Best Gluten Free Beer for a BBQ in the UK (2026)

For most UK BBQs, a crisp gluten free lager covers nearly every guest. Bellfield Craft Lager (5.2%, £2.60) and Triple Point Briganti (4.5%, £3.78) are both certified gluten free at under 20ppm and easy to order ahead. If you want a naturally gluten free pour with no barley involved at any stage, Altgrain Random Pale Ale is the UK pick. For a Tesco or Waitrose run on the day, Peroni Nastro Azzurro Gluten Free is the supermarket fallback.

Picks at a glance

Beer	Style	ABV	GF approach	Price
Bellfield Craft Lager	Pilsner	5.2%	Gluten reduced, certified <20ppm	£2.60
Triple Point Briganti	Lager	4.5%	Gluten reduced, certified <20ppm	£3.78
Bellfield Ace Lager	Lager	3.2%	Gluten reduced, certified <20ppm	£2.50
Altgrain Random Pale Ale	Pale Ale	5.0%	Naturally gluten free	Direct from brewery
Triple Point Bungee	Pale Ale	4.5%	Gluten reduced, certified <20ppm	£3.67
Triple Point Flux	NEIPA	6.0%	Gluten reduced, certified <20ppm	£4.85
Purity Session IPA	Session IPA	4.5%	Gluten reduced	Brewery

Browse the full directory of UK gluten free beers if you want to pick by style, brewery or ABV.

What makes a good gluten free beer for a BBQ

A BBQ is rarely a one-pint occasion. Three or four hours, daylight, food coming off the grill in waves, conversations that keep going long after the sausages are gone. Session strength matters more than at a restaurant. So does carbonation, because grease and char want cutting through. Lager and pale ale are the default styles because they pair across a wide menu without dominating any one course.

The added consideration with gluten free beer is who’s drinking it. If your guests include someone with a formal coeliac diagnosis, the question isn’t only what tastes good. It’s whether the beer is naturally gluten free or brewed from barley and then reduced. Both are legal as gluten free in the UK at 20 parts per million or below. The safety conversation is not quite the same either way.

Naturally gluten free vs gluten reduced: what hosts need to know

These are the two routes a beer takes to a gluten free label in the UK.

Naturally gluten free beers are brewed from grains that contain no gluten to begin with. Sorghum, millet, buckwheat, brown rice, quinoa, malted millet. There is no barley or wheat involved at any stage. Of the eleven UK breweries in our directory, two take this route: Altgrain Brewery in Essex, and Greens (brewed in Belgium for the UK market). Both test at or near 0 parts per million.

Gluten reduced beers are brewed conventionally from barley malt, and the gluten is then broken down using a food grade enzyme until the count drops below the 20ppm threshold. Nine of our eleven listed breweries sit here: Bellfield, Triple Point, Purity, Brass Castle, Brightside, Bristol Beer Factory, Hambleton, Little Ox and Birmingham Brewing Company. By UK law these beers still have to say “contains barley” on the label.

The legal threshold is identical. Coeliac UK does not say gluten reduced beers are unsafe for coeliacs. But a section of the diagnosed coeliac community avoids them anyway, on the basis that the standard testing method is less reliable on hydrolysed gluten fragments than on intact protein. If you don’t know which way your guest leans, default to a naturally gluten free beer. If you do know, ask. It’s a one sentence conversation, and worth having.

The best gluten free lagers for a BBQ

Lager is the obvious starting point. Three from the directory worth ordering ahead.

Bellfield Craft Lager (5.2%, £2.60)

Edinburgh’s gluten reduced specialist made its name on lager and pilsner, and Craft Lager is the headline pour. Brewed from barley malt with maize, biscuity in the body, a thin floral note on top. Certified gluten free at under 20ppm, which puts it ahead of most of the supermarket competition on trust signal. The 5.2% sits at the upper end of BBQ session strength, so think of this one as the pour with food rather than the background beer for the whole afternoon.

Triple Point Briganti (4.5%, £3.78)

Sheffield’s Triple Point won World’s Best Gluten Free Beer in 2024 for a different brew. Briganti is the lager in its everyday range, and it does what a good lager is meant to do at a BBQ, which is stay out of the food’s way. Bright, crisp, toasted malts, fruity edge. The 4.5% means it can run from the first round through to the last skewer without anyone getting wobbly. Order direct from the brewery.

Bellfield Ace Lager (3.2%, £2.50)

The session pick. Lower ABV lagers tend to thin out and taste of nothing. Ace doesn’t. It keeps a herbal lemon-lime finish even at 3.2%, which is rare enough to flag. If your BBQ is the kind where someone might still be drinking at sundown, this is the can to keep on ice. Cheaper than most of the table too, which adds up across a long afternoon.

The best gluten free pale ales and IPAs for a BBQ

Lager is the default. Pale ale and IPA are for guests whose drink should have an opinion.

Altgrain Random Pale Ale (5.0%, direct from brewery)

The Essex brewery is the UK’s headline naturally gluten free name, and Random is its everyday pale ale. Built on malted millet, buckwheat and quinoa rather than barley. Balanced malt with a subtle sweetness, fruity and hoppy aroma, a floral note on the finish. The safest pick on this page for a guest with serious coeliac sensitivity, and the most interesting glass for a craft drinker who’s tired of the lager rotation. Order ahead. It isn’t in supermarkets.

Triple Point Bungee (4.5%, £3.67)

A tropical hop pale ale at session strength. Citrus, juicy peach and lime in the glass. Triple Point’s pales are bright without being aggressive, which is what you want with chicken thighs and burgers when the smoke is doing its own flavour work. £3.67 a can is mid-range for UK craft pale ale, fair for the quality.

