The UK's first gluten free brewery to open next year

The Bellfield Brewery is the brainchild of a group of friends, two of whom suffer from coeliac disease (an autoimmune disease caused by an allergy to gluten).

Co-founder, Robin Baillie, said the on-trade was of particular interest to the business, as there was a real lack of choice when it came to gluten free beers in pubs and bars.

“Since being diagnosed with coeliac disease fifteen years ago, the thing I miss most is seriously good, tasty beer,” he said.

“We thought it was high time that the UK had a dedicated GF brewery. As a category, gluten free is one of the fastest growing in the UK. We plan to secure Coeliac UK’s GF accreditation, so that our products carry the internationally recognised ‘crossed grain’ symbol.

“We have ambitious plans to produce craft products with broad consumer appeal so that they can be enjoyed by both coeliacs and the growing number of people who want to avoid gluten in their diet.”

The brewery will open in Scotland next year, with the first beers due to emerge in the summer.

The first gluten free brew will be an IPA, which Baillie said was a particularly difficult style of beer to make in this way.

It will be followed by a stout and a lager.

New allergen laws came into force last week (13 December 2014), which means publicans must, when asked, be able to inform customers which, if any, of the 14 named allergens are in the food or drink items on sale.