Orval

Beer: Orval 

Style: Belgian Pale Ale

Brewing location: Belgium

Originating country: Belgium

Alcohol by Volume: 6.2% or 6.9%

Ingredients: spring water, two-row malting spring barley, aromatic hops and liquid candy sugar 

Format tested: 12 oz. bottle purchased in Los Angeles 

Beeradvocate rating: 94/100

Ratebeer rating: 99/100

Test kit: E-Z Gluten

Miscellaneous

• The Belgian trappist brewery located within the walls of the Abbaye Notre-Dame d'Orval in the Gaume region of Belgium.
• The brewery produces two beers, which are marketed as trappist beer, Orval and Petite Orval.
• This beer is 6.2% when released in Europe, U.S. labels say 6.9% due to labeling laws.
• A document written by the abbot in 1628 directly refers to the consumption of beer and wine by the monks. The last of the brewers to be a monk was Brother Pierre, up until the 1793 fire.
• The other beer sold by the monetary, Petite Orval, is a 3.5% abv, beer brewed only for the monks (Patersbier). Although not generally available for sale, it can be purchased in the monastery itself or the café near the monastery.
• There are only ten Trappist breweries in the world. Orval is one of them.

Test result photo

Test result

Very High Positive at 20 parts per million (ppm), meaning it is more than 20 ppm. Though standards vary from country to country, according to the FDA, "In order to use the term 'gluten free' on its label a food must meet all the requirements of the definition, including that the food must contain less than 20 ppm gluten." It is said that products with a gluten content below 20 ppm are suitable for people with celiac disease.

My experience drinking Orval

With any of the Trappist ales you are guaranteed quality. And Orval is no exception; deliciously yeasty, malty and spicy. There were rumors a couple of years ago that it would lose its Trappist appellation but the bottle I had still proudly proclaims "Authentic Trappist Product." I was educated by Benedictine monks; brewing and education is their thing. Sadly the monastic lifestyle is less appealing these days and at Orval new recruits are hard to find; monks must be brewing to retain the Trappist appellation. Orval is pretty hard to find but totally worth the effort - seek it out!

I am gluten intolerant but not celiac. I definitely know what it feels like to be “glutened” i.e. gluten exposure, but I have not deliberately pushed my gluten consumption limits with any food or beer. I consumed this 12 oz. bottle in 45 minutes feeling no noticeable gluten effects.

Chimay Première

Beer: Chimay Première Trappist Ale 

Style: Abbey Dubbel

Brewing location: Belgium 

Originating country: Belgium

Alcohol by Volume: 7% 

Ingredients: Pilsner malt (French barley from Champagne); wheat starch or flour (10% - 15%); dextrose (5%); malt extract (0.1%); hop extract from German Hallertaur (aroma) & American Galena (bittering) hops.

Format tested: 750 ml bottle purchased in Los Angeles 

Beeradvocate rating: 93/100

Ratebeer rating: 99/100

Test kit: E-Z Gluten

Miscellaneous

• The brewery was founded inside Scourmont Abbey, in the Belgian municipality of Chimay in 1862.
• In 1948 Father Theodore isolated the unique yeast cells that today still form the basis for brewing the Chimay beers and creates the Chimay Red in 33 cl bottle.
• Trappist beers contain residual sugars and living yeast, and, unlike conventional beers, will improve with age. Westvleteren 12 is often considered to be the single best beer in the world.
• The brewery business pays rent for use of the property within the abbey, which is used to support the monastic community. The majority of the profit from the sale of the beer is distributed to charities and for community development around the region. As of 2007, sales figures for Chimay products exceeded $50 million per year.

Test result photo

Test result

Very High Positive at 20 parts per million (ppm), meaning it is more than 20 ppm. Though standards vary from country to country, according to the FDA, "In order to use the term 'gluten free' on its label a food must meet all the requirements of the definition, including that the food must contain less than 20 ppm gluten." It is said that products with a gluten content below 20 ppm are suitable for people with celiac disease.

