Pioneering gluten-free beer

It looks good ... and even if you're gluten intolerant, it will taste good!

July 14, 2005: Award-winning independent brewery Hambleton Ales has developed a gluten and wheat free beer which proprietor Nick Stafford believes to be the first of its kind brewed in Britain.

Gluten is a substance found in wheat, barley and rye that can cause damage to the process of absorbing nutrients and vitamins in the body. There are estimated to be 750,000 people in the UK who suffer gluten intolerance, known as coeliac condition. Men are less likely than women to seek a diagnosis and more likely to continue their normal eating and drinking habits.

Hambleton Ales' gluten free beer is described as a tawny beer with aromas of Cascade, Liberty and Challenger hops and specially prepared dark sugars, which provide a full bodied initial sweetness giving way to a pronounced fruit and hop character with a strong citrus finish. It delivers the full flavour and satisfaction expected from a British beer in a gluten and wheat free formulation.

At 4.2% it is also similar to the average alcoholic strength of British beers. Bottled in standard 500ml bottles - just under a pint - and retailing typically at £2.79 it was first available through mail order and is now in selected off-licence shops including the local larger Asda and Tesco stores.

Nick said: "We have developed an innovative process which really succeeds in retaining wonderful flavours."

Iain Loe of CAMRA welcomed the launch, saying gluten free beer was "long overdue".

Bottles carry the quality endorsement of the UK's leading brewing society, the Society of Independent Brewers, and are licensed to carry the Coeliac Society's crossed-grain logo.