Adelaide Hills brewery Lobethal Bierhaus creates 100 per cent gluten-free — thanks to sorghum

COELIACS and gluten-­intolerant beer lovers, listen up — this is the best news you’re likely to hear all day.

COELIACS and gluten-­intolerant beer lovers, listen up — this is the best news you’re likely to hear all day.

Adelaide Hills craft brewery Lobethal Bierhaus has created a beer that’s 100 per cent gluten-free, thanks to the African grain called ­sorghum.

The sorghum brew, made with the help of Adelaide University’s Dr Tommaso Liccioli Watson and PIRSA, has been shown in lab tests to contain zero parts gluten per million. Imported gluten-free beers are generally allowed to contain 20 parts gluten per million or less.

Lobethal Bierhaus owner and head brewer Alistair Turnbull said creating beer from sorghum was a learning process.

HIGH SPIRITS: Coeliac and gluten-intolerant beer lovers give their verdict on the ale. Picture: NAOMI JELLICOE

“We had a lot to work out, that’s for sure,” Mr Turnbull said. “We used different yeast strains to work out which ones would work best with sorghum.

“Tommaso made 90 samples and we worked through them all until we found the right one.”

Mr Turnbull said he didn’t realise just how many people were gluten intolerant or suffered from full-blown coeliac disease.

“It all started a couple of years back when we made a lentil beer, and the first question many people asked me was ‘is this beer gluten-free?’ So I thought ‘hang on, there’s something in this and we should take a closer look’.”

TRUE BREW: Alistair Turnbull with his gluten-free ale.

Coeliac disease is an auto-immune disorder whose sufferers are unable to process gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye, barley and oats. It can cause damage to the small intestine, which can lead to a number of health issues — and unsurprisingly puts most beers well off the menu.

Gluten intolerance is generally less severe but can cause bloating, diarrhoea, abdominal pain, tiredness and skin rashes.

Lobethal Bierhaus Sorghum Special Ale, which is 3.5 per cent alcohol, is now pouring at the Lobethal brewery and should be in pubs and bottle shops in coming weeks.