My experience drinking Chimay Premiere

For many people - including me - this was their first introduction to Trappist ale. And I still remember being blown away because this was so different to anything else I had before - and it was served in a chalice! Chimay Premiere set the dubbel standards back then but the gap is closing. Many American breweries have managed to replicate the complex taste of Trappist ales. In fact, in early 2014, Spencer (brewed by the Benedictine monks of St Joseph's Abbey, Spencer MA) became the first ever American member of the select group of Trappist breweries.

I am not sure where I fall in the gluten tolerance spectrum; I am gluten intolerant but not celiac. I definitely know what it feels like to be “glutened” i.e. gluten exposure, but I have not deliberately pushed my gluten consumption limits with any food or beer. I consumed this 750ml bottle in 2 hours feeling no noticeable gluten effects.

New and Updated Test Results Chart

The chart below has been superseded by this more recent one
http://gluteninbeer.blogspot.com/2015/11/beer-test-results-summary-chart-through.html

Beer	Test Results using E-Z Gluten*
Asahi Super Dry	Over 20 ppm
Beck's	Over 20 ppm
Bud Light	Over 20 ppm
Carlsberg	Under 20 ppm
Coors Light	Under 10 ppm
Corona Extra	Under 10 ppm
Duvel	Under 20 ppm
Fat Tire	Over 20 ppm
Foster's Lager	Over 20 ppm
Guinness	Over 20 ppm
Heineken	Over 20 ppm
Heineken Light	Over 20 ppm
La Fin du Monde	Over 20 ppm
Leffe	Over 20 ppm
Miller Lite	Over 20 ppm
Modelo Especial	Under 20 ppm
Negro Modelo	Under 20 ppm
Newcastle Brown Ale	Over 20 ppm
Omission Pale Ale	Under 20 ppm
Pabst Blue Ribbon	Under 20 ppm
Peroni Nastro Azzuro	Over 20 ppm
Pilsner Urquell	Over 20 ppm
Red Stripe	Over 20 ppm
Sapporo	Over 20 ppm
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale	Over 20 ppm
Stella Artois	Over 20 ppm
Stone IPA	Over 20 ppm
Tecate	Over 20 ppm
Tsingtao	Under 20 ppm

* Though standards vary from country to country, according to the FDA, "In order to use the term 'gluten free' on its label a food must meet all the requirements of the definition, including that the food must contain less than 20 ppm (parts per million) gluten." It is said that products with a gluten content below 20 ppm are suitable for people with celiac disease.

DISCLAIMER: We are testing beers out of our own curiosity at home and sharing the test results with others. We are not medical doctors and our results should not be interpreted as medical advice. We do NOT claim that ANY of these beers are safe to consume if you have celiac disease or are gluten intolerant.

Asahi Super Dry

Beer: Asahi Super Dry 

Style: Pale Lager

Brewing location: Canada I think, see below!

Originating country: Japan

Alcohol by Volume: 5% 

Ingredients: water, barley, corn, hops, rice 

Format tested: 12 oz. bottle purchased in Los Angeles 

Beeradvocate rating: 64/100

Ratebeer rating: 6/100

Test kit: E-Z Gluten

Miscellaneous

• This is a direct transcript from the label; someone please translate for me! "Brewed and bottled under Asahi's supervision by Molson of Canada, Toronto, Canada imported Asahi Beer USA, Inc, Torrance, CA Product of Canada"
• Asahi was founded in Osaka in 1889 as the Osaka Beer Company (大阪麦酒会社 Ōsaka Bakushu Kaisha). During the First World War German prisoners worked in the brewery.
• In 1949, as a result of the enactment of the Excessive Economic Power Decentralization Law, Dai Nippon Brewery, which had cornered nearly 70 percent of the beer market in Japan, was divided into two parts—Asahi Beer, Ltd. and Nippon Breweries, Ltd. (the latter later emerged as Sapporo Breweries Limited).
• In 1971, Asahi was the first Japanese brewery to have its beer produced overseas under license
• As of January 2014, Asahi, with a 38% market share, was the largest of the four major beer producers in Japan followed by Kirin Beer with 35% and Suntory with 15%.
• In 1987 Asahi introduced Asahi Super Dry a product that transformed the modern beer industry in Japan. Asahi Super Dry is described as a highly attenuated lager without the heavier malt flavors of competitors products, with a crisp, dry taste reminiscent of some northern German beers.

