Yes. A traditional mead is gluten-free. It’s fermented from honey, water, and yeast, with no grain anywhere in the recipe, so there’s no gluten in it at all. If you’ve been skipping beer because of gluten, mead is an easy thing to reach for instead.
Where gluten comes from
Gluten is a protein in grains like wheat, barley, and rye. Beer is brewed from those grains, which is why most beer has gluten in it. Mead gets its sugar from honey, so grain never enters the picture and there’s nothing to filter back out.
The one style to watch for
A couple of meads do use grain. A braggot is brewed with both honey and malt, so it contains gluten. A few fruit or spiced meads might use a grain-based addition too. A plain traditional mead is always clear, but if you react to even trace amounts, it’s worth asking exactly what’s in the batch.
Made clean in Oklahoma
Our traditional meads start with Oklahoma honey and very little else. If gluten has been keeping you away from craft drinks, this is a good place to come back.
Start with what mead is, or find your match with the palate quiz.