The labeling laws are different in Europe, allowing brewers to slap a gluten free label on gluten reduced beers…so long as it’s below 10-20ppm. I’ve never cared for that oversight. I find it misinforms the consumer and puts Celiacs at risk. There is certainly a market for gluten reduced beers out there, but I feel it’s made up of those who choose to avoid gluten and perhaps don’t have an auto immune disease triggered by it. Yes, the US system of gluten-free and gluten-reduced seems better than the European one. I am avoiding beer for the moment as I have read research suggesting that some people might still react to fragments of degraded gluten proteins in supposedly safe beer. Daura was launched in 2006. Since then it has won many prestigious international awards as the best gluten-free beer. In this study, the blood sera of 31 people with coeliac disease and 30 matched controls without coeliac disease was tested for binding against barley flour, beer and gluten-removed beer. Cultivated barely is less immunogenic than wheat or wild barley, which may be why the sera of just 11 test subjects with coeliac disease reacted to barley flour. 4 of these also reacted to ordinary beer, and 3 also reacted to gluten-removed beer. This research was done in a test tube and may not reflect the actual bodily response to consuming gluten-removed beer, but it suggests that it is possible for some people to react to it.

This gluten-free lager brewed by Anheuser-Busch is the most accessible gluten free beer in the United States, due to its wide distribution network. Hopped with imported Hallertau and domestic Cascade hops, this sorghum beer has characteristics of the popular macro brews, but the company calls it a lager. Minimum life based on 'use-by' date of product. Average life based on last week's deliveries. Life guarantee shown based on delivery tomorrow with the Life guarantee starting the following day. If you’re looking to taste some truly gluten FREE beers originating from Spain, SO AM I! But even after traveling through Spain for a month last year, I was unable to locate a single beer brewed with 100% gluten free ingredients. Be careful that its 'Certified' gluten-free Vs "Brewed to remove gluten-free" I know the Omission beers became an issue for me. This is a crisp, refreshing, reduced-gluten lager that discloses the gluten content of every batch."Stone Brewing Delicious IPA - "A citrusy, hop-heavy IPA, this reduced-gluten beer really is delicious."

In 2011 Estrella Damm Daura won Three Gold medals for Best Gluten free beer. First, a Gold Medal at the World Beer Championships in Chicago, IL. Secondly the won Gold at the International Beer Challenge in London, UK. Third they won the World’s Best Gluten-free Lager Award (for the 3rd consecutive time) at the World Beer Awards, also held in London, UK. Be careful drinking these. They are brewed with an industrial enzyme named Brewers Clarex. This enzyme is ridiculously cool because it actually breaks apart the gluten protein, and a lot of other proteins details.Finally, this isn’t a really great beer to begin with, so don’t look at brewers clarex and think that all variants are bad. This particular beer doesn’t taste great, but it works in all beers and doesn’t manipulate the flavors. Technically you can get a vial of the stuff, dump it in a keg of your favorite barley-only beer, wait a week and viola, gf beer. As with anything that’s too good to be true though, it looks like this might actually be problematic because while the gluten no longer exists (and therefore avoids all gluten tests), but the truth is that people aren’t having problems with gluten protein, but rather 3 of the peptides in the protein. As of yet no research has been done to see if those peptides still exist in the final product or not. Daura has a gluten level below 3 ppm (parts per million) analyzed using the Competitive ELISA R5 method, which is currently accepted as valid for hydrolyzed products such as beer. According to the Codex Alimentarius, a product is considered suitable for coeliacs if it has less than 20 ppm. As far as peptides go, I think your concern is understandable, but – in my opinion – unfounded. I’ve interviewed several prominent Celiac researchers and brewing scientists on this topic, and have also read the peer-reviewed journal articles on the topic. Here are some things to keep in mind:

This beer is light and bubbly in appearance, and has a strong “malt” flavor it it. It finishes smooth, and is very drinkable. This seems to hold up in more recent studies. One study published in a 2006 issue of the American Journal of Physiology ( http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16690904) and a 2008 study published in the journal Gut ( http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17494108) both found that the prolyl endoprotease used in Brewers Clarex sufficiently degraded gluten to levels safe for Celiacs. They determined this not only by testing for full gluten, but also by looking for T cell immune reactivity to partial gluten peptides. In other words, the barley hordein peptides remaining after using Brewers Clarex are either too small or not the right type to cause a Celiac gluten response.After all, many people–not just Celiacs–feel WAY better when minimizing their gluten intake. It can be inflammatory and it becomes harder to digest with each year that passes, thanks in part to unsustainable farming practices and monocultures in our food system. The Taste Test Daura Damm The flavours of toasted grains add to the beer’s personality. The mouthfeel is smooth, thanks to the fine bubbles.

Daura has the flavour of “a real beer” because it is brewed with the same main ingredient: barley malt. It is a golden yellow beer, with the smell of hops and yeast. All this makes Daura a fresh and smooth. gluten-free beer.

The Damm Brewers Masters together with the Gluten Unit of the CSIC (Higher Council for Scientific Research) were pioneers in developing a beer suitable for coeliacs with all the flavor of a “real” beer. We can define Daura as the flavour of “the usual beer” since it is made with its main ingredient (barley malt), and less than 3ppm of gluten, suitable for coeliacs. Hi Otis… Thanks for your comment and caution. As you probably know, Brewers Clarex isn’t the only way brewers reduce the amount of gluten in their beers – selecting low-protein varieties of barley, several steps of the brewing process, and prolonged cold storage (or other clarifying methods) all incrementally serve to reduce the total gluten present in a beer.