Test result photo

Test result

Very High Positive at 20 parts per million (ppm), meaning it is more than 20 ppm. Though standards vary from country to country, according to the FDA, "In order to use the term 'gluten free' on its label a food must meet all the requirements of the definition, including that the food must contain less than 20 ppm gluten." It is said that products with a gluten content below 20 ppm are suitable for people with celiac disease.

My experience drinking Asahi

I had never tried this before...and I never will again. It poured a very dark color for a lager so I assumed it would have at least a modicum of flavor. Nope; bland, bland, bland. I've heard people describe it as the Coors of Japan. Perfect.

I am not sure where I fall in the gluten tolerance spectrum; I am gluten intolerant but not celiac. I definitely know what it feels like to be “glutened” i.e. gluten exposure, but I have not deliberately pushed my gluten consumption limits with any food or beer. I consumed this 12 oz. bottle in 30 minutes feeling no noticeable gluten effects.

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This poll features four Asian favorites: Chang, Asahi, Yanjing and Tiger. 

Miller Lite

Beer: Miller Lite 

Style: Pale Lager

Brewing location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Originating country: United States

Alcohol by Volume: 4.2% 

Ingredients: water, barley malt, corn, yeast, hops

Format tested: 12 oz. can purchased in Los Angeles 

Beeradvocate rating: 53/100

Ratebeer rating: 0/100

Test kit: E-Z Gluten

Miscellaneous

• Known as the world’s first light beer. It’s only 96 calories per 12 oz. serving.
• Miller Lite’s first inception was as “Gablinger’s Diet Beer,” developed in 1967 by Joseph L. Owades, PhD, a biochemist working for New York’s Rheingold Brewery.
• Miller Brewing Company was founded in 1855 by Frederick Miller when he purchased the small Plank-Road Brewery. The brewery’s location in the Miller Valley in Milwaukee provided easy access to raw materials produced on nearby farms.
• Miller has been a motorsport sponsor since the 1980s.

Test result photo

Test result

Very High Positive at 20 parts per million (ppm), meaning it is more than 20 ppm. Though standards vary from country to country, according to the FDA, "In order to use the term 'gluten free' on its label a food must meet all the requirements of the definition, including that the food must contain less than 20 ppm gluten." It is said that products with a gluten content below 20 ppm are suitable for people with celiac disease.

My experience drinking Miller Lite

No better or worse than Bud Light - in fact it tastes the same as Bud Light to me. The kind of beer you'd use to wash down two dozen hot wings. i.e. something simple you don't need to savor the flavor of.

I am not sure where I fall in the gluten tolerance spectrum; I am gluten intolerant but not celiac. I definitely know what it feels like to be “glutened” i.e. gluten exposure, but I have not deliberately pushed my gluten consumption limits with any food or beer. I consumed this 12 oz. can in 30 minutes feeling no serious gluten effects - but did feel rather bloated.

Foster's Lager

Beer: Foster's Lager

Style: Pale Lager

Brewing location: Fort Woth, Texas, USA

Originating country: Australia

Alcohol by Volume: 5% 

Ingredients: water, hops, malted barley, corn syrup, yeast

Format tested: 25.4 oz oil can purchased in Los Angeles

Beeradvocate rating: 60/100

Ratebeer rating: 4/100

Test kit: E-Z Gluten

Miscellaneous

• Foster's was created by two Irish American brothers, William M and Ralph R Foster, who arrived in Melbourne from New York in 1886
• The brothers began brewing Foster's Lager in November 1888. It was made available to the public from February 1889. The product was first exported in 1901, when bottles were sent to Australian combatants in the Boer War.
• In 1972, by a partnership between Foster's Australia and Miller Brewing Company, the 25.4oz Foster's Can arrived in the US. The steel can looked so much like an oil can, Americans gave it the nickname Foster's Oil Can and the name stuck.

