Most ginger beer is naturally gluten-free. Traditional ginger beer is made from just three ingredients: water, sugar, and ginger. None of those contain gluten. However, a few products on the market, particularly certain alcoholic ginger beers, do contain barley or wheat, so the answer depends on the specific brand you’re buying.
Why Most Ginger Beer Is Gluten-Free
Ginger beer starts as a simple mixture of water, sugar, and fresh ginger root, which is then fermented or carbonated. None of these base ingredients come from wheat, barley, rye, or any other gluten-containing grain. Many commercial brands add citrus juice, honey, or spices for flavor, all of which are also naturally gluten-free. This makes standard ginger beer a fundamentally different product from regular beer, which is brewed from barley or wheat malt.
The Alcoholic Ginger Beer Exception
The biggest risk comes from alcoholic ginger beers. Some of these products use a malt base (barley or wheat) instead of fermenting ginger and sugar directly. Crabbie’s Alcoholic Ginger Beer is the most well-known example. Its allergy labeling lists both barley and wheat as ingredients, making it unsafe for anyone avoiding gluten. Other alcoholic ginger beers may follow a similar recipe, so always check the label on any alcoholic version before drinking it.
If you see “malt beverage” on the label or barley and wheat listed in the ingredients, that product contains gluten regardless of the ginger beer name on the front.
What About Yeast?
Some people worry about the yeast used in fermented ginger beer, since brewer’s yeast from the beer industry can carry significant gluten residue. Spent yeast collected from previous batches of barley-based beer has been measured at roughly 772 parts per million of barley gluten, far above the 20 ppm threshold for gluten-free labeling. But this type of recycled brewer’s yeast is not what ginger beer producers typically use.
Ginger beer makers generally use fresh yeast strains grown on sugar cane or beet molasses, not on barley substrates. Bundaberg, for instance, states that it uses a yeast strain that is gluten-free and suitable for people with celiac disease. Dry yeast sold for home brewing has also tested at undetectable levels of barley gluten. So while the yeast concern is valid in theory, it doesn’t apply to most ginger beer in practice.
Brands You Can Trust
Several widely available ginger beer brands have confirmed their gluten-free status:
- Bundaberg: States that all of its brewed drinks are 100% gluten-free. The company uses no barley, malt extract, wheat, or hops, and uses gluten-free yeast. Bundaberg also says the risk of cross-contamination through ingredients or processing is “extremely low to zero.”
- Reed’s: All versions of Reed’s Jamaican-style ginger beer are gluten-free. The ingredients are fresh ginger, pineapple juice, lemon juice, lime juice, honey, and spices.
- Fever-Tree: A popular mixer brand that produces ginger beer without gluten-containing ingredients.
Most store-brand and mainstream non-alcoholic ginger beers follow the same basic recipe of water, sugar, ginger, and citric acid, making them safe choices. Still, checking the label takes a few seconds and eliminates any doubt.
How to Read the Label
In the U.S., any food or beverage labeled “gluten-free” must contain less than 20 parts per million of gluten under FDA regulations. That threshold applies whether the product never contained gluten or whether a gluten-containing ingredient was processed to remove it. If a ginger beer carries a gluten-free label, it has to meet that standard.
When a product doesn’t carry a gluten-free label, scan the ingredient list for barley, wheat, malt, or malt extract. Also check the “Contains” line near the allergens section, where barley and wheat must be disclosed. “Natural flavors” on a ginger beer label can occasionally raise questions, but in most ginger beers these refer to citrus or spice extracts rather than grain-derived ingredients. If you’re uncertain, the manufacturer’s website or customer service line will usually give you a definitive answer.
Ginger Beer vs. Ginger Ale
Ginger ale is also typically gluten-free, but it’s a different product. Ginger ale is a carbonated soft drink flavored with ginger, while ginger beer is traditionally brewed through fermentation, giving it a stronger, spicier ginger flavor. Both are safe for most people avoiding gluten, though the same rule applies: check labels on any unfamiliar brand, especially if it’s alcoholic.