Germany's gluten-free beer has its origins in Australian science

A commercially produced, full-flavoured, barley-based gluten-free beer has hit German shelves, thanks to research by Australian scientists.

Scientists from CSIRO, with co-funding from the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC), have bred the Kebari grain — a barley variety with ultralow levels of hordeins, the type of gluten found in barley. The Kebari barley has now been used by German brewing company Radeberger to make Pionier gluten-free beer.

“Using conventional breeding we’ve reduced the gluten levels to 10,000 times less than regular barley, which more than meets the World Health Organization’s recommendation for calling a grain gluten-free,” CSIRO Principal Research Scientist Dr Crispin Howitt said.

“It’s really exciting seeing the first product made with the malted version of our Kebari grain; we hope it’s the first of many products,” Dr Howitt said.

“We’re also working on a hulless version of Kebari which is preferable for use in a range of foods like breakfast cereals, soup, even pasta and flatbreads, which will be the first part of the next generation of gluten-free products helping people with coeliac disease to increase fibre, promote bowel health and enhance nutrition in their diet.”

While Pionier beer is only available in Germany, CSIRO is exploring opportunities with Australian brewers to develop a local beer using Kebari barley. While it is ‘ultralow’ in gluten, Kebari grain cannot be called gluten-free in Australia or New Zealand under the current Food Standards Code.

However, the gluten level is well below 20 parts per million, the level recommended by the World Health Organization for classification as gluten-free, so in some countries, such as Germany, products made with Kebari barley can be classified as gluten-free.

In the future, it is hoped this development will provide more variety for the global population, including 1–2% of Australians with coeliac disease and people who avoid gluten in their diet.

Image caption: Dr Crispin Howitt and Dr Phil Larkin celebrating the launch of Pionier gluten-free beer, the first product to use CSIRO’s Kebari barley.