Test result photo

Test result

Very High Positive at 20 parts per million (ppm), meaning it is more than 20 ppm. Though standards vary from country to country, according to the FDA, "In order to use the term 'gluten free' on its label a food must meet all the requirements of the definition, including that the food must contain less than 20 ppm gluten." It is said that products with a gluten content below 20 ppm are suitable for people with celiac disease.

My experience drinking Foster's

Not a bad drop. I find Foster's has a very distinctive taste. Certainly more bitter than most mass market lagers and surprisingly crisp and refreshing. It's one of the few beers that tastes the same wherever it's brewed - Fort Worth, Manchester, Southbank. I don't drink Foster's often, but drinking it today in LA, it tastes the same as what I used to drink in London 20 years ago. 

I am not sure where I fall in the gluten tolerance spectrum; I am gluten intolerant but not celiac. I definitely know what it feels like to be “glutened” i.e. gluten exposure, but I have not deliberately pushed my gluten consumption limits with any food or beer. I consumed this 25.4 oz. can in 60 minutes feeling no gluten effects.

Tecate

Beer: Tecate

Style: Pale Lager

Brewing location: Monterrey, Mexico

Originating country: Mexico

Alcohol by Volume: 4.5% 

Ingredients: Yeast, water, hops, malts

Format tested: 12 oz. can Los Angeles, CA

Beeradvocate rating: 61/100

Ratebeer rating: 1/100

Test kit: E-Z Gluten

Miscellaneous

• Named after the city of Tecate, Baja California, where it was first produced in 1943
• The custom of squeezing a lime into Mexican beer began with Tecate beer. The original Master Brewer was of Scottish descent (last name Lorimer), who brought the idea from Great Britain where sailors would be given limes with their daily ration of grog to stave off scurvy (this is where the expression "limey" came from.
• Tecate has the highest canned beverage sales of any import to the U.S. 

Test result photo

Test result

Very High Positive at 20 parts per million (ppm), meaning it is more than 20 ppm. Though standards vary from country to country, according to the FDA, "In order to use the term 'gluten free' on its label a food must meet all the requirements of the definition, including that the food must contain less than 20 ppm gluten." It is said that products with a gluten content below 20 ppm are suitable for people with celiac disease.

My experience drinking Tecate

Certainly not a memorable beer or one I would choose to drink. It's a step above the mass produced American domestic beers but not by much. Watery, fizzy, forgettable. Nevertheless, it's a disappointing result given that until now Mexican beers were 3-0 under 20 ppm gluten. 

I am not sure where I fall in the gluten tolerance spectrum; I am gluten intolerant but not celiac. I definitely know what it feels like to be “glutened” i.e. gluten exposure, but I have not deliberately pushed my gluten consumption limits with any food or beer. I consumed this 12 oz. can in 45 minutes and felt no gluten effects.

La Fin du Monde

Beer: La Fin du Monde

Style: Belgian-Style Tripel

Brewing location: Chambly, Canada

Originating country: Canada

Alcohol by Volume: 9% 

Ingredients: yeast, water, malts and hops

Format tested: 750 ml Los Angeles, CA

Beeradvocate rating: 96/100

Ratebeer rating: 99/100

Test kit: E-Z Gluten

Miscellaneous

• Unibroue was founded by business partners André Dion and Serge Racine who had acquired 75% of La Brasserie Massawippi Inc. of Lennoxville in 1990.
• The brewery was bought by Canadian brewer, Sleeman Breweries Ltd., in 2004. In turn, Sleeman, in turn, was purchased in 2006 by Sapporo.
• The beer has been the winner of many medals since its introduction in 1994.
• La Fin du Monde is French for "The End of the World." The name is claimed to derive from the European explorers' belief that they had reached the end of the world when they discovered America.
• Most of Unibroue's beers are bottled "on the lees", or containing yeast sediment (or lees). This practice provides additional fermentation after bottling. The result is a beer which ages well if kept in the dark and unrefrigerated, and allows it to be shipped relatively cheaply to international markets.
  
