Our Commitment to Safety

NO GLUTEN, WHEAT, BARLEY, RYE, OR OATS–EVER!

Mutantis Brewery & Bottle Shop is a fully dedicated gluten-free brewery, which means that no products containing gluten are allowed on site or anywhere else that they could potentially come into contact with something that goes into our beer.  All of our equipment has only ever been used for gluten-free beverages, and we work with fully dedicated suppliers whenever possible. In the exceedingly rare cases where we have to work with a non-dedicated supplier, we ensure that their production processes avoid any chance of cross-contact with gluten-containing substances. Any ingredient from a non-dedicated supplier will be noted on our labels.

The Meaning of “Dedicated”

It’s possible to make safe gluten-free beer without being fully dedicated, but it takes hard work and constant vigilance to minimize the risks of shared equipment. Being fully dedicated means those risks are minimal by default! However, while many gluten-free breweries describe themselves as being “dedicated”, not everyone uses as strict a definition as we do. Some breweries that call themselves dedicated may still do any or all the following:

    • Use ingredients produced on equipment shared with barley or wheat
    • Use rented or leased kegs that have been used for barley beers
    • Use ingredients that are derived from barley or wheat but meet the FDA definition of gluten free
    • Use a 3rd party mobile canning or bottling service that uses the same equipment to service barley breweries
    • Not require their draft customers to clean the lines or provide a dedicated gluten-free line to dispense their kegs

These practices have not been extensively studied to determine their effect on consumer safety, but the breweries that use them believe they are safe. Nevertheless, every consumer has the right to decide their own comfort level, and just because one brewery thinks a practice is safe, it doesn’t necessarily mean it is. If you have questions about a specific brewery’s practices, you should contact that brewery and ask for clarification on their safety standards.

Ingredients from Shared Facilities

Most experts on gluten-free safety believe there are ways to safely make gluten-free ingredients on shared equipment.  The Gluten Free Certification Organization has strict standards for cleaning and separation, and will grant certification to shared facilities if they comply with those standards. Some ingredients, like sorghum and rice syrup, are made on shared equipment but are safe enough to be used in certified gluten-free beers.

However, some breweries use ingredients from shared facilities whose safety has not been evaluated by a trusted 3rd party organization like the GFCO. These ingredients may or may not meet industry standards for safety. Examples of such ingredients are millet and buckwheat that are malted by companies that primarily handle barley, like Skagit Valley Malting, or flaked rice and corn from Briess Malting.

Since the safety of these ingredients is not verified by a trusted 3rd party organization, consumers may wish to exercise caution when consuming them. Unfortunately, the breweries using these ingredients do not often disclose it on their labels. The only way to know for sure is to ask each brewery directly, unless a brewery is certified gluten-free or has issued statements on where they get their raw ingredients.

At the Mutantis Bottle Shop, we’ve done the research for you. We research and verify the ingredients used by all the breweries, cideries, and distilleries we carry so that we can keep our customers informed. We have a zero tolerance policy: we will not carry any products that use ingredients known to contain gluten at any point in their production. This includes ciders or seltzers fermented with yeast that was grown on a barley culture.

If a product we carry contains an ingredient whose safety is unknown or unproven, and that product’s label does not make that clear, we make and apply our own stickers that do make it clear. We believe our customers have a right to know what they are buying.

OTHER ALLERGENS

We may not be a dedicated allergen-free facility, but we take food allergies and sensitivities very seriously. Some common allergens that we will NEVER use in our beers are dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, and shellfish. Starting with the first beers we’re brewing in 2022, our beers will be soy-free as well, as we are discontinuing the use of the soy-derived yeast nutrient that was used in all of our previous beers.

Corn (maize) is a common allergen that we do include in several beers, but we try not to have it in more than a few beers at a time. Coconut, eggs, sesame, and cane sugar are ingredients we generally avoid except in rare cases, such as our Mochi Donut Sesame Porter where they are included as ingredients in the donuts used to flavor the beer.

All of our beers have clear ingredient labels in accordance with FDA guidelines, but if you have any food allergies or sensitivities, we advise you to mention them to your bartender when in our taproom to make sure the draft beers you order are safe for you.