I tested again and this time on the 20 ppm threshold.

Test result: There is no indication of the presence of gluten above 20 ppm. According to the instructions there should appear a clearly visible red test line on the right of the test area ( T ) to indicate the presence of gluten. The blue line on the left test area ( C ) is a control line and indicates that the extract/sample is suitable, the test has been performed correctly and all reagents are active. Again please don’t take any of my test results as a medical advice – please see my facts page.

Conclusion: The gluten level in Heineken is somewhere between 5 and 20 ppm. Because of the very weak red test line after the 5 ppm test I would say that Heineken is closer to 5 than to 20 ppm.

Test on 40 ppm = negative
Test on 20 ppm = negative
Test on 5 ppm = positive

Please note the different picture colours are due to the fact I wanted to visualize the test results better and used image editing software. As explained the red line on the 5 ppm test was barely visible but it was there. But on the original picture (taken with my smartphone camera) it was not really visible, hence I used the software to enhance the picture quality.

There are not many Belgian beers available in Germany. Well, there is actually no need to import beer from Belgium as the German beer is generally good but Belgian beer has a good reputation in the world. From the few Belgian beers I found most contain strong alcohol and wheat like Chimay and Grimbergen. One exception is Duvel, no wheat according my internet research (see below the ingredients are not listed on the label) but still strong alcohol. Alcohol delivers flavour so Duvel has a crisp taste. But for me it has too much alcohol and too much gas so it will not become one of my favourites. And here is the gluten test result:

Beer: Duvel
Producer: Brouwerij Duvel Moortgat
Originating country: Belgium
Brewing location: Belgium
Bottle size: 330 ml = approx. 12 Oz.
Alcohol by volume: 8.5%
Ingredients: water, malt, yest, hops (internet research)
Miscellaneous: Ingredients not listed on label

Test Kit: GlutenTox Home Kit

I tested with a threshold of 5 ppm. The limit of detection depends on the number of drops taken from the extraction solution, please find some more information here.

Test result: There is no indication of the presence of gluten above 5 ppm. According to the instructions there should appear a clearly visible red test line on the right of the test area ( T ) to indicate the presence of gluten. The blue line on the left test area ( C ) is a control line and indicates that the extract/sample is suitable, the test has been performed correctly and all reagents are active. In this test there is no indication that Duvel has more than 5 ppm gluten. However, it is not a medical advice – please see my facts page.

I recently had the chance to drink a bottle of Brooklyn Lager, a very nice American beer which tastes completely different to the, well, typical American style beers. It was refreshing and crisp and not flat at all. And of course I wanted to see how much gluten it has. Moreover, it claims to have less than 5 ppm (please keep in mind the widely accepted gluten free level is 20 ppm):

“None of our beers are gluten free. Unfortunately, we don’t routinely test for gluten content in our beers. We are only able to quantify up to 5 ppm of gluten and confirmed that Lager has less than 5 ppm of gluten. Unfortunately, our current production demands do not allow us to produce a gluten free beer.”

Source: http://brooklynbrewery.com/about/faq

Here is my test result:

Beer: Brooklyn Lager
Producer: Brooklyn Brewery
Originating country: USA
Brewing location: USA
Bottle size: 12 oz = 0.355 l
Alcohol by volume: 5.2%
Ingredients: malted barley, hops, water, yeast
Miscellaneous: –

Test Kit: Imutest Gluten-in-Food Kit

Test result: There is no indication of the presence of gluten. According to the instructions there should appear a clearly visible pink test spot on the left of the test area ( T ) to indicate the presence of gluten. But this test is negative. The pink spot on the right test area ( C ) is a control spot and indicates that the extract/sample is suitable, the test has been performed correctly and all reagents are active. Even though the detection limit in this kit is very low (1-2 ppm) and the test is negative please note this is not a medical advice – please see also my facts page.

Pilsner Urquell is the surprising winner of the latest poll. Because of the popularity of the American Budweiser I thought the Czech Budweiser will clearly win the poll but the majority voted for Pilsner Urquell. This beer is also famous as it was the first Pilsner style brewed beer. Here is the gluten test result:

Beer: Pilsner Urquell
Producer: Plzesky Prazdroj
Originating country: Czech Republic
Brewing location: Czech Republic
Bottle size: 0.5 l = approx. 16 Oz.
Alcohol by volume: 4.4%
Ingredients: water, barley malt, hops, hops extract (translated from German)
Miscellaneous: Ingredients listed in German as product sold in Germany

Test Kit: Imutest Gluten-in-Food Kit

Test result: There is no indication of the presence of gluten. According to the instructions there should appear a clearly visible pink test spot on the left of the test area ( T ) to indicate the presence of gluten. But this test is negative. The pink spot on the right test area ( C ) is a control spot and indicates that the extract/sample is suitable, the test has been performed correctly and all reagents are active. Even though the detection limit in this kit is very low (1-2 ppm) and the test is negative please note this is not a medical advice – please see also my facts page.

As with the recent Warsteiner validation test I also tested Beck’s a second time using a different test kit. In the first test I used the Imutest test kit which uses the antibody Skerritt. And here is the result with Biomedal’s kit which uses the G12 antibody.

Beer: Beck’s
Producer: Beck’s Brewery/Anheuser Busch InBev
Originating country: Germany
Brewing location: Germany
Bottle size: 0.5 l = approx. 16 Oz.
Alcohol by volume: 4.9%
Ingredients: water, barley malt, hops
Miscellaneous: –

Test Kit: GlutenTox Home Kit

I tested with a threshold of 5 ppm. The limit of detection depends on the number of drops taken from the extraction solution, please find some more information here.

Test result: There is no indication of the presence of gluten above 5 ppm. According to the instructions there should appear a clearly visible red test line on the right of the test area ( T ) to indicate the presence of gluten. The blue line on the left test area ( C ) is a control line and indicates that the extract/sample is suitable, the test has been performed correctly and all reagents are active. In this test there is no indication that Beck’s has more than 5 ppm gluten. However, it is not a medical advice – please see my facts page.

Dorada is a very nice beer from the Canary Islands which belong to Spain. The Canaries have a mild climate all year and so a cold Dorada is always an option even during Canarian winters. Mainly tourists from England, France, Germany, Netherlands and the Scandinavian countries visit the islands to enoy the sun. And for all those who are sensitive to gluten and plan to go there this test is for you.

Beer: Dorada
Producer: CCC (Compania Cervecera de Canarias)
Originating country: Spain
Brewing location: Spain
Bottle size: 0.5 l can = approx. 16 Oz.
Alcohol by volume: 4.7%
Ingredients: water, barley malt, hops (translated from Spanish)
Miscellaneous: –

Test Kit: Imutest Gluten-in-Food Kit

Test result: There is no indication of the presence of gluten. According to the instructions there should appear a clearly visible pink test spot on the left of the test area ( T ) to indicate the presence of gluten. But this test is negative. The pink spot on the right test area ( C ) is a control spot and indicates that the extract/sample is suitable, the test has been performed correctly and all reagents are active. Even though the detection limit in this kit is very low (1-2 ppm) and the test is negative please note this is not a medical advice – please see also my facts page.