We’ve lost count of the number of times we get asked these four things
How a beer brewed with wheat, rye and barley can still be gluten free, whether 0.5% counts as alcohol-free, and whether you could possibly get drunk on it.
At Big Drop, we’re committed to producing world-class craft beer. It just so happens that our beer is alcohol-free. Since our humble beginnings in 2016 the alcohol-free market has boomed, and with growth comes curiosity and lots of questions. We often get asked the same few things. So — as overheard by Big Drop.
“Your beers contain wheat, rye and barley. How can they be gluten free?”
Since 2012, food and drink manufacturers have had to comply with laws which stipulate that a “gluten free” label can only be used on products containing less than 20 parts per million of gluten. This is also the level considered safe by Coeliac UK.
We use over twenty speciality grains to create our selection of beers, which poses the question — how can they be gluten free?
The answer lies in our brewing technique. One of the reasons we can brew our beers naturally to 0.5% ABV, without removing the alcohol afterwards, is that we use a lot less grain in our recipes than other beers do. So there’s simply a lot less grain to start with.
The bottom line: yes, our beers do contain grains that contain gluten, but it is reduced during brewing. Each beer states its own dietary status on the can, and every beer page carries the full ingredient list with allergens in bold, exactly as they appear on the label. That’s the version to trust.
“Is 0.5% alcohol-free?”
This is the big one. And the answer is: it depends where you are.
Whether something can be called “alcohol-free” depends on which country you’re selling the beer in. In most of Europe, a beer of 0.5% ABV is considered alcohol-free. In Canada, it needs to be less than 0.4% to be called “non-alcoholic”. In the US, the rules put 0.5% under “non-alcoholic”. In Australia, our beer would be classed as “Ultra Low Alcohol”. In the UK, guidance on which descriptor applies at 0.5% has changed over the years and has been under review.
The bottom line: the beer is the same everywhere. The word on the front of it isn’t.
Which begs the next question. If there’s a teeny tiny bit of alcohol in Big Drop — although not much more than an overripe banana — then…
“Can I get drunk on Big Drop?”
No. You can’t get drunk on 0.5% drinks.
The amount of alcohol is so small that your body processes it faster than you can drink it, even if you drank twelve bottles back to back.
For context: a very ripe banana contains up to 0.4g of alcohol per 100g, which is 0.4% ABV. A burger roll can contain up to 1.28g per 100g. Kombucha can come in anywhere between 0.5% and 2.5%.
Don’t just take our word for it, though. Back in 2012, a medical institute at the University of Freiburg released a study into the effects of alcohol-free beer — and you’re in safe hands when it comes to beer studies with German institutes. Its summary covers it pretty well:
The results of the study suggest that even after consumption of unrealistically high amounts of non-alcoholic beer, negative forensic implications are not to be expected.
“What’s the point of alcohol-free beer?”
There is actually a lot of point.
Not everybody drinks alcohol all the time. But just because you’re not drinking, for whatever reason, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be able to have a great beer.
You’re still entitled to that “ahhh” feeling of having a pint at the end of a long day. And sometimes you don’t want the foggy head the next morning, especially when you’ve got a lot on.
That’s why Big Drop is here. Our founder, Rob Fink, realised that while the craft beer revolution had completely changed the landscape of beer in the UK, alcohol-free beer had been ignored — the options were the same uninspiring offerings from twenty years earlier.
The bottom line: there is a point.
We want to give real choice to beer lovers on every occasion, with no compromise. And that’s what we’re about — giving people beer that actually tastes great.