Please vote below which German beer do you want me to test next on the level of gluten. You can choose from these three famous German beers:
Krombacher: #2 of Germany’s best selling beers of 2013*
Hasseröder: #7 of Germany’s best selling beers of 2013*
Warsteiner: #4 of Germany’s best selling beers of 2013*
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Poll will close in three weeks on 22nd of April 2014.
*Source: Germany’s best seeling beers of 2013
Beck’s is one of the most famous German premium beers. It is sold worldwide and the 6th best selling beer in Germany (see here the 2013 ranking, in German). It is one of my favourite beers but it is a bit expensive. This might also be one reason why Beck’s only ranks 14th amongst the most popular German beers according to a German TV station survey. See here the ranking -in German- but please note that this list contains all styles of beer including Altbier (sort of Ale), wheat beer etc.
Despite the high price Beck’s might be an option for people with Gluten Sensitivity according to the test result below:
Beer: Beck’s
Producer: Beck’s Brewery/Anheuser Busch InBev
Originating country: Germany
Brewing location: Germany
Bottle size: 0.5 l = approx. 16 Oz.
Alcohol by volume: 4.9%
Ingredients: water, barley malt, hops
Miscellaneous: -
Test Kit: Imutest Gluten-in-Food Kit
Test result: There is no indication of the presence of gluten. According to the instructions there should appear a clearly visible pink test spot on the left of the test area ( T ) to indicate the presence of gluten. But this test is negative. The pink spot on the right test area ( C ) is a control spot and indicates that the extract/sample is suitable, the test has been performed correctly and all reagents are active. Even though the detection limit in this kit is very low (1-2 ppm) and the test is negative please note this is not a medical advice – please see also my facts page.
During my latest statistics check I found out that many people reach my site by searching for gluten levels of Pabst Blue Ribbon. Typical Google search terms are:
-pbr gluten ppm
-pabst blue ribbon gluten ppm
-pbr low gluten
-gluten in pabst blue ribbon
and so on…
Despite the fact Pabst Blue Ribbon did not win the American beer poll a while ago I decided to test PBR due to the high interest. And here is the test result:
Beer: Pabst Blue Ribbon
Producer: Pabst Brewing Company
Originating country: USA
Brewing location: USA
Bottle size: 12 oz = 0.355 l
Alcohol by volume: 4.74%
Ingredients: water, barley malt, hops, yeast (translated from German)
Miscellaneous: Ingredients listed in German as product sold in Germany
Test Kit: Imutest Gluten-in-Food Kit
Test result: There is a barely visible pink test spot on the left of the test area ( T ), however it indicates the presence of gluten. According to the instructions a “very low gluten” level of 20 to 100 ppm should give a test spot which is weaker or similar in intensity to that of the control spot ( C ). Please find some more information here. The test spot is hardly visible, though.
On a scale from 1 to 20 I would rate Pabst Blue Ribbon 1 or max. 2 which indicates a level below 20 ppm. Even though this test is positive please note it is not a medical advice – see my facts page.
This is my first post about gluten in food and not beer. However, you may find it useful when you are sensitive to gluten. During my recent trip to Tenerife I visited a McDonald’s restaurant and at the door I saw already the well-known gluten-free symbol. The sign just says “pan sin gluten” which means something like “gluten-free bread (buns) available”.
For those who are not familiar with Europe and its territories Tenerife is an island in the Atlantic ocean belonging to Spain but having some sort of autonomy. I don’t know if the gluten-free burgers are also available in continental Spain but I guess so. And I hope McDonald’s will just test the acceptance of gluten-free stuff in Spain and then extend to other countries. Very smart, they would be pioneers in the fast food industry.
McDonald’s is also very clever not advertising their products gluten-free but just saying that gluten-free buns are available. Obviously it is almost impossible for McDonald’s to sell something really gluten-free as they use the same surfaces for their normal burgers and also the chips/french fries and chicken nuggets are made in the same fryer and oil which means the fries can be contaminated. However, for someone who is sensitive and can accept traces of gluten this is just fine. I ordered a McRoyal Deluxe meal including fries (I explained already I can handle traces of gluten without problems) and here are some pictures of the burger with gluten-free buns:
The buns are actually surprisingly strong and don’t fall apart when touching them. The taste is very neutral and generally OK but of course not like a normal wheat-containing bun. Anyway this is a fantastic opportunity and all you Celiacs or gluten-sensitive people out there should contact your local McDonald’s representatives asking for these buns with reference to this post and pictures. I’m lovin’ it 
Coors beer was totally unknown to me until I have seen statistics about America’s best selling beers. In the recent poll Coors Light could even beat Miller Lite which I consider more famous. Coors beer is named after its German inventor Adolph Coors but tastes like a typical American light beer rather than a German beer. It was OK to drink but not something special, very average watery beer. And here is the Gluten test result:
Beer: Coors Light
Producer: Coors Brewing Company
Originating country: USA
Brewing location: USA
Bottle size: 16 oz (approx. 470 ml)
Alcohol by volume: 4.2%
Ingredients: water, barley malt, hops, yeast
Miscellaneous: Ingredients listed in German as product sold in Germany
Test Kit: GlutenTox Home Kit
I tested with a threshold of 5 ppm. The limit of detection depends on the number of drops taken from the extraction solution, please find some more information here.
