Is alcoholic ginger beer gluten free? Good question, unfortunately the answer is not a simple one. It depends on what it is made from & where it is made.

Ginger beers made from traditional beer making ingredients like Barley, Wheat & Rye are not gluten free. The following alcoholic ginger beers are made from traditional beer making ingredients and as a result are not gluten free:

• Bentspoke's Fixie
• Philter Ginger
• Tumut River Ginja Ninja
• Welder's Dog's Farmhouse Ginger Beer.

Some alcoholic ginger beer makers use gluten free grains (rice, sorghum, buckwheat, rice and millet) to make their ginger beers in the same way gluten free beer makers do. These ancient grains provide a similar flavour and allow the ginger beer to be brewed but still gluten free. The following alcoholic ginger beers are made from gluten free grains and as a result should be gluten free (unless they have been made using equipment also used to make beer and other gluten producing products):

• Aether Ginger Beerd
• Better Beer Ginger Beer
• Fortitude Valley Roots & Leaves

A lot of the more popular and longer standing alcoholic ginger beers in Australia are made from a mix of water, cane sugar, alcohol, natural ginger flavours, citric acid (330) & preservative (211), all of which are gluten free meaning the end product should also be gluten free. The exception to this is when these ginger beers are made using the same facilities that are used to make beer and other gluten containing products. The use of equipment that is also used to make beers introduces the possibility of cross contamination meaning the beers cannot be labelled as gluten free as there may be traces of gluten present despite the product containing no glutenous ingredients. The following alcoholic ginger beers use ingredients that are gluten free but it is not stated that the product is gluten free on the can/label (likely due to the fact that they are made in facilities that are also used to create gluten containg products):

• Amply Spicy Alcoholic Ginger Beer
• Brookvale Union Ginger Beer
• CBCo Brewing Ginger Beer
• Eumundi Alcoholic Ginger Beer
• Hawkesbury Ginger Yowie
• James Squire Alcoholic Ginger Beer
• Rusty Yak Ginger Beer
• Wildspirit Ginger Dream

Gluten free alcoholic ginger beers are generally made in facilities that don't also produce beer or other gluten containing products or have a separate equipment for the making of gluten free products. The following alcoholic ginger beers are gluten free:

• Aether Ginger Beerd
• Ampersand Ginger Beer
• Better Beer Ginger Beer
• Brick Lane Sunsetter
• Boston Tingletop
• Fortitude Valley Roots & Leaves
• Lick Pier Tropical Ginger Beer
• Little Dragon Alcohol Ginger Beer
• Matso's Alcoholic Ginger Beer
• Matso's Nightlife Strong Ginger Beer
• Stone's Alcoholic Ginger Beer
• Wilde Ginger Dingo

The safest option is to check the can/label, if it doesn't specifically state that it is gluten free, even if the ingredients list is, probably best to steer clear if you are coeliac or gluten intolerant. Otherwise you can always ask the producer directly.

Had a ginger beer that's not in the above lists? Let us know in the comments, we're always on the lookout for new and interesting ginger beers!