Is Mike’s Hard Lemonade gluten-free?

Find out if Mike’s hard lemonade has gluten, if it’s safe for a gluten-free diet and if your favorite flavors are gluten-free.

Are you getting familiar with a gluten-free diet and aren’t sure what alcoholic beverages are safe for you to enjoy on occasion? If so, you’re not alone. Even those of us who have been following a gluten-free diet still have questions about what alcohol is gluten-free and what isn’t. 

In this post, we’re going to answer the question “Is Mike’s hard lemonade gluten-free?”

This post is part of the Gluten-free Alcohol Series, where we’re going to discuss different types of alcoholic drinks and how they fit into a gluten-free diet. 

What is Mike’s hard lemonade made from?

According to their website, Mike’s hard lemonade is made from malt grains, yeast, lemons, natural lemon flavor, and sugar. 

Read on: Is malt gluten-free?

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 Mike’s hard lemonade gluten-free?

According to Mike’s hard lemonade website, their beverages are “handcrafted to remove gluten.” They say they have a proprietary unique filtration process to remove gluten so their malt-based drinks are safe for anyone following a gluten-free diet.

They test each batch using an R5 Competitive ELISA test, however their website also states that their products are fermented from grains that contain gluten and since the gluten content cannot be verified, it MAY contain gluten.

It’s a little murky of an answer, to tell you the truth.

Does Mike’s hard lemonade have gluten?

Yes and no. 

Mike’s hard lemonades are made using grains that contain gluten, and they remove as much gluten as possible using their “proprietary unique filtration process,” and test each batch through the R5 Competitive ELISA test which shows how much gluten is included in the beverage.

Their goal for their beverages is to put out drinks that contain less than 5ppm of gluten per bottle, making it safe to be considered gluten free if we were following the FDA’s regulations for gluten-free foods and beverages (anything less than 20ppm can be considered gluten-free). 

But we’re not using those regulations. To discuss alcohol, we look to the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TBB) for answers.

The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau does not allow for any alcoholic beverage to have a gluten-free label or be considered gluten-free. Even though this company has done its best to remove the gluten, by law they cannot state that it is gluten-free. They do have a “Crafted to Remove Gluten” on their packaging. 

This product is similar to gluten-removed beers, where it should be considered safe for folks who follow a gluten-free diet due to a gluten intolerance, but perhaps not for those who are Celiac. 

Know your body and your tolerance to make your best judgement on whether drinking Mike’s hard lemonade is a good choice for you.

Learn more about their gluten removal process here.

Are all flavors of Mike’s hard lemonade gluten-free?

All of Mike’s hard lemonade products have been filtered to remove gluten down to their threshold of 5ppm or less of gluten. This includes all their different flavors and beverages.

Gluten-free Mike’s hard lemonade

Now that you know that Mike’s hard lemonade is gluten-free, let’s go over their different flavors that you can be on the lookout for next time you head to the store.

Gluten-free Mike’s hard lemonade list

• Hard lemonade
• Hard black cherry lemonade
• Hard strawberry lemonade
• Hard watermelon lemonade
• Hard mango lemonade
• Hard pineapple strawberry lemonade
• Hard cranberry lemonade
• Hard peach lemonade
• Hard raspberry lemonade

If you’re following a gluten-free diet and love Mike’s hard lemonade, I hope that this information has been helpful for you.

Proceed with caution with drinking any malt-based drinks if you are celiac or have a low tolerance for any gluten in your gluten-free diet. Don’t take my word for it. Know your body and what feels right for you before making a decision.

If you loved this post, I hope that you’ll share it with your friends on Facebook and pin it for future reference on Pinterest.