Test result: The test is negative. In this test there is no indication that Coors Light has more than 5 ppm gluten. However, it is not a medical advice - please see my facts page.
Please vote below which American light beer do you want me to test next on the level of gluten. You can choose from these three famous American light beers:
Michelob Ultra: #9 of America’s best selling beers of 2012
Miller Lite: #4 of America’s best selling beers of 2012
Coors Light: #2 of America’s best selling beers of 2012
Which American light beer do you want me to test next?
Total Voters: 64
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Poll closed on 24/01/2014.
Today I tested the famous Guinness Extra Stout beer. I occasionally drank draught Guinness in bars but I never tried it in bottles before. Well, a good Guinness is best served in an old pub with friends coming in a pint glass with a creamy, dome-shaped head. For a gluten test the bottled Guinness will do it as the ingredients should be the same.
Beer: Guinness
Producer: St. James’s Gate Brewery/Diageo
Originating country: Ireland
Brewing location: Ireland
Bottle size: 0.33 l = approx. 11 Oz.
Alcohol by volume: 4.1%
Ingredients: water, barley malt, roasted barley, hops, yeast (translated from German)
Miscellaneous: -
Test Kit: Imutest Gluten-in-Food Kit
Test result: There is a clearly visible pink test spot on the left of the test area ( T ) which indicates the presence of gluten. According to the instructions a “very low gluten” level of 20 to 100 ppm should give a test spot which is weaker or similar in intensity to that of the control spot ( C ). Please find some more information here. The test spot appears lighter than the control spot.
On a scale from 1 to 20 I would rate Guinness 3/4 so in this test it has around 20-30 ppm. Even though this test is positive please note it is not a medical advice – see my facts page.
Thank you:
First I would like to thank all visitors, friends and registered users for your interest in my site. I started the site in August and the feedback is amazing. Thanks to all people who send nice words via Email, contact form or post comments. The number of visitors is also constantly increasing which makes me proud and confident to have set up something useful for a lot of people. Please see some statistics at the end of this post.
Emotions:
The gluten content in beer seems to be a very emotional topic. I posted a few of the results in some forums and sometimes I was surprised by the feedback. Beside those who were really thankful to have some test results and facts there are people who completely ignore all these facts by spreading paranoia and misinformation.
Fear sells:
The gluten free lobby is very active to tell people that they should create a completely new life by buying their gf products. It’s a huge industry already with the interest to sell and make money – and you know how expensive these products are. Unfortunately a lot of people in these forums are already manipulated and follow the cult. I stopped posting in these forums as it is really useless to discuss with ignorant people. It actually embraced me to continue testing beer and showing the gf industry that even not officially gf labelled beers can have as low gluten as the official ones.
Barley is a cereal killer
I also read some funny statements. For instance one guy said that barley kills him. I did not comment this paranoid statement. Don’t get me wrong, I do know there are people who really suffer from gluten and should avoid it but some statements are just hilarious.
Again:
I have to say it a few more times. The intention of this site is to test beer on the level of gluten. For some people low gluten might be absolutely OK whilst for others only absolutely no gluten is acceptable. And that’s just fine, it should be everyone’s free decision to drink a beer with high, low or no gluten. I will focus on LOW gluten as the name of site already indicates.
Contribution:
I wished more people to contribute and I hope with time the site will become more popular with more contributors. Please purchase test kits (they are not that expensive), test your favourite beers and post the results here. So we can build a huge database with the level of gluten in all kinds of beer from all over the world.
Here are some statistics:
The lowgluten.org visitors by country:
USA 42%, Germany 32%, UK 8%, Spain 5%, Poland 4%, Australia 2%, Sweden 2%, Finland 1%, Italy 1%, Other 3%
This is how the people found lowgluten.org using search engines (top 10):
Budweiser is probably the most famous American beer. When beer appears in American movies or TV series it’s a Budweiser. Probably to show average American behaviour as this beer also tastes very average. The name Budweiser is derived from the German name of the Czech city of Budejovice (Budweis) and so it’s a Budweiser. Thank god it’s not coming from Hamburg 
It tastes watery and sweet but it is actually not that bad. Still it can not be compared with the Original Czech Budweiser which has the same alcohol but tastes very different to the American Budweiser. And this is the gluten test result for this famous beer:
Beer: Budweiser
Producer: Anheuser-Busch
Originating country: USA
Brewing location: USA
Bottle size: 16 oz (approx. 470 ml)
Alcohol by volume: 5.0%
Ingredients: water, barley malt, hops, yeast, rice
Miscellaneous: Ingredients listed in German as product sold in Germany
Sorry for the poor picture quality but I did not have enough light.
Test Kit: GlutenTox Home Kit
I tested with a threshold of 5 ppm. The limit of detection depends on the number of drops taken from the extraction solution, please find some more information here.
Test result: The test is negative. In this test Budweiser has less than 5 ppm gluten (or even no gluten). However, it is not a medical advice – please see my facts page.
