The Best Gluten Free Porters in the UK (Ranked and Reviewed)

The honest answer first. The best gluten free porters in the UK in 2026 are Hambleton Nightmare Porter, Bellfield Daft Days, Brass Castle Bad Kitty, Campervan Extra Black, Wold Top Marmalade Porter, Burnt Mill Big Sur Moon, Triple Point Baltic Plum and Hambleton Black Spot. Each is certified or labelled as gluten free, meeting the standard required for gluten free labelling in the UK.

They are also, as is standard for UK gluten free porter, gluten removed from a barley base, not naturally gluten free. That distinction matters more than the label admits, and the rest of this guide deals with it.

What makes a porter gluten free?

Porter is one of the hardest beer styles to brew without gluten. The flavour comes from roasted, chocolate and crystal malts, which are barley. Strip out the barley and you have no porter. So nearly every gluten free porter on the UK market does the opposite: brews from barley as normal, then breaks the gluten down during fermentation using a brewing enzyme called Clarity Ferm.

This produces what is called a gluten removed (or gluten reduced) beer. The finished product tests below the 20 parts per million threshold set by EU Regulation 828/2014 (based on the Codex Alimentarius standard), which governs gluten free labelling in the UK and EU. It can be sold as gluten free. Allergen law still requires the label to declare “contains barley.”

A naturally gluten free porter would be brewed from sorghum, millet, rice or buckwheat. No UK brewery currently makes one. Every porter in this guide is gluten removed.

The best gluten free porters you can buy in the UK

1. Hambleton Nightmare Porter (5.0% ABV)

The anchor pick. Nightmare won CAMRA Champion Winter Beer of Britain against the entire field, not just the gluten free category, which says everything about the quality. Built from Maris Otter, crystal and pale chocolate malts with Northdown and Fuggles hops, then certified gluten free. The result is dark, fruity, slightly smoky, with caramel and a hint of liquorice.

Hambleton runs both gluten free and regular brews, so it is not a dedicated facility, but the gluten free range carries its own certification. Vegan. Sold in 500ml bottles, and the 16-pack works out at around £2.75 a bottle direct.

Buy direct: hambletonbrewery.co.uk

2. Bellfield Daft Days Porter (6.5% ABV)

The biggest porter on the list, closer in style to a Baltic than a session pint. Inky-black, full-bodied, with chocolate, coffee and a residual sweetness on the finish. Bramling Cross hops give blackcurrant and spice; Phoenix adds chocolate. Took Gold at the Free From Awards 2022.

Bellfield uses gluten reduction rather than running a dedicated gluten free brewery, but every batch is brewed to below 20ppm. Ingredients are barley malt, maize, hops and yeast. Vegan. Comes in 12-packs of 330ml cans from the Edinburgh brewery for £31.20, which works out at £2.60 a can.

Buy direct: bellfieldbrewery.com

3. Brass Castle Bad Kitty (5.5% ABV)

A vanilla porter, and the most pudding-like beer on the list. Chocolate, vanilla, a chewy mouthfeel. Brass Castle is a North Yorkshire brewery with one of the most rigorous gluten free programmes in the UK. Every batch is tested before release.

Bad Kitty uses the enzyme process to remove gluten across its grain bill, which is worth knowing if you are very sensitive. Around £4.00 for a 440ml can direct, or £2.95 for the 330ml at Beautiful Beers.

Buy direct: brasscastle.co.uk. Also stocked at Beer Hunter and Beautiful Beers.

4. Campervan Extra Black

The pick for anyone who wants something lighter and creamier. Edinburgh-brewed and sold in 460ml widget cans, the nitro pour gives the cascading head and silk-smooth texture you would associate with a stout on tap. Cold press coffee and chocolate from the roasted malt. Vegan. Sold as gluten free; we couldn’t confirm this beer’s gluten status from the directory.

It is also the porter currently ranking top for the search “gluten free porter,” so plenty of coeliac drinkers have already found it.

Buy direct: campervanbrewery.com

5. Wold Top Marmalade Porter

The one with the most distinct flavour. Wold Top grow their own barley in East Yorkshire and have it malted locally, then build a complex porter with bitter orange peel layered into the standard chocolate and coffee. The marmalade earns its place. It gives the beer a citric edge that cuts through the malt sweetness instead of sitting on top of it.

Recognised at the World Beer Awards, World Gluten Free Beer Awards and Great Taste Awards. Sold in 500ml bottles for around £3.30 to £3.89 depending on retailer. We couldn’t confirm this beer’s gluten status from the directory.

Buy direct: woldtopbrewery.co.uk. Also at Field & Fawcett, Beerritz, Trembling Madness and Brew Cavern.

