Gluten Free BEER & Suitable for Vegans?

As of the start of January 2022, all of our beers are gluten free, and that includes our cans, bottles, keg and now cask ales too.

As much as we’d love too, legally we’re not able to claim that our beer is the next superfood, that it will make your hair and nails grow stronger or that drinking it will help you lose 10 pounds in two weeks. However, if you have a gluten intolerance, we should be able to give you a beer that you can enjoy without feeling poorly from the effects of gluten. For people that haven’t enjoyed a pint in a long time, this can be just as exciting!!

We have made sure that the beers in pub cellars will all now have the correct labelling. If you ever want to check with your bar tender, they can see from the cask label that the beer is GF.  From a marketing point of view, change is a gradual process. Whilst all our new seasonals and most of our core range cask pump clips have been changed over, there may still be old versions still on the bar without the GF symbol. If you’re unsure, just check with your server. 

It’s important to note that NOTHING has changed in the beer or our brewing process. Our casks have technically been GF for a good few years, it’s just that COVID delayed us getting everything ready, therefore the taste of the beer won’t change at all.

*Please always check product details for new beers in case the recipe used resulted in the beer not being GF. We will always indicate on the can/ bottle clearly whether the beer is gluten free or not.*

How Do We Make Our Beer Gluten Free?

We brew our beer in the same way as most microbrewers: The process starts off with gluten- containing grains such as barley and wheat, (sometimes also other grains such as rye or oats) and goes through a standard brewing process. The process changes at the point when we add an enzyme which removes the gluten to sub 20ppm (gluten free as per UK law). Technically, for the information of those people who are sensitive to even small trace elements of gluten, our beer is gluten removed, however this is not yet an approved term which we can apply to our labels.

We use an accredited laboratory to test our beer samples using the Elisa gluten test, and most samples come back much lower than the 20ppm standard, at sub 10ppm (this reading is the lowest the laboratory can record). Each beer from a new recipe is sent away to be tested and certified. Core range beers are tested when first produced, and are then tested on a regular basis throughout the year. Whilst all of our beers are brewed to GF standard, we don’t test every batch of our core range beers. For comparison however, industry standard Crossed Grain products are only required to be tested annually in order to use this label, and we test far more frequently than this.

Grain Allergies

For customers who have allergies to certain grains, you will always find an ingredients list on the beer product page in our web shop, and grains will be listed on the can or bottle label. As we brew with wheat, our beers are not suitable for people with a wheat allergy.

Vegan Folks

Our cans, bottles, keg and cask beers can be enjoyed by vegans, however we sometimes use ingredients such as lactose or honey which do not align with the vegan ethos. We will always state on the can or bottle label if the beer is vegan, or if it contains an ingredient which makes the beer unsuitable for vegans to drink.

Please always check the information on the product page, or on the can or bottle before you purchase it to make sure you’re happy with the ingredients.