Triple Point Flux (6.0%, £4.85)

A New England IPA worth keeping out of the standard rotation. Mango, orange, guava, pineapple, apricot. Super low bitterness for a 6% NEIPA, which makes it dangerously drinkable. The strength puts this in occasion-pour territory: bring it out for ribs or for the spicy wing course, not the third round of burgers. Their NEIPA work is a large part of why Triple Point now has an international gluten free reputation.

Purity Session IPA (4.5%)

Of the UK gluten reduced craft breweries on this list, Purity has the most serious supermarket distribution, so if you’re shopping ahead on Saturday morning and don’t want to mail order, this is worth checking at your local supermarket or specialist retailer. Tropical fruit and citrus hop aroma. Brewed from Pale malt, Vienna malt and oats with the gluten reduced after brewing.

What to pair with what BBQ food

Gluten free or not, the same pairing principles apply. The beer should either echo the food (richness for richness) or contrast it (citrus through fat, bitterness through char).

Burgers. A crisp gluten free lager is the safe pick. Triple Point Briganti or Bellfield Craft Lager. If you want hop bitterness to cut through the patty’s char, Triple Point Bungee at session strength gets there without overshadowing the food.

Spicy chicken and wings. Pale ale and session IPA every time. Bungee for the lighter end, Purity Session IPA when you want more hop oil to cool the spice. NEIPA works too if the spice is fruit-led rather than purely heat.

Ribs and smoked meats. This is the call for Triple Point Flux. The 6% body holds up to smoky bark and BBQ sauce sweetness, and the tropical hop character plays nicely against char. One can per rib course rather than per round.

Halloumi, veggie skewers, corn on the cob. Pale ale rather than lager. Halloumi is salty and the cheese wants hoppy citrus to contrast against. Altgrain Random Pale Ale is the safest and most interesting choice when there’s a coeliac guest in the mix. Bungee if there isn’t.

Salmon, prawns, sea bass. Light lager territory. Bellfield Ace Lager or Triple Point Briganti, served properly cold. The fish doesn’t want anything that argues with it. A NEIPA on grilled salmon is not the play.

German style sausages and Bavarian menus. Pilsner. Bellfield Bohemian Pilsner (4.5%, £2.50) is the directory pick when you want a more traditional pilsner profile against bratwurst and sauerkraut.

Where to buy gluten free beer for your BBQ in the UK

The honest answer is that most of the best UK gluten free beer is not on a supermarket shelf. The supermarket lineup is two reliable lagers and a small craft selection at Waitrose. For the breweries in our directory, you order ahead.

Direct from brewery. Bellfield (bellfieldbrewery.com), Triple Point (triplepointbrewing.co.uk), Altgrain (altgrain.co.uk) and Purity (puritybrewing.com) all deliver UK wide. Allow three to five working days. If your BBQ is on Saturday, order by Monday at the latest.

Tesco and Waitrose. Peroni Nastro Azzurro Gluten Free is the most common supermarket gluten free lager. Brewed from barley, enzyme reduced after brewing, labelled “contains barley”. Familiar profile for guests who aren’t drinking craft. Estrella Damm Daura is the Waitrose alternative, slightly fuller in body, brewed in Spain. Neither is in our directory because they’re not the kind of independent UK craft we list, but they’re legitimate picks for a same day run.

Specialist retailers. Clapton Craft, Honest Brew, Beer52 and Virgin Wines all carry a rotating gluten free craft selection. Worth checking if you want a mixed case rather than a single brewery order.

Browse all the beers in our directory by style, brewery or ABV when you want to plan a specific list.

Frequently asked questions

What’s the best gluten free beer to serve at a BBQ?

A crisp gluten free lager covers most BBQs. Bellfield Craft Lager (5.2%) and Triple Point Briganti (4.5%) are both certified gluten free below 20ppm and easy to order direct. For a naturally gluten free pick safe for any sensitivity level, Altgrain’s Random Pale Ale is brewed from millet, buckwheat and quinoa with no barley at any stage.

Is gluten reduced beer safe for coeliacs?

Both naturally gluten free and gluten reduced beers are legal as gluten free in the UK at 20 parts per million or below. Coeliac UK does not state gluten reduced beers are unsafe. Some diagnosed coeliacs drink gluten reduced beer without issue. Others react and avoid it. If you don’t know a guest’s tolerance, a naturally gluten free beer is the conservative call.

Can I buy gluten free beer at the supermarket for a BBQ?

Yes, but the choice is narrower than you’d hope. Tesco and Waitrose both stock Peroni Nastro Azzurro Gluten Free. Waitrose also carries Estrella Damm Daura. Both are gluten reduced lagers brewed from barley. Most independent UK craft gluten free beer is mail order or direct from brewery.

What gluten free beer pairs with burgers?

A gluten free lager is the crowd pleasing pick. Clean, cold, cuts the burger fat. Triple Point Briganti or Bellfield Craft Lager do the job. If you want hop bitterness to play against the char, Triple Point Bungee at 4.5% gets there without overshadowing the food.

Which UK breweries make naturally gluten free beer?

Altgrain (Southend on Sea, Essex) is the UK naturally gluten free brewery, brewing from millet, buckwheat and quinoa. Greens, brewed in Belgium for the UK market, is the other naturally gluten free name on our directory. The other nine breweries we list (Bellfield, Triple Point, Purity, Brass Castle, Brightside, Bristol Beer Factory, Hambleton, Little Ox and Birmingham Brewing Company) brew from barley and reduce the gluten with a food grade enzyme.

Can I serve gluten free beer to non-coeliac guests at the same BBQ?

Yes, and most people won’t notice unless you tell them. Triple Point’s lagers and pale ales hold their own against barley equivalents. Bellfield Craft Lager is its own best argument. The idea that gluten free beer is a compromise is about twenty years out of date.