Posts

While it may not be an age-old question, it is certainly one that we at New Planet Beer get a lot: What is the difference between gluten-free and gluten-reduced beer?

Grab a pint and let’s dive in! Also, be sure to check out our sweet new infographic at the bottom of this article. Whether you’re Celiac or unsure if you have a gluten intolerance, the infographic is designed to help you understand a bit more whether gluten-free or gluten-reduced is the right choice for you!

Gluten-free beer is brewed with ingredients that are naturally gluten-free, such as millet, sorghum, rice, corn, quinoa, gluten-free oats, and cane sugar. If you’re not sure if a beer is truly gluten-free or not, know that all gluten-free beer labels must adhere to specific FDA standards.

Gluten-reduced beer is brewed with traditional ingredients such as barley and rye, which is then given an enzyme that specializes in breaking down the gluten-containing proteins. Gluten-reduced beers are technically called “crafted to remove gluten” and, similar to gluten-free beer’s need to adhere to FDA standards, must adhere to the TTB (Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau) standards. To obtain a “crafted to remove gluten” label the TTB requires that the beers pass a laboratory test at less than 10 ppm (parts per million) of gluten. When choosing a “crafted to remove gluten” beer, be sure to look for the TTB language on the package (the can or bottle) as there are many breweries that claim their beer is crafted to remove gluten despite it never being tested to TTB standards.

The key to brewing gluten-free beers is to start with 100% gluten-free ingredients and to develop a consistent process to eliminate cross contamination. As far as the actual brewing process is concerned, ensuring that your equipment is absolutely clean is an essential step for creating gluten-free beers. Cross contamination from gluten grains can completely ruin a gluten-free batch. That’s why at New Planet we only brew gluten-free beers after a scheduled CIP (clean in place) of the equipment and a deep clean of the surrounding areas. This way, we can ensure our equipment is 100% clean and free from possible gluten contaminants.

When brewing “crafted to remove gluten” beers, it is best to incorporate friendly grains like oats, non-gmo blue corn, and cane sugar into the grain build and start the brewing process with less gluten than a traditional barley craft beer. Also, we have tested and calibrated the enzymatic process over the last three years and have developed a proprietary process in dosing the enzymes to ensure the best possible outcome. (If you can’t tell, we nerd out about this, because we love making beers for everyone!)

No matter where you fall on the gluten-free or gluten-reduced spectrum, there is promising news: more and more breweries are seeing the opportunity that these beers present. As more people begin to ask about what’s in their beer, breweries are adapting and making tasty brews with this market in mind. For you, this means more choices will be available for you to drink gluten-free or gluten-reduced beers.

Below, explore our helpful new infographic to get a better understanding of whether gluten-free or gluten-reduced beer is best for you.

If you’ve already been diagnosed Celiac, the answer for you is simple: Drink gluten-free beer!

For those of you who haven’t been diagnosed Celiac, a few options exist for you. If you have already tried gluten-reduced beer and you still react to it, it is best that you stick to gluten-free beer altogether. Afterall, a beer is only good if you enjoy it during and after!

Lastly, if you’ve had both gluten-free and gluten-reduced beer, and the gluten-reduced beer doesn’t seem to give you any issues, we’ve got good news for you: drink both gluten-free and gluten-reduced brews!

At New Planet Beer, we’re proud to be brewing gluten-free and gluten-reduced beer. Not a group to settle, we continually improve our recipes to give you the highest quality beer that fits your dietary needs and your wallet.

So, next time you’re in your local liquor store and reach for a gluten-free or gluten-reduced beer, check the packaging so you see what we’re talking about…and keep supporting your local brewers by picking up a New Planet six pack for your next adventure.

Cheers!

Summer is just around the corner, and that is getting the brew crew at New Planet Beer really excited! Don’t get us wrong, we love a fresh blanket of snow on the Rockies, but there’s just something about a cloudless blue-sky spring day that gets us going!

But, as any parent with a kid will remind you: It isn’t summer yet. School’s still in session. In that spirit, we’ve developed a few “Lesson Plans” we wanted to share with you. Below is Lesson 1. Stay tuned for more lessons over the next few weeks!

Alright, class: Pay attention!

Gluten Free vs Gluten Reduced Beers

At New Planet Beer, we brew only gluten free and gluten reduced beer. In fact, we’re the only brewery around that has that claim to fame. There are other breweries who brew gluten free or gluten reduced beers, but not both.

Please raise your hand if you know the answers to the following questions.

What’s the difference between gluten free and gluten reduced?

Easy. “Gluten Free” is defined by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and it gets even more in depth when discussing gluten free beer.

The definition from the FDA is long and boring, but in truth, those details makes a world of difference to our customers and how we brew our beer.

In short, in order to call a beer “gluten free” (and be labeled as such by the FDA), it must be brewed with ingredients that test out less than 20 Parts Per million (PPM), and the brewing process itself must mitigate cross-contamination with gluten. Finally, the resulting beer must be less than 20 PPM, too.

Long story short: Any gluten free beer will have a label saying it is 100% gluten free. No label? Not gluten free. Simple as that!

Okay, so what about Gluten-reduced?

Gluten-reduced is a bit different. It is a brewing industry term and isn’t regulated by the FDA, but is a category created and tested by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Trade Bureau (TTB)…try to say that fast five times after a few beers!

While the TTB may not be the FDA, it is still strict! Just to give you an idea of the testing the TTB puts a gluten-reduced beer through: New Planet’s Seclusion IPA and the Tread Lightly Ale both went through the TTB testing process. And it took 12 months to get approval!

Why so long? Well, the TTB performs lab tests, formula ingredient reviews, as well as tests the beer for PPM of gluten. We’re proud that our beers that are gluten-reduced test out at less that 5 PPM…that’s pretty awesome.

Using Gluten-free or Gluten-reduced ingredients is one thing, but how do we ensure that our beers stay that way?

This is a question we get a lot. Gluten, after all, seems to be everywhere.

We have incredibly strict policies at New Planet that guides how we brew our beer. For example, we only brew gluten-free beers on Mondays. Why Mondays? Because our brewery undergoes a deep clean on Sunday. This eliminates any traces of gluten that could remain from when we brew our gluten-reduced brews.

By doing it this way, we ensure that our equipment is in pristine condition, and no other beers are brewed during this time. Our adherence to this policy, among many others, ensures the integrity of our beers.

Alright class, that’s it for today. Your homework for the week is to crack open a New Planet Beer and kick your feet up. Good luck!