Gluten-free, non-alcoholic beer is a tough ask at the barbecue. Not that it should be. Celiac disease and gluten sensitivity are becoming more pervasive by the year. And although the non-alcoholic beer industry seems to add another innovative brewer every day, gluten-free non-alcoholic beer hasn’t yet hit the mainstream. In other words, it’s pretty hard to find.
In fact, gluten-free non-alcoholic beer is even difficult to define. The rules for alcohol and the label “gluten-free” can change by region — but the bottom line is that most gluten-free non-alcoholic beers do contain some gluten, just as they contain a minuscule amount of alcohol (that standard is usually .5 alcohol by volume, or ABV). In the United States and United Kingdom, the label “gluten-free” can apply to any food with a gluten concentration lower than 20 parts per million.
The rules can change for beer, and they’re difficult to pin down. Just know that even gluten-free non-alcoholic beer is almost always made with malted barley — a product that always contains gluten. It’s just a necessity if you want your beer to taste like beer. Instead of using rice or corn as a base, what the best brewers of gluten-free non-alcoholic beer do is use a grain ingredient for brewing, and then add an enzyme that breaks down that gluten to a level that’s often considered safe, even for those with celiac. (Always check with your doctor first).
The good news is that non-alcoholic beer brewers are doing incredible work. These aren’t people drinking to get drunk, they’re people who appreciate the taste. To us, that’s because they’re beer purists. Most of them come from the United Kingdom, where beer is a fine art, and most of their companies began with the same story — I loved beer, but I couldn’t keep getting drunk all the time.
We’re rounding up our favorites who also put a focus on gluten sensitivity. Check out the best of the niche, below, along with their proclaimed gluten and alcohol amounts.
The Number 1 Gluten-Free Non-Alcoholic Beer
1.) Big Drop Brewing Co: Pine Trail Pale Ale
Gluten Value: Less than 10 PPM Gluten
Alcohol Value: .5 ABV
Big Drop Brewing began in the UK when its founder, a businessman constantly schmoozing clients at London pubs, had his first child. He still needed to schmooze at the pubs, but now he needed to stay sober. He immediately realized that the options for non-alcoholic beers were pathetic compared to the countless craft brews, and he especially couldn’t find a non-alcoholic stout or sour — just lagers.
Big Drop Brewing was his solution — non-alcoholic beers from IPAs to milk stouts, many of them well below the 20 PPM gluten-free threshold. The Pale Ale is one of those, made with barley and wheat, a beer that promises to deliver rosy floral aromas and a “light, limey citrus bite.”
2.) Big Drop Brewing Co: Galactic Milk Stout
Gluten Value: Less than 20 PPM Gluten
Alcohol Value: .5 ABV
Another from Big Drop. This one’s a Milk Stout, as rich and dark as any you’ll find — despite the lack of alcohol and gluten. As they put it: “think of it as honeycomb covered in chocolate, because that’s exactly what it tastes like.”
3.) Drop Bear Brewing Co: New World Lager
Gluten Value: Less than 20 PPM Gluten
Alcohol Value: .5 ABV
Launched in 2019 in Wales, the award-winning Drop Bear Beer Co. is another great craft brewery that specializes in non-alcoholic gluten-free beer. These are often vegan and low-calorie, too. We’ll single out their India Pale Lager here, with its “sweet notes of honey, biscuit, and toasted malts.”
They recommend you take it out of the fridge for a few minutes before drinking. You’ll get more taste.
4.) Freestar Lager
Gluten Value: Less than 20 PPM Gluten
Alcohol Value: .5 ABV
In 2019, the good people of Freestar wanted to hang out without getting wasted — while still enjoying their favorite activity. They created their flagship Freestar Lager with a mix of European noble hops and pilsner malt — as they put it, “a refreshing beer with a long clean finish.”
Like many of the best non-alcoholic beers, they brew it to have a low alcohol content — there’s no high-emissions de-alcoholisation process, saving energy, waste, CO2 emissions, and water. And of course, it’s under the gluten-free threshold.
5.) The Gluten-Free Non-Alcholic Beer Mixed Case
Gluten Value: Less than 20 PPM Gluten
Alcohol Value: .5 ABV
Meet Jumpship, as in, jumping ship from traditional beer and to non-alcoholic. Their founder, a Scottish woman who wanted to drink as much beer as she could without getting tipsy, says she “wept into more than one failed brew” while perfecting her recipes. The toil was worth it. Eventually, Jumpship’s Yardarm won the category of “best no and low alcohol lager” at the World Beer Awards 2021. Their Flying Colours Pale Ale is no slouch either, and this mixed case includes two other non-alcoholic gluten-free beers, the Stoker’s Stout and Goosewing IPA.
If you’re more of a non-alcoholic wine drinker, then give our list of the top non-alcoholic wines a read.