Is Stella Artois gluten free?

Stella sells under two near-identical names that mean two completely different things for anyone with coeliac disease. Standard Stella Artois is a normal barley lager and contains gluten. Stella Artois Gluten Free is a separate, Coeliac UK certified product, enzyme treated to below 20 parts per million and stocked by most large UK supermarkets. The whole answer turns on whether the words Gluten Free appear on the pack.

The standard lager: not safe

Regular Stella Artois is brewed from barley malt, maize and hops. There is no gluten removal step in the standard brew and no gluten free claim on the pack, so the gluten stays in the finished beer. If the bottle, can or draught font says only Stella Artois, with no Gluten Free wording next to it, this is the one you are holding. It is not suitable for coeliacs.

Stella Artois Gluten Free: certified safe

The gluten free version is a deliberately different product. AB InBev launched it in August 2018 with Coeliac UK certification, sold in 4x330ml glass bottles and positioned alongside the free from range as well as the beer aisle. The recipe is the same barley led brew, then an enzyme is added during fermentation to break the gluten protein down into fragments. The finished beer is tested below 20 parts per million, which is the UK and EU legal threshold for a gluten free label and the level Coeliac UK considers safe for people with coeliac disease.

The pack also carries the contains barley allergen declaration, which is correct. UK law treats barley allergy and coeliac disease as two separate conditions. The Gluten Free claim covers the coeliac threshold; the contains barley line covers the small number of people with a true barley allergy. Both declarations are required and neither cancels the other out.

It is sold only in bottles. There is no confirmed Stella Artois Gluten Free draught in UK pubs, so the safer assumption when ordering a Stella at a bar is that you cannot drink it. Stella Artois 0.0 is going on draught at venues like Wimbledon, but that is the alcohol free product, not the gluten free one.

And in the US the same beer cannot say gluten free

Stella’s certification is a UK and EU answer, and crossing the Atlantic changes it. US TTB rules prohibit a gluten free claim on any beer made from barley, wheat or rye, even when treated to remove gluten and even when the result tests below the same 20 parts per million. The permitted US label is crafted to remove gluten, alongside a disclaimer that the product was fermented from a grain containing gluten and that the gluten content cannot be verified.

So a UK coeliac and a US coeliac reading about the same beer online will find apparent contradictions, and each is right where they are reading. In the UK, Stella Artois Gluten Free is legally gluten free and Coeliac UK certified. In the US, the same brewing approach is not allowed to claim that. Standard Stella sold in the US is still a barley beer and still contains gluten either way.

What to drink instead, or alongside

If you want to widen the rotation beyond the Stella variant, the directory has a few gluten free lagers worth knowing:

• Daura Lager, 5.4%. The Spanish barley lager that established the gluten reduced category, tested below 3 parts per million.
• Celia Organic Lager, 4.5%. A Czech style organic lager, also tested below 3 parts per million.
• Bellfield Craft Lager, 5.2%. A pilsner from a gluten-reduced Scottish brewery.

For a wider read across the style, see our guide to gluten free lagers, or browse the full beer directory.