  

Test result photo

Test result

Very High Positive at 20 parts per million (ppm), meaning it more than 20 ppm. Though standards vary from country to country, according to the FDA, "In order to use the term 'gluten free' on its label a food must meet all the requirements of the definition, including that the food must contain less than 20 ppm gluten." It is said that products with a gluten content below 20 ppm are suitable for people with celiac disease.

My experience drinking La Fin du Monde

Despite the high alcohol content it is barely noticeable because this beer is so well-balanced. It has a flowery aroma and a delicious taste of malts and spice combined with that distinct Belgian yeast flavor. My only criticism is that it is slightly over-carbonated. 

I am not sure where I fall in the gluten tolerance spectrum; I am gluten intolerant but not celiac. I definitely know what it feels like to be “glutened” i.e. gluten exposure, but I have not deliberately pushed my gluten consumption limits with any food or beer. I consumed this 750ml bottle in 2 hours and felt no gluten effects.

Test Results Summary Chart

The chart below has been superseded by this more recent one 
http://gluteninbeer.blogspot.com/2015/11/beer-test-results-summary-chart-through.html

Beer	Test Results using E-Z Gluten*
Beck's	Over 20 ppm
Bud Light	Over 20 ppm
Carlsberg	Under 20 ppm
Coors Light	Under 10 ppm
Corona Extra	Under 10 ppm
Duvel	Under 20 ppm
Fat Tire	Over 20 ppm
Guinness	Over 20 ppm
Heineken	Over 20 ppm
Heineken Light	Over 20 ppm
Leffe	Over 20 ppm
Modelo Especial	Under 20 ppm
Negro Modelo	Under 20 ppm
Newcastle Brown Ale	Over 20 ppm
Omission Pale Ale	Under 20 ppm
Pabst Blue Ribbon	Under 20 ppm
Peroni Nastro Azzuro	Over 20 ppm
Pilsner Urquell	Over 20 ppm
Red Stripe	Over 20 ppm
Sapporo	Over 20 ppm
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale	Over 20 ppm
Stella Artois	Over 20 ppm
Stone IPA	Over 20 ppm
Tsingtao	Under 20 ppm

* Though standards vary from country to country, according to the FDA, "In order to use the term 'gluten free' on its label a food must meet all the requirements of the definition, including that the food must contain less than 20 ppm (parts per million) gluten." It is said that products with a gluten content below 20 ppm are suitable for people with celiac disease.

DISCLAIMER: We are testing beers out of our own curiosity at home and sharing the test results with others. We are not medical doctors and our results should not be interpreted as medical advice. We do NOT claim that ANY of these beers are safe to consume if you have celiac disease or are gluten intolerant.

Omission Pale Ale

Beer: Omission Pale Ale

Style: American Pale Ale

Brewing location: Portland, Oregon

Originating country: USA

Alcohol by Volume: 5.8% 

Ingredients: Yeast, Water, MALTS: Pale, Caramel, Honey, and Hallertau
, HOPS: Cascade

