Gluten-free alcohol

If you have coeliac disease, or are allergic or intolerant to gluten, and choose to drink alcohol you need to know which drinks are gluten-free.

Whether your drink contains gluten or not, to keep health risks from alcohol low, stick to the UK Chief Medical Officers' (CMOs’) low risk guidelines. That means drinking no more than 14 units a week (about six pints of typical strength lager, or six 175ml glasses of wine in total),¹ spread over three or more days, with several drink-free days, and no bingeing.²

What is gluten? Why do some people need to avoid it

Gluten is a type of protein found in grains such as wheat, barley and rye. It’s found in foods made with these grains, like bread, pasta, cereals, cakes, and some sauces and ready meals – as well as in drinks, including some alcoholic drinks.

Some people need to avoid gluten because they’re intolerant or allergic to it. At least one in 100 people in the UK are estimated to have coeliac disease, where gluten should be avoided completely.³

For people with coeliac disease, it’s essential to maintain a completely gluten-free diet to avoid symptoms including stomach aches, diarrhoea and fatigue, and longer-term complications including weakened bones and severe anaemia.⁴

Is beer gluten-free?

Most beer – whether lager, stout or ale – is made using barley, wheat or rye. That means these drinks do contain gluten and need to be avoided if you’re following a gluten-free diet. 

But there are some specially made gluten-free beers, either made with grain that doesn’t contain gluten, like rice, or with the gluten removed at the end of the production process. Legally, only products with less than 20 parts per million (PPM) or less can be labelled as ‘gluten-free’.⁵

Gluten-free beer still contains alcohol. Checking a gluten free beer's ABV (alcohol by volume) tells you what percentage of the drink is made up of alcohol. For example, a beer with 4% ABV is 4% pure alcohol. If you’re aware how much alcohol is in your drink, it can help you stick to the UK low risk drinking guidelines. There are gluten-free alcohol-free beers available too – swapping a standard beer for an alcohol-free one could help you cut how much alcohol you drink overall.

Are other alcoholic drinks gluten-free?

All commercially produced wine, spirits, cider, and liqueurs are gluten-free because of the ingredients they use and the way they’re made, even though some are made from gluten-containing grains. According to Coeliac UK, they can be included in a gluten-free diet.⁶

Although wine and spirits are all gluten-free, they’re definitely not alcohol-free. This means that regularly drinking too much of them can have serious consequences for your health. The risk of developing a range of health problems (including cancers of the mouth, throat and breast) increases the more you drink on a regular basis.⁷

For expert information and advice on coeliac disease, visit Coeliac UK.