Low Gluten in Beer

Carlsberg Group is the 4th largest brewery group in the world and Carlsberg beer is sold worldwide. I tested Carlsberg on two gluten thresholds, here is the result.

Beer: Carlsberg
Producer: Carlsberg Group
Originating country: Denmark
Brewing location: Germany
Bottle size: 0.5 l
Alcohol by volume: 5.0%
Ingredients: water, barley malt, hops (translated from German)
Miscellaneous:  Brewed and bottled in Germany.

Test Kit: GlutenTox Home Kit

I did the test twice, first with a threshold of 20 ppm and then 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.

The picture on the left shows the result with the 20 ppm threshold, picture on the right 5 ppm threshold

Test result: Both tests are negative. In these tests Carlsberg has less than 5 ppm gluten (or even no gluten). However, it is not a medical advice – please see my facts page.

Here is my first test with GlutenTox Home. Heineken is in the Top 10 of the best selling beers in the world and won the recent poll.

Beer: Heineken
Producer: Heineken Brouwerijen
Originating country: Netherlands
Brewing location: Netherlands
Bottle size: 0.33 l
Alcohol by volume: 5.0%
Ingredients: water, barley malt, hops (translated from German)
Miscellaneous:  –

Test Kit: GlutenTox Home Kit
Preparation: For testing beer the gluten extraction process can not be skipped. Beside the test kit and beer sample have a stopwatch handy.

The pictures below describe the test process (from left to right).
1.Preparation
2.Using extraction solution
3.Using dilution solution

Test result: To determine the level of gluten I set the detection threshold to 40 ppm which means I used just one drop of the sample. The limit of detection depends on the number of drops, please find some more information here.

After consultation with Biomedal this is negative result. That means the gluten level is either below 40 ppm or there even is no gluten in this sample at all (please note the detection threshold is set to 40 ppm). In case of a positive result a clearly visible red line would appear on the right of the test stick ( T ). As the blue control line ( C ) appeared the test has been executed correctly.

In this test Heineken has less than 40 ppm gluten (or even no gluten). However, it is not a medical advice – please see my facts page.

Today I tested one of my favourite beers – Gambrinus from Pilsen (Plzen), Czech Republic. Gambrinus is the best selling beer in Czech Republic but also sold in Germany. It offers excellent value and has a nice smooth taste.

Beer: Gambrinus Premium
Producer: Plzesky Prazdroj
Originating country: Czech Republic
Brewing location: Czech Republic
Bottle size: 0.5 l
Alcohol by volume: 5.0%
Ingredients: water, barley malt, hops (translated from German)
Miscellaneous:  –

Test Kit: Imutest Gluten-in-Food Kit

Test result: There is a clearly visible pink test spot on the left of the test area ( T ) which indicates the presence of gluten. According to the instructions a “very low gluten” level of 20 to 100 ppm should give a test spot which is weaker or similar in intensity to that of the control spot ( C ). But the test spot is a bit darker.

Each test kit is a quality assay included which helps to interpret the result. There the intensity is scaled from 1 (barely visible) to 20 (dark red) whereas the control spot is estimated 6/7 (light pink). And as mentioned above this is the recommended level for very low gluten in the sample.

On a scale from 1 to 20 I would rate Gambrinus a 8/9 so it has a bit more than 100 ppm. Even though this test is positive please note it is not a medical advice – see my facts page.

Here is the first test.

Beer: Corona Extra
Producer: Grupo Modelo
Originating country: Mexico
Brewing location: not stated on label, assumption is Mexico as the back label says imported
Bottle size: 0.355 l = 12 Oz.
Alcohol by volume: 4.5%
Ingredients: water, barley malt, corn, rice, hops, papain, ascorbic acid, alginate E405 (translated from German)
Miscellaneous:  Seems to be determined for German and Polish market (back label details in German and Polish).

Test Kit: Imutest Gluten-in-Food Kit
Preparation: For testing beer the gluten extraction process described in the instructions can be skipped as the gluten in beer is already solubilised. Find some more information here. Beside the test kit and beer sample have a stopwatch handy.

The pictures below describe the test process (from left to right).
1.Preparation
2.Using the diluent liquid
3.Using the visualisation solution

Test result: There seems to be no gluten in Corona. 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 there is absolutely nothing to see. 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) this test is not a medical advice – please see my facts page.