6. Burnt Mill Big Sur Moon

A Suffolk porter that does something most do not bother with. Burnt Mill build it from Munich and Vienna malt with specialty malts on top, then whirlpool the finished wort with cocoa husks to push the chocolate character harder. The result is smooth, rich and noticeably more cocoa-forward than a standard porter. 440ml cans. Sold as gluten free; we couldn’t confirm this beer’s gluten status from the directory.

Buy direct: burntmillbrewery.com. Also at Clapton Craft and Beer Shop HQ.

7. Triple Point Baltic Plum (7.8% ABV)

Sheffield-brewed and technically a lager, not an ale. Triple Point brew it dark, then lager it for six weeks, finishing with plum and damson. The result is a smooth, refined Baltic Porter with dark toasted malt and stone fruit. Loral and Žatec hops. Certified gluten free, vegan, sold in cans.

The highest ABV on this list. Not the everyday choice, but sits comfortably with cheese or sticky pudding.

Buy direct: triplepointbrewing.co.uk

8. Hambleton Black Spot (5.2% ABV)

Hambleton’s craft-range porter, named after one of the racing silks of the Hambleton Hills. Dark chocolate balanced by cherries and plums. Unfiltered, meant to be drunk fresh. Certified gluten free. A different beer to Nightmare, and a useful second Hambleton pick if you have already worked through the headline one.

Buy direct: hambletonbrewery.co.uk

Gluten removed vs naturally gluten free porters: which is safer for coeliacs?

Both can be safe under 20ppm. They are not quite the same thing.

Coeliac UK’s official position is that any beer tested below 20ppm meets the legal definition of gluten free, whether the source grain is barley or something else. Most coeliacs tolerate both kinds. Two facts complicate that.

First, gluten removed beers still use barley. The Clarity Ferm enzyme breaks gluten proteins into smaller fragments, which is why the beer tests under 20ppm on an ELISA assay. The fragments still exist. A 2014 study in the NIH archive found celiac-immunoactive peptides present in an “apparent gluten free beer.” The ELISA test measures gluten quantity, not biological reactivity, and there is an ongoing question about test accuracy in the presence of alcohol.

Second, some coeliacs react even below 20ppm. Research suggests individual tolerance varies widely, so if you have reacted to a gluten removed beer before, speak to your dietitian.

So if you have tolerated gluten removed beers without reaction, the porters in this guide should be fine, and the most cautious brewers (Brass Castle in particular) test every batch to a stricter internal standard. If you have reacted to a gluten removed beer before, or have never tested how your body responds to one, talk to your dietitian first and consider a naturally gluten free beer in a different style. No UK brewery currently makes a naturally gluten free porter.

Where to buy gluten free porter in the UK

The supermarket answer is short. None of the major UK supermarkets stock a gluten free porter as a standard line. Not Tesco, not ASDA, not M&S, not Waitrose, not Morrisons. Gluten free porter in the UK is a direct-to-brewery and specialist-retailer category.

Retailer	What they stock
Brewery direct	All eight porters in this guide
Beerritz	Wold Top Marmalade Porter (8-bottle case)
Field & Fawcett	Wold Top Marmalade Porter
Clapton Craft	Burnt Mill Big Sur Moon and a broader gluten free range
Beer Hunter	Brass Castle Bad Kitty and other gluten free porters
Beautiful Beers	Brass Castle Bad Kitty in 330ml and 440ml
Trembling Madness, Brew Cavern	Wold Top Marmalade Porter

If you want the full spread of UK gluten free porter, brewery direct is the only way to get it. Most breweries on this list deliver UK-wide for around £5.95, with free delivery thresholds between £45 and £65.

Pairing ideas

Porter rewards food. The roast and chocolate work harder when there is something on the plate to react with.

Cheese. Aged cheddar for the salt and umami. Stilton or another sharp blue, because the fat cuts the bitterness. Smoked cheese with anything roastier (Hambleton Nightmare in particular).

Slow meat. Smoked brisket, ribs, beef stew, braised lamb. Porter is a traditional braising beer, and you can use the same bottle in the sauce.

Pudding. 70% dark chocolate against any of the cocoa-forward porters (Big Sur Moon, Bad Kitty). Tiramisu with the coffee-led ones (Daft Days, Extra Black). Sticky toffee pudding with Marmalade Porter, where the toffee and the citrus marry up.

Wildcard. Oysters. It is the classic stout move, and a low-ABV nitro porter like Extra Black handles it just as well.

Final verdict

If you want the safest first try, start with Hambleton Nightmare Porter. CAMRA winner, certified gluten free, widely drunk by coeliacs without reaction.

If you want something different, Wold Top Marmalade Porter is the most original beer on the list and the most decorated.

If you want the strongest gluten free programme behind the beer, Brass Castle Bad Kitty tests every batch before release and removes both barley and wheat gluten.

And if you want it crisp and creamy on a weeknight, Campervan Extra Black is the nitro pint you would order in a pub if a pub stocked it. None of them do yet.