Low Gluten in Beer

With Willy’s test of Brand Pilsener we achieved the milestone of 100 tested beers. In August 2019 we conducted the 100th gluten test but now we have reached the 100 beers. As announced already I will focus on different things and not test so much anymore. If you have tests completed and want to share the results you still can reach out to me of course. The site will stay alive as we still have more than 20.000 visitors per month (real visitors, no crawlers or such) and the information we share seems to be useful to many people. And here some more statistics (click/tap on READ MORE).

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‘Brand’ is Dutch brand by the Dutch brewery of ‘Brand’ in Limburg in the south of the Netherlands. ‘Brand’ is a well known Dutch beer, brewed since 1871 under this name. The brewery itself is from 1340. I tested it because it is served in many bars and restaurants in the Netherlands.

Brand Pilsener is a beer with bottom fermentation, and 5% alcohol. Brand beer has a slight bitter taste, it’s a hoppy pilsener because of the Saazerhop from the Czech Republic.

Beer: Brand Pilsener
Producer: Brand Bierbrouwerij
Originating country: Netherlands
Brewing location: Netherlands
Bottle size: 30 cl
Alcohol by volume: 5.0%
Ingredients: mineral water, barley malt, hops, hops extract
Miscellaneous: ingredients translated from Dutch

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. Please don’t take any of the test results as a medical advice – see the facts page.

This is a test from Tadd, the owner of Blast Beer Company based in Florida. His beer is a Low Gluten American IPA and he uses prolyl endopeptidase (PEP) to reduce the gluten content. It’s the first time we have a beer tested with GlutenTox Pro. It uses the same antibody (G12) as GlutenTox Home.

Beer: Save the Day IPA
Producer: Blast Beer Company, Key West, Florida, USA
Originating country: USA
Brewing location: Orlando, USA
Bottle size: 12 oz. = 355 ml
Alcohol by volume: 6.9%
Ingredients: American 2 row, Citra hops, Cryo dry-hopped
Miscellaneous: Blasted to remove gluten! With PEP, prolyl endopeptidase, which is sold commercially as Brewer’s Clarex

Test Kit: GlutenTox Pro

Test result: The beer contains less than 15 ppm according to the test report. As the test is a pass-fail style test the exact number is unknown. The test report falsely lists Blast Man IPA as the tested beer as explained by Tadd. In the Test Results table I will mark this test negative on the 20 ppm threshold as the test strip indicates a negative result (see picture in the test report). The name of the brewery manager who performed the test is blurred for privacy reasons. As usual please don’t take any test result as a medical advice – please see also my facts page.

In addition to this test Tadd also had the beer tested by ELISA Tech. They use the competetive test method with antibody R5 to detect gliadin. According to the assay gliadin was not detected in the sample which is considered below 5 ppm by the analyst. Unfortuntately it is not allowed to share a copy of the test result without permission.

I made a trip to the Philippines in February this year just before the COVID-19 lockdown. San Miguel Pilsner is the most famous beer in the Philippines and sold Asia-wide. The history of San Miguel is interesting as I always thought San Mig in Manila is a subsidary of the Spanish San Miguel brewery. But it was first invented in the Philippines and then the rights to sell it under the same brand name in Europe were given to a Spanish company.

I tested the Spanish regular Pilsner (San Miguel Especial) back in 2017 but when I saw the light version in the Philippines I wanted to give it a try. This light version is not available in Europe or the US as far as I know. The Spanish San Miguel brewery also don’t have this one in their product portfolio. But I recently learned they have an officially labelled gluten-free beer which I will try when I get my hands around it.

Coming back to the San Mig Light. The taste is good, in the heat of the Philippines absolutely the right one to get refreshed. Of course enjoy it chilled. Gluten was also not detectable in my test, see below.

Beer: San Mig Light
Producer: San Miguel Brewery
Originating country: Philippines
Brewing location:Philippines
Bottle size: 0.33 l can
Alcohol by volume: 5.0%
Ingredients: water, malt, cereals/sugar, hops
Miscellaneous: –

Test Kit: Imutest Gluten-in-Food Kit

Test result: The test result is negative. 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. 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.

Grolsch is Dutch brand by Bierbrouwerij de Klok, one of the larger Dutch brewers in the Mid east of the Netherlands. Grolsch Kanon is a very alcohol heavy Dutch beer. I tested it because I sometimes drank it before my coeliac diagnosis in 2011. I like it a lot so sometimes i like to drink just one of them. That’s the reason why I tested at 20 ppm: I have no intention in drinking more than one at one time.

Grolsch Kanon is a beer with double fermentation. It is a beer with high level alcohol: 11.6%. The taste is full: sweet and fruity.

Beer: Grolsch Kanon
Producer: Koninklijke Grolsch N.V.
Originating country: Netherlands
Brewing location: Netherlands
Bottle size: 30 cl
Alcohol by volume: 11.6%
Ingredients: water, barley malt, glucose syrup, hops
Miscellaneous: ingredients translated from Dutch

Test Kit: GlutenTox Home Kit

I tested with a threshold of 20 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 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. Please don’t take any of the test results as a medical advice – see the facts page.

