Is Hard Seltzer gluten-free?

Find out if hard seltzer has gluten, if it’s safe for a gluten-free diet, if your favorites are gluten-free, and what brands to look for.

Do you love hard seltzers but also follow a gluten free diet? Are you wondering if these White Claw hard seltzers are gluten-free? Or other brands? 

These are great questions. It’s just as important to know what drinks are gluten-free as it is to know what foods are safe on a gluten-free diet. That’s why I created my Gluten-free Alcohol Series. I know that alcohol is a part of many of our diets, and knowing which options are better for us than others is imperative to not getting sick every time we want to serve up a drink.

There are a number of new hard seltzer brands on the market in the past few years, and I know personally I’ve been wondering if these are safe for a gluten-free diet. I know that if I haven’t tried it because I wasn’t sure, you might not know for sure either.

Let’s answer the question “is hard seltzer gluten-free?” and tackle some popular brands to find out if theirs are safe for a gluten free diet too.

What is hard seltzer made from?

According to Vox, “At its most basic level, hard seltzer is seltzer with alcohol in it. What that alcohol is made out of can differ — usually it’s just fermented cane sugar with added fruit flavors, but sometimes, like other “flavored malt beverages” such as Bud Light’s Lime-A-Ritas, it uses malted barley.”

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 create a malt from any of these grains.

Gluten is naturally occurring, and therefore is impossible to strip away from the grain. If a grain naturally has gluten in it, there’s no way to make that food gluten-free.

Is hard seltzer gluten-free?

Most hard seltzer is made using cane sugar to create the alcohol in hard seltzers, although none of the sugar is left after the crafting process. 

Some hard seltzers are made using gluten-containing grains. Sometimes the gluten is left in the hard seltzer (Henry’s Hard Sparkling Water, for instance). With other brands, the gluten will be removed after the fermenting process, otherwise known as “gluten removed.”

Gluten removed means during the crafting process, they were able to remove some but not all of the gluten, making it less than 20ppm present in the product. These gluten-removed products wouldn’t be considered 100% gluten-free as you’d find in a naturally gluten-free product.

The short answer is: yes, most hard seltzers are gluten-free, but not all.

Gluten-free hard seltzer

Now that we know that most hard seltzer is gluten-free, let’s go over some brands that we know for sure are safe to pick up next time you head out to the store. Let’s also go over some questions about popular brands and if you’d want to add these to your shopping list.

Gluten-free hard seltzer brands

There are a number of brands that offer gluten-free hard seltzer options. Here are some to be on the lookout for (along with their gluten-free flavors) the next time you’re out shopping.

Gluten-free hard seltzer list

Arctic Summer

• Spiked Pineapple Pomelo Seltzer
• Spiked Ruby red Grapefruit Seltzer
• Spiked Raspberry Lime Seltzer
• Spiked Black Cherry Seltzer

Bon & Viv Spiked Seltzer

• Pear Elderflower
• Lemon Lime
• Clementine Hibiscus
• Coconut Pineapple
• Grapefruit
• Black Cherry
• Mango
• Cranberry

Cape Line

• Margarita
• White Peach Sangria
• Hard Strawberry Lemonade
• Blackberry Mojito

Crook & Marker

• Blackberry Lime
• Coconut Pineapple
• Strawberry Lemon
• Tangerine
• Black Cherry
• Grapefruit
• Mango
• Peach

High Noon Sun Sips

• Pineapple
• Grapefruit
• Lime
• Peach
• Watermelon
• Black Cherry

Mighty Swell

• Cherry Lime
• Blackberry
• Watermelon Mint
• Peach
• Grapefruit

Nauti Seltzer

• Mixed Berry
• Watermelon
• Raspberry Lime
• Black Cherry

Press Premium Hard Seltzer (gluten removed)

• Blackberry Hibiscus
• Grapefruit Cardamom
• Pomegranate Ginger
• Lime Lemongrass
• Pear Chamomile

Smirnoff Spiked Sparkling Seltzer (gluten removed)

• Red, White & Berry
• Raspberry Rosé
• Berry Lemonade
• Cranberry Lime
• Pina Colada
• Pink Apple Rosé
• Strawberry Rosé
• White Peach Rosé
• Blackberry
• Blood Orange

Truly Hard Seltzer

• Wild Berry
• Blueberry & Acai
• Raspberry Lime
• Black Cherry
• Lime
• Grapefruit
• Orange
• Lemon
• Pineapple
• Mango
• Passion Fruit
• Watermelon & Kiwi

White Claw

• Black Cherry
• Mango
• Natural lime
• Ruby Grapefruit
• Raspberry
• Watermelon
• Lemon
• Tangerine
• Pineapple
• Clementine

Wild Basin Boozy Sparkling Water

• Yumberry
• Strawberry Coconut
• Melon Basil
• Lemon Agave Hibiscus
• Cucumber Peach
• Classic Lime
• Blueberry Mango
• Black Raspberry

Willie’s Superbrew

• Ginger & Lemon
• Mango & Passionfruit
• Pomegranate & Acai
• Pineapple & Lime
• Blueberry & Lemon

What hard seltzer is gluten-free?

Is White Claw gluten-free?

White Claw is gluten-free, as stated on their website. All ingredients are naturally gluten-free, making this a good option!

Is Henry’s Hard Sparkling Water gluten-free?

When I went researching for the answer to this question, I was tipped off by the fact that I couldn’t find a gluten statement from Henry’s themselves. After looking a little further, it was confirmed that Henry’s Hard Sparkling water is NOT gluten-free on Gluten Bee. 

There is barley malt in their ingredient list, making it clear it’s not a gluten-free option.

Is Truly gluten-free?

According to their website, Truly is gluten-free and is made from all naturally gluten-free ingredients. This is a great option for a gluten-free hard seltzer!

If you’ve been looking for a gluten-free drink option to enjoy with friends on the weekend or after a long day, try one of these hard seltzer options. I hope this information has been helpful for you. If you have any questions about specific hard seltzer brands, pop them in the comments and I’ll do some research to find out the answer for you!

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