The Driftwood Spars Brewery in St Agnes has become Cornwall’s first brewery to make all of its beers officially gluten free, following a successful period of experimentation and testing.
The brewery, which is part of The Driftwood Spars pub in Trevaunance Cove, rose to the challenge in response to queries and requests from customers who were coeliac or gluten intolerant.
After successfully creating one gluten free ale, Unexpected, which won an international Free From Award in 2018, head bewer Pete Martin made it his mission to strip the gluten from his entire range of ales without any detrimental effect – and is thrilled to have succeeded.
He said: “Unexpected is really delicious but having just one gluten free beer available didn’t give our customers much choice. We did our research and found an enzyme which strips out the gluten without affecting the flavour of our beers. The enzyme is completely safe and is already extensively used in brewing, just not specifically for this purpose.”
Louise Treseder, landlady at The Driftwood Spars, added: “We’re really proud to be able to offer our full range of in-house beers gluten free, and customers who haven’t drunk beer for years can finally enjoy a pint of their favourite ale.”
