Bløm Crafted-To-Reduce-Gluten* Beer FAQs

We know that each individual’s sensitivity to and reaction to gluten is different. With a head brewer/mazer that lives with a gluten allergy, we feel that the best option is to provide as much information as possible, and let each person determine if this product is safe for their consumption. Please read on to learn more about our crafted-to-reduce-gluten beer!

Wait… you make beer now?
At Bløm Meadworks we like to offer a variety of seasonal flavors that showcase Michigan’s biodiversity. In continuing our push for new flavors, we have recently added a crafted-to-reduce-gluten beer to our lineup! Please note this is not the same as gluten free and if you have a sensitivity or allergy to gluten, we encourage you to learn about the nuanced differences. In true Bløm fashion, we have sourced this beer with Michigan barley.

Do you produce it on-site?
While we technically make this beer under our own brewers license, we have to give a big shout out and thank you to Mothfire Brewery for helping us brew the wort (beer before it’s beer) in their space. This helps us keep those dang gluten-containing grains out of our space. We don't have a brewhouse to take the grains and turn them into that wort and also want to keep the gluten dust away from our mead and cider production area. So thank you, Mothfire, for letting use your facility! We then truck that brewed wort up to our space where we have dedicated equipment for handling, fermenting and serving it, keeping it separate from our meads and ciders. This includes separate hoses, valves, fittings, kegs, and draft lines.

So it’s made with barley. How do you make it crafted-to-reduce-gluten?
To make it into crafted-to-reduce-gluten beer, we use a product called Brewers Clarex, which is an enzyme that breaks down gluten during the fermentation process into smaller proteins. Once the beer has finished fermenting, we then test the gluten levels in house using GlutentTox Pro testing and also send out a sample for more advanced ELISA assay testing* to do our best to ensure the gluten levels are below the 20 PPM threshold to call it crafted-to-reduce-gluten. Here’s a link to learn more about the Clarex enzyme we use.

So your beer is under 20 PPM?
For each batch of crafted-to-reduce-gluten beer we’ve made so far, we’ve tested it in house, and also through a third party lab. Both tests have confirmed that our beers are under 10 PPM*. Here’s a link to learn more about the third party lab testing we use to confirm PPM. We encourage you to learn more about these tests and confirm that they’re safe for you, as they do have limitations.

*For those with celiac disease and those who are unsure about their sensitivity level to gluten, we recommend ordering our meads and ciders, which are made with 100% naturally gluten free ingredients. While we’ve taken all precautions possible in our process to created a crafted-to-reduce-gluten beer, gluten testing is known to have some limitations and these should be considered when determining if this product is safe for you.