Coeliac Awareness Week 2021
It's just about five years since we set up Bellfield with a single purpose: to make exceptional beers that everyone could enjoy drinking. We roped in friends and family to help, had some t-shirts printed and launched our first two beers (Lawless Village IPA and Bohemian Pilsner) at the Free From Fair in Glasgow in 2016.
What sprung from a chance meeting and conversation between two acquaintances - one just diagnosed coeliac and the other married to one - has now flourished into a thriving small business employing 12 people (all with a stake in the business) with its own brewery, taproom and beer garden.
It's difficult to believe now but back in 2016, there were very few good, tasty, gluten free beers available. Fast-forward to 2021 and coeliacs are spoiled for choice. There are probably well over 100 gluten free beers out there.
The difference at Bellfield is that we only make great tasting, gluten free beers, nothing else. We’d challenge anyone who is still sceptical to taste one of our beers; you would not notice any difference because gluten doesn’t add anything to the taste of the beer.
The complexity of taste and aroma in good beer comes from the hops and grains and - ultimately - via the skill of the brewer and the brewing process. It took us many months of R&D to develop our method of brewing which removes gluten at every stage, so we could produce gluten-free beer consistently. As with many leading breweries, we also add Clarex to help clarify the beers and improve their stability and shelf life. This has the added benefit of providing a solid backup to Bellfield’s own brewing process that renders our beers gluten-free.
We are often asked ‘How can your beers be gluten free if they contain barley malt?”
The short answer is that we carefully select low gluten barley malt and also use other non-gluten containing ingredients (NGCIs) such as maize and buckwheat to produce our beer. With attention to the ingredients used, careful conditioning and filtration, the beer can be brewed gluten-free.
No compromise, just delicious, classic IPAs, hoppy ales and crisp, refreshing and perfectly balanced lagers and pilsners.
Every single one of Bellfield’s beers is rigorously tested in a UKAS accredited lab before being packaged for sale. All our beers are certified by Coeliac UK and Registered with the Vegan Society. We’d always suggest that - if you’re coeliac - you make sure you choose a beer that’s certified gluten-free and clearly labelled with the widely-recognised ‘crossed grain’ symbol. This means the beer has been properly lab-tested, is below 20ppm and is safe to drink.
To find out more about Coeliac Awareness Week visit Coeliac UK where you’ll find information and advice on this autoimmune disease that affects people of all ages – around 1 in 100 of us in the UK. But there are half a million who remain undiagnosed and may still be struggling with unexplained symptoms like bloating and pain.
To find out more about coeliac disease, or to check your symptoms visit Coeliac UK’s online assessment.
To buy our beers visit our shop, and between now and the 31st May, new customers can enjoy 20% off using the code NEW20 at checkout.
If you’re in Edinburgh come and visit us and have a beer at our taproom!
#ShineALightOnCoeliac
Happy Coeliac Awareness Week,
Team Bellfield
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