Unofficially Gluten-Free Beer

Now you can drink your beer and maintain your New Year’s resolution to be a healthier you. You have that resolution, right? I mean, don’t we all. Well in case you do, we unofficially officially have gluten-free beer.

Jeremy’s wife recently discovered she has celiac disease. This is a significant curse when you’re married to a brewer. Always surrounded by your husband’s labor of love and not being able to enjoy it with him… I think the whole team shed a tear for her. And him. But it prompted us to test some of her favorite beers.

It turns out that her beloved Hoppenheimer is gluten-free according to the FDA’s definition. It came back at 18 ppm (parts per million). This probably means nothing to those of you that don’t have gluten sensitivity, but 20 ppm is commonly accepted as the maximum ratio of gluten levels in food deemed safe for people with celiac disease.

We won’t put the GF mark on the label, and of course, we would never encourage someone with celiac disease to drink our beer just to see if something happens (unless you’re married to Jeremy). Our raw materials are still exposed to wheat products, so there is a whole mess of certifications and audits and fees to be officially gluten-free. That project will be tabled that for a bit. Or forever. But maybe the unofficially official status will allow you to imbibe without resolution guilt!