I had a request from Northern Ireland on a German beer which I didn’t know until then. It’s the Perlenbacher beer from the German discounter Lidl who is present all over the world I guess.

In German Lidl stores two variants of the Perlenbacher are available – one with 4.9 ABV and one with 5.2 (considered the “Export”). I tried both and couldn’t taste any difference, though. The Pils comes in a nice bottle with twist cap which is very unusual for Germany. Almost all the mainstream beers in Germany come with crown cork or flip-top. The Perlenbacher Export comes in a plastic bottle which is an insult to every beer lover.

For the gluten test I used the 4.9 ABV Pils. It is hoppy, bitter and has good carbonation. It tastes more like a typical Northern German bitter beer. It was OK to drink but not very quaffable. And here is the result of the gluten test.

Beer: Perlenbacher Pilsner
Producer: Frankfurter Brauhaus
Originating country: Germany
Brewing location: Germany
Bottle size: 500 ml
Alcohol by volume: 4.9%
Ingredients: Water, barley malt, hops
Miscellaneous: German beer which is using twist cap

Test Kit: Imutest Gluten-in-Food Kit

Test result: There is a very faint but visbile 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 ). As this spot is very faint the gluten level seems to be much below 20 ppm.

On a scale from 1 to 20 I would rate the test spot intensity 3. As Imutest uses the R5 antibody since a while it is difficult to estimate the gluten level in ppm in comparison to the Skerritt antibody they used earlier, hence I will mark the test just positive. Please find some more information here. Even though this test is positive please note it is not a medical advice – see my facts page.

In 2011 I’ve been diagnosed with coeliac disease. I like beer, and it is often difficult to go to a bar or restaurant and drink beer as a coeliac. I was very glad when I first came across this website. I decided to test beer in the hope to discover beer that is served in bars and restaurants which is low in gluten so I can drink it, without getting ill. I also hope other people can take advantage of the test(s). Cheers!

Bavaria is Dutch brand by Swinkels Family Brewers, one of the largest Dutch brewers in the south east of the Netherlands. Bavaria is a very well known Dutch beer. I tested it because it is served in many bars and restaurants in my neighbourhood.

Bavaria is a fresh, slight bitter pilsener with a nice taste of malt and a slightly sweet aftertaste.

Beer: Bavaria Pilsener
Producer: Swinkels Family Brewers
Originating country: Netherlands
Brewing location:Netherlands
Bottle size: 300 ml
Alcohol by volume: 5.0%
Ingredients: mineral water, barley malt, hops, hops extract
Miscellaneous: ingredients translated from Dutch

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. Please don’t take any of the test results as a medical advice – see the facts page.

There was a very clear result on the latest beer poll. Well, it strangly jumped on one day from a very close result to a huge lead and at the end to a clear winner. It seems “somebody” was really interested in getting this beer tested and voted over and over for Tuborg. Anyway – a poll is a poll and even without this “somebody” it was not unlikely that Tuborg wins this poll. 

I tested the German variant of the Tuborg pilsner and I don’t know if this is similar to the “Tuborg Green”. If you know please use the comments to let us know. 

And here is the test result:

Beer: Tuborg Pilsener
Producer: Carlsberg
Originating country: Denmark
Brewing location: Germany
Bottle size: 500 ml
Alcohol by volume: 4.9%
Ingredients: Water, barley malt, hops
Miscellaneous: on the label stated that the beer was brewed in Germany in accordance with the German purity law

Test Kit: Imutest Gluten-in-Food Kit

Test result: There is a very faint but visbile 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 ). As this spot is very faint the gluten level seems to be much below 20 ppm. 

On a scale from 1 to 20 I would rate the test spot intensity 2. As Imutest uses the R5 antibody since a while it is difficult to estimate the gluten level in ppm in comparison to Skerritt antibody they used earlier, hence I will mark the test just positive. Please find some more information here. Even though this test is positive please note it is not a medical advice – see my facts page.

Here comes a Finnish double feature for you. A Finnish friend of mine brought some beer and as I never had Finnish beer before I decided to test them. It’s Karhu 5,3 and Lapin Kulta – the latter is probably the most popular beer in Finland.

According to my internet research Finland has the highest prevalance of diagnosed CD in the world. So people are probably very much interested in the test results. 

For the taste I liked Karhu 5,3 more. Malty with a nice bitterness, still watery though. The Lapin Kulta was rather sweet and watery as well. Both didn’t cause any reaction to me. As usual please don’t take the results as a medical advice.

Beer: Karhu 5,3
Producer: Sinebrychoff 
Originating country: Finland
Brewing location: Finland
Bottle size: 0.33 l can
Alcohol by volume: 5.3%
Ingredients: water, barley malt, barley, hops
Miscellaneous: –

Beer: Lapin Kulta
Producer: Hartwall
Originating country: Finland
Brewing location: Finland
Bottle size: 0.33 l can
Alcohol by volume: 5.2%
Ingredients: water, barley malt, hops
Miscellaneous: –

Test Kit: Imutest Gluten-in-Food Kit

Test result: Both test results are negative. 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. 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 tests are negative please note this is not a medical advice – please see also my facts page.