Kirin Hard Cidre tests negative for gluten

I'm pretty much a beer-only guy when it comes to drinking, so going gluten-free presented a challenge.  However, when I noticed Kirin's Hard Cidre (キリン ハードシードル) on the shelves at a local supermarket, I felt a slight sense of relief.  I've never been much into ciders, but I figured I'd give it a go.  Judging from the ingredients listed on the label, I was pretty sure this stuff would test negative, but I thought I might as well check for cross-contamination or something like that.

Well, to make a long story short, my test didn't detect any gluten whatsoever.  Hooray!  As far as the taste goes... again, I've never been much into ciders, so I can't really compare it to anything else.  Kirin says it's a dry cider, and I'd have to agree with that.  The first one goes down pretty easily, but halfway into the second one, my mouth starts doing a tspt tspt kind of thing.  Not sour per se, just tart.

So from there, I decided to mix it 50/50 with Asahi Dry Zero non-alcohol "beer" (see my post here), and I was rather satisfied with the results.  A 50/50 mix of lager and cider is called a snakebite, so I'm going to call this a fakebite.  Seems like a nice summer drink.  The Hard Cidre has an alcohol content of 4.5% ABV (alcohol by volume), so mix that with the Dry Zero and you've got a pretty light drink, good for a barbecue or the beach!

A 290ml (9.8 fluid ounces US) bottle of Hard Cidre runs less than ¥200.  Let's hope Kirin doesn't pull it off the market anytime soon.

Corona Extra appears to be gluten-free

I recently ordered some more Gluten-in-Food home testing kits, and since I'd read that Corona Extra beer had tested negative for gluten (here, here and here), I wanted to see for myself.  I wanted to see whether I could duplicate those results.

I bought a bottle of Corona Extra from Yamaya (they seem to have some of the best prices, as well as free shipping on orders over 3000 yen).  As soon as I got home, I opened the bottle with great enthusiasm and proceeded with the test. 

When reading the results with Imutest's gluten testing kits, there is a steady pink control spot on the right (C), and a variable pink test spot on the left (T). The gluten content of the substance can be estimated based on the intensity of the test spot.

In this case, this glorious case, no test spot is visible, which indicates that gluten is not present in the test sample.  Hooray!

As a layman, I don't know why Corona consistently tests negative for gluten.  I have read that it contains small amounts of the enzyme papain.  Maybe that has something to do with it.

Disclaimer: although I have used this testing kit many times, and am quite confident that I conducted the test properly, I must point out that this is a non-scientific test, performed in my kitchen, and the results in no way constitute any form of medical advice.

That being said, although Corona has never been among my favorites, it's safe to say that I'll be ordering it a lot more often in the future!

If you're interested in the gluten content of Japanese beer, please check out some of my other posts.  I've tested and posted about Asahi Super Dry, Kirin Nodogoshi and Asahi Dry Zero, and will be posting many more.

Kanpai!

Kirin Nodogoshi Nama: Gluten-Free!

After reading the ingredients label on pretty much every brand and variety of beer (and beer-type beverages like happoshu and dai-san beer), I found three drinks that listed no barley or malt in the ingredients: Kirin Nodogoshi Nama (のどごし生), Sapporo Draft One, and Suntory Jokki Nama (ジョッキ生).  It's interesting that Asahi doesn't offer anything in this category (Asahi Clear contains barley).  Of the three, Nodogoshi is by far the most popular.  In fact, it's apparently the top-selling third-genre beer in Japan.  Rather than barley malt, Kirin uses soybeans to make Nodogoshi.

Looking at the ingredients (hops, sugar, soybean protein, yeast extract), I assumed that Nodogoshi would test negative for gluten (i.e. would be gluten-free), but I wanted to be as sure as I could.  "Yeast extract" sounds a little iffy, doesn't it?  I had a few Gluten-in-Food testing kits left (see my earlier posts), so I decided to give it a shot.  Each test costs me about US$18, so I have to choose wisely.  Considering Nodogoshi's availability and popularity, it made sense to choose it over the other two.

As you can see, the test did not detect any gluten!  It would seem that Nodogoshi is a safe beer alternative.  Unfortunately, you won't find it in any bars or restaurants, so if you're a beer-only drinker like me, you'll have to find a way to BYOB.  I've asked at a few local places, explaining that I have an "allergy", and they've all been cooperative about it.  I always ask first, and I always insist on paying a corkage fee (a BYOB charge).  Of course, your mileage may vary.

Asahi Super Dry Beer: Not Quite Gluten-Free

I was holding out hope that Asahi Super Dry might test negative for gluten, as Corona apparently has, but no such luck.  It does, however appear to be very low in gluten, as evidenced by the very faint pink test spot on the left.

This bottle of Asahi Super Dry was purchased and tested (and later poured out) in Japan.  The testing kit is the Imutest Gluten-in-Food test.  Imutest claims it is sensitive down to 1-2 ppm for gluten, including hordein, the gluten present in barley.  The folks at Imutest unofficially estimated that the gluten content of this beer is “probably less than 1 ppm,” provided I conducted the test properly.

Less than 1 ppm… that’s pretty low, considering that “gluten-free” beers generally need to be 20 ppm or less.  Maybe I can have one or two of these once in a while.

HOWEVER, after some research and discussion, I've learned that this style of gluten testing, known as a sandwich ELISA test, is not as reliable as a competitive ELISA test, which must be done in a laboratory.  I was told by Emily at Emport (US distributors of the GlutenTox testing kits) that "malting and fermenting can break apart the gluten protein in unpredictable ways."  The folks at Imutest also advised me against using their testing kits to estimate gluten content.

THEREFORE, these test results may or may not be accurate.  Perhaps if enough people test this beer, we'll get a better idea of its gluten content.  If you do decide to test it, please leave a comment here.

NOTE: This test result was for Asahi Super Dry that was produced in Japan.  Versions of Super Dry brewed elsewhere may or may not provide the same result, due to differences in ingredients, filtering, etc.

Asahi Dry Zero Tests Gluten-Free

One of the hardest parts of going gluten-free was giving up beer.  I looked into various options, and I found that there are a few non-alcoholic “beers” that don’t list barley or malt as ingredients: Asahi Dry Zero, Sapporo+, and Kirin Perfect Free.  Of these, Asahi Dry Zero is the most popular, and it’s available at many bars and restaurants (including my favorite karaoke box).

I also discovered Polos Spirytus Rektyfikowany (スピリタス in Japanese), which is a Polish spirit similar to Everclear.  It’s 192 proof (96% alcohol).  If I want to go out and have a few beers, I fill some little soy sauce bottles with Spirytus and put them in my pocket.  One 13ml bottle, mixed with one 350ml can or bottle of non-alcoholic beer, will produce a mixture with an alcohol content (by volume) of about 3.5% (as opposed to 5% for a standard Japanese beer).  Of course, I can add more if I want to.  I even found a neat little page that will do the calculations for me, so I know how much I’m drinking.

After a little more research, I discovered a useful blog at lowgluten.org.  It’s written by a German guy named Steffen, who tests various beers for gluten content.  It inspired me to test a few myself, and Asahi Dry Zero was the first one that I tested.  I used the Gluten-in-Food test kit from Imutest, which claims to detect gluten levels down to 20 ppm in food, and down to an amazing 1-2 ppm in liquids.

The test did not detect any gluten.  Hooray!  I plan to test several more beers and related beverages, like Kirin Hard Cidre.  I’ve also heard that the original Nodogoshi is made with soy protein, rather than barley, so that’s next on my list.