A new low-gluten beer that allows coeliacs and gluten intolerant people to enjoy a cold beer without the gastric problems triggered by regular beer is being developed by the CSIRO Food Futures National Research Flagship, Melbourne Health and the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, supported by the GRDC (Grains Resource and Development Corporation).

The team has already developed a new barley which can be used to make coeliac friendly beer with an ultra-low gluten level, expected to be 20 times lower than the level recognised as safe for coeliacs. The new barley is so low in gluten that a new and more sensitive detection method was developed specifically for this project to measure levels accurately.

The ultra-low gluten beer has passed the taste test and the team is now crossing low gluten barley varieties with elite malting varieties for more efficient commercial production.

Dr Greg Tanner from the CSIRO expects the first commercial product could be available by 2011.

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