Naturally gluten free beers are brewed from naturally gluten free cereals or pseudocereals such as buckwheat, sorghum and quinoa.

Gluten removed gluten free beers are brewed from gluten containing cereals, most commonly barley. The beer then undergoes a process called fermentation which breaks the gluten protein in gluten containing cereals into smaller fragments. These beers can be treated with an enzyme known as Brewers Clarex® which further breaks down gluten protein into smaller fragments.

For both types of beer, to be labelled gluten free in the UK, they must comply with the law, which is 20 ppm or less of gluten. To determine the gluten content they should be tested using the R5 competitive ELISA, validated to measure gluten in fermented foods containing hydrolysed gluten. Beers made from a gluten containing grain, such as barley, must also have ‘contains barley‘ on the label which allows you to distinguish between the two types of beer.