How this database gets built
Off Label is a research project, and research is only worth trusting if you can see how it was done. Here is the entire process, including the parts that are imperfect.
834
beers catalogued
323
sources logged & dated
48 hr
correction / takedown turnaround
The research process
Every entry starts with a claim — a brewery page, a label photo, a press mention, a firsthand report. I chase the claim to the most authoritative source I can find, record that source's URL, date the check, and grade the result into one of three tiers. The source and date ship with every listing on this site; nothing is published without them.
The three verification tiers
Brewery confirmed
The brewery says it themselves — on their website, on a label, in their FAQ, or in a direct reply to me. The strongest tier here, and the only one described as confirmed.
Credibly reported
A specific, citable source that is not the brewery: trade press, a recorded interview, a distributor sheet. Good evidence with no commitment behind it — the brewery never promised anyone anything.
Community report
Firsthand accounts and forum consensus. Real signal, weakest tier. It's here because word of mouth is genuinely how this category works, and it's labelled so you can weigh it accordingly.
The no-fabrication commitment
I never invent a brewery, a beer, a ppm figure, or a retailer. Where a fact isn't published, the site says “Not published” — unknown is information, and guessing would be worse than useless in a category with health stakes. The only non-real entries anywhere on this site are the retailer directory's launch samples, and every one of them is labeled Sample listing and kept out of search indexes.
What this is not
This is not a lab. Gluten data here is independently researched from published claims and testing reports — it is not lab-verified by Off Label. Reported ppm values come from the standard R5 Competitive ELISA test, which was designed for intact gluten and can under-read the fragments enzymes produce. And recipes change without notice. All of which is why every page says the same thing: confirm directly with the brewery before consuming.
In July 2026 I removed 85 of the 154 ppm figures this site was showing. They restated the 20 ppm threshold rather than reporting a measurement, and since every beer catalogued here is claimed under that line, repeating it on each page looked authoritative while saying nothing. A brewery's own “below 20 ppm” is a compliance claim, not a test result. What survived is 84 figures that trace to a reported result, each with its source named on the page.
Money, and what it can't buy
Nothing on this site is for sale today. If Featured Partner placements or affiliate links ever help pay for the research time, they will always be labeled, and they still cannot buy a verification tier, a better gluten answer, or a place in the directory — those come only from evidence. If a placement ever conflicts with what the research says, the research wins and the placement goes.
Corrections and removal
If you're a brewery or retailer and something here is wrong — or you simply want out — email hello@offlabelbeer.com and it's corrected or removed within 48 hours, no argument. I would rather run a smaller list that breweries trust than a bigger one they resent.