Format tested: 12 oz. Los Angeles, CA

Beeradvocate rating: 78/100

Ratebeer rating: 44/100

Test kit: E-Z Gluten

Miscellaneous

• Every bottle has a batch serial number; this number can be entered on the Omission website to look up the independently tested gluten results.
• Omission is brewed by Widmer Brothers, founded in 1984 in Portland, Oregon
• CEO and craft beer enthusiast, Terry Michaelson, was diagnosed with celiac twelve years ago; and brewmaster Joe Casey’s wife has been a celiac since 2006. 
• Omission beers use a brewing enzyme called Brewers Clarex™ which breaks apart and detoxifies the gluten protein chains. The beers are then packaged in a closed environment to eliminate any cross contamination risk.
• In 2013, Mass Spectrometry research was conducted by an independent lab which validated that Omission Lager and Pale Ale are devoid of known barley toxic epitopes, the specific peptide sequences and reactive sites in gluten molecules that cause reactions in the human small intestine.  These same beers were tested using the R5 Competitive ELISA and were found to lack any measureable gluten content.   A growing body of peer reviewed scientific literature supports that the process is effective in breaking up and detoxifying gluten peptides.
  
  

Test result photo

Test result

Negative at 20 parts per million (ppm), meaning it is less than 20 ppm. Though standards vary from country to country, according to the FDA, "In order to use the term 'gluten free' on its label a food must meet all the requirements of the definition, including that the food must contain less than 20 ppm gluten." It is said that products with a gluten content below 20 ppm are suitable for people with celiac disease.

My experience drinking Omission Pale Ale

An all-round excellent beer. I defy anyone to blind taste this against other leading American Pale Ales and say it's missing something - especially gluten! Hats off to Omission/Widmer for going where other brewers feared to tread. A truly bold move that gave all 'gluten-challenged' beer-lovers hope that life was worth living! Omission Pale Ale is always the first beer I look for when beer shopping.

It should be no surprise that Omission Pale Ale is under 20 ppm gluten as that's how Omission markets itself. Omission beers are tested using an independent lab conducting R5 Competitive ELISA analysis. The science behind the EZ Gluten test kits that I use is somewhat different and therefore the result could have differed. So it is encouraging to know that the EZ Gluten results on this site stand up to the method that Omission uses to test their beers. 

I am not sure where I fall in the gluten tolerance spectrum; I am gluten intolerant but not celiac. I definitely know what it feels like to be “glutened” i.e. gluten exposure, but I have not deliberately pushed my gluten consumption limits with any food or beer. I have consumed 3 x 12 oz. bottles in 2 hours countless times and felt no gluten effects.

Pilsner Urquell

Beer: Pilsner Urquell

Style: Pilsner/Pale Lager

Brewing location: Pilsen, Czech Republic

Originating country: Czech Republic

Alcohol by Volume: 4.4% 

Ingredients: soft Pilsen water, Saaz hops, barley from Moravia and yeast

Format tested: 12 oz bottle purchased in Los Angeles, CA

Beeradvocate rating: 81/100

Ratebeer rating: 72/100

Test kit: E-Z Gluten

Miscellaneous

• Pilsner Urquell is the original pilsner and first pale lager beer.
• Nine out of ten beers produced and consumed in the world are derived from the original Pilsen beer.
• On 5 October 1842, Josef Groll had an entirely new mash ready and on 11 November 1842, the new beer was first served at the feast of Saint Martin markets.
• The origins of Pilsener beer can be traced back to its namesake, the ancient city of Plzen, located in the western half of the Czech Republic in what was formerly Czechoslovakia and, before that, part of the kingdom of Bohemia.

Test result photo

Test result
Very High Positive at 20 parts per million (ppm), meaning it is more than 20 ppm. Though standards vary from country to country, according to the FDA, "In order to use the term 'gluten free' on its label a food must meet all the requirements of the definition, including that the food must contain less than 20 ppm gluten." It is said that products with a gluten content below 20 ppm are suitable for people with celiac disease.

My experience drinking Pilsner Urquell

Sweet and malty taste with a bitter finish. It might be the first ever Pilsner but it is certainly not the best out there. I am not sure where I fall in the gluten tolerance spectrum; I am gluten intolerant but not celiac. I definitely know what it feels like to be “glutened” i.e. gluten exposure, but I have not deliberately pushed my gluten consumption limits with any food or beer. I consumed this 12 oz. bottle in 30 minutes feeling no gluten effects.