An IPA is one of the harder styles to produce without gluten. The hop character — citrus, pine, firm bitterness — requires a malt base with enough body to carry it, and achieving that body without conventional barley is a technical problem that most breweries have not attempted at this strength. The Gluten-Free IPA Beer from g Green / Brunehaut in Rongy, Belgium, is the result of working that problem through: deep gold, 6.0% ABV, with citrus and pine hop aroma and firm bitterness that holds through the finish, certified gluten-free. If you are Belgian and living in Tokyo and you want a hop-forward beer without gluten, this is the can to keep in the fridge — not as a compromise, but as the thing itself.
Rongy’s hop-forward certified gluten-free IPA
g Green / Brunehaut is based in Rongy, in the Hainaut province of southern Belgium, with the gluten-free range developed in the 2010s. Brunehaut is a family brewery that established its g Green label to produce certified gluten-free beers across a range of styles — from the sessionable Dry Hop Lager to the strong Double Ale — with the IPA representing the most hop-intensive expression in the lineup. The decision to produce a gluten-free IPA reflects the brewery’s position that certification should not limit the styles available to gluten-sensitive drinkers.
The beer pours deep gold, and the hop aroma is the first thing — citrus and pine, present and direct, the character of a beer that has been hopped generously. The bitterness is firm, carrying through the finish without softening into sweetness, which gives the IPA its structure and distinguishes it from the Dry Hop Lager’s lighter, more aromatic profile. At 6.0% ABV, the malt base provides enough body to support the hop intensity without the beer feeling thin, and the gluten-free production process achieves this without the flat or watery character that early gluten-free beers were known for. The certification is genuine — not a marketing position but a production standard that coeliac and gluten-sensitive drinkers can rely on.
How Gluten-Free IPA Beer is drunk at home
Santé! / Op uw gezondheid! (sahn-TAY / op-uw geh-ZONT-hayt) — French and Flemish respectively, both meaning “to your health.” In Hainaut, French is the working language, and Santé is the natural call at a table where the round includes a gluten-free IPA alongside the standard Belgian ales.
In Belgium, an IPA at 6.0% with firm bitterness belongs to the middle courses of the Sunday family lunch — strong enough to carry food, bitter enough to cut through the richness of the heavier dishes. Stoofvlees, the slow-braised beef stew reduced to a sweet-savory glaze, is the pairing that benefits most from the IPA’s bitterness: the hop character acts as a counterweight to the sweetness of the stew’s reduced sauce, keeping each sip from blurring into the dish. Moules-frites works alongside it as well — the brine of the mussels sharpened by the citrus hop aroma, the fries providing the salt that a bitter beer benefits from between sips. Belgian fries with mayonnaise remain a constant, and the IPA’s firm finish cuts the richness of the mayonnaise more cleanly than a sweeter beer would manage.
Belgian beer festivals, where the g Green range has a presence in the gluten-free category, give the IPA an audience that has often had to make do with lighter, less characterful options.
How to drink it in Japan
The Gluten-Free IPA is a year-round beer in Japan but earns its place most clearly in the warmer months — April through October — when hop-forward beers suit the season and the firm bitterness of the IPA provides a refreshing quality that sweeter or malt-heavy styles do not. It is also the beer to open when the gathering includes someone who wants a hop-forward drink without gluten and has not found a reliable option in Tokyo’s import shops.
At Lawson, try it alongside spicy chicken karaage — the heat of the seasoning and the crisp fried exterior respond directly to the citrus and pine of the IPA, the bitterness cutting through the fat and the spice amplifying the hop character in the same way that chilli and IPA have always worked together. For a considered pairing at home, serve it with yakitori negima — the chicken and spring onion skewer, grilled with shio seasoning — where the char and the green onion note find a natural counterpart in the pine hop character of the beer. The bitterness clears the palate between skewers without overwhelming the delicate flavour of the chicken.
Gluten-free IPAs are not available at Tokyo’s specialty import shops in any consistent way, and the category is effectively absent from standard Japanese retail channels. By the case from Omori Mart — 330ml × 24 cans — the per-can cost is accessible and the format ensures a supply that lasts through the season rather than running out after one occasion.
Get Gluten-Free IPA Beer delivered in Japan
Gluten-Free IPA Beer is available from Omori Mart in a 330ml × 24 can case, delivered nationwide across Japan.
- Free shipping on orders over ¥15,000
- Pay at FamilyMart, 7-Eleven, or Lawson — or by bank transfer or card
- Nationwide delivery to any address in Japan
Rakuten and Amazon Japan do not carry this label. Omori Mart is where Belgians in Japan find the beers that cover every style and every requirement — including a gluten-free IPA that does not ask you to lower your expectations.
[Shop Gluten-Free IPA Beer →]
https://omorimart.com/product/gluten-free-ipa-beer-can-330ml-x-24-cans/
Santé in Rongy, where a Hainaut brewery decided in the 2010s that gluten-free drinkers deserved a proper IPA, and kanpai at a Tokyo table in June — deep gold, pine and citrus in the glass, firm to the finish, and no gluten in sight.
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