Is Guinness Gluten-free?

Find out if Guinness is safe for a gluten-free diet, what ingredients are in this beer, and which brands of beer are gluten-free.

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If you love a dark beer, you are probably no stranger to Guinness. This beer is a popular one in beers and restaurants for folks who like a stout or draught option.

But if you’re just getting started with a gluten-free diet and are worried you can’t take your favorite beer with you on your journey, know that you aren’t alone.

It’s true that many foods and drinks contain gluten – including many beers. That’s why I’m doing my best to go through some popular beer brands to get to the bottom of which brands are okay for folks on a gluten-free diet and which brands aren’t.

In this post, we’ll talk about Guinness and discuss what options are available from this brand, what it’s made from, and ultimately answer the question “Is Guinness gluten-free?”

We’ll also go over what you need to know about beer and a gluten-free diet, plus get some resources for which beer options you can safely enjoy while avoiding gluten.

If you enjoy Guinness beer and need to follow a gluten-free diet, this post is for you.

What is Guinness?

Guinness is a name brand of beer that was founded in 1759 in Dublin, Ireland. This brand of beer came to the US in the early 1900’s and has been here ever since.

Guinness makes a few different varieties of beer, including Guinness Draught, Guinness Extra Stout, Guinness Foreign Extra Stout, Guinness Nitro Cold Brew Coffee, Zero, and Guinness Baltimore Blonde.

Go to almost any bar or restaurant and you might find this dark-colored beer with loads of rich flavor.

What are the ingredients in Guinness?

According to the Guinness website, the brand uses four main ingredients in their famous beer: roasted barley, malted barley, hops, yeast, and water.

Of course, there are likely other ingredients used in their beer, but these are the four that they disclose. Alcohol manufacturers are not required by law to share their ingredients lists with consumers, so we can only go by what information they give to us to make decisions about whether or not a beverage is good for our body’s needs or not.

What is gluten?

Gluten is a protein found in most wheat products, and acts as the “glue” that helps to hold wheat, barley, kamut, spelt, farro, durum, bulgur, rye, and semolina together to maintain their shape.

You can find gluten in whole grains, but also in many processed foods as well. If you purchase wheat bread, there will be gluten in it, because wheat by nature has gluten.

Many processed foods have hidden gluten in them in the form of gluten or wheat derivatives. These are used as flavorings, binders to keep ingredients together, or other additives.

Is beer gluten-free?

No, most beer is not gluten-free. It’s most commonly made with malted barley – and sometimes with wheat. Both barley and wheat are gluten-containing grains, making them not safe for a gluten-free diet.

In the process of making beer, the gluten remains in the drink, as opposed to distilled drinks, such as whiskey that uses malted barley but the gluten is distilled out of the final product.

Not all beer contains gluten though. Luckily, there are gluten-free beers available and on the market. You can look for bottles and brands with a gluten-free label to know for sure that they are safe for you to enjoy.

According to the FDA, in order to have a gluten-free label on a product, the product has to contain less than 20 ppm in one serving.

Read on: Does beer have gluten?

Guinness beer is not considered gluten-free, because it is made with roasted barley and malted barley. Barley is a gluten-containing grain, and the gluten is not removed during the manufacturing process of beer.

What beer is gluten-free?

Even though Guinness beer is not gluten-free, there are plenty of other brands that do offer gluten-free beer.

If you’re looking for a brand that works for you and your gluten-free diet, be sure to check out this post with a full list of 49 beer brands that are either naturally gluten-free or gluten removed: Gluten-free Beer List

I’ll even tell you the difference between the two and what you need to know about choosing a gluten-free beer.

If you’ve curious if your favorite beer, Guinness, is safe to continue drinking on a gluten-free diet, I hope this information has been helpful for you.

While this beer is not gluten-free, there are plenty of other options and brands that are available for folks like us to enjoy while sticking with a gluten-free diet.

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