Bellfield Brewery, the UK’s first entirely gluten-free (GF) craft brewery has launched its first two beers: Lawless Village and Bellfield Bohemian.
Lawless Village is an IPA named after the area of Portobello where the brewery’s founders come from. Bellfield Bohemian is a traditional pilsner-type beer brewed using Noble and Saaz hops.
Other beers will follow including a golden ale, a stout and other IPA and lager-style beers.
Based in Edinburgh, Bellfield has also announced a move into its own premises in the Abbeyhill area of the city.
The fit-out of the 2500sqft premises starts this month and is due to be complete – with the brewery fully operational – by July.
Bellfield expects to create between five and seven sustainable, full-time equivalent jobs in the next three years.
The brewery is investing heavily in research and development with work being led by its brewer Kieran Middleton, working closely with master brewer David Smith. This work is focused on recipe development and brewing of beers that are naturally gluten-free using both conventional and unconventional ingredients and processes.
Bellfield has already collaborated with Heriot-Watt University’s International Centre for Brewing and Distilling on an “innovation voucher” project completed last November. Led by Professor James Bryce and post-graduate Matthew Pauley, this project successfully developed a recipe for entirely gluten-free beer using unconventional grains such as rice, millet, buckwheat and sorghum.
Founder Marie Brown said: “We believe there is very significant market opportunity to exploit the sweet spot between the continuing popularity of craft beers and the momentum in the demand for gluten-free food and drink, both in the UK and internationally. We’re the first dedicated, gluten-free craft beer brewery in the UK, and our mission is to make great-tasting beers, that just happen to be GF. The thing that most coeliacs miss most once they’re diagnosed with the disease is seriously good, tasty beer and we aim to put that right.”
Bellfield Brewery hopes to address the limited availability of gluten-free craft beers by supplying independent specialists and retailers with products that consumers can enjoy at home.
