What goes together better than pizza and beer? Nothing, that’s what. Sure the combination might not be readily available for everyone – specifically consumers who are allergic to gluten – but two companies are looking to change that. MillerCoors and Pizza Hut each announced today that they will soon offer gluten-free versions of the gastronomical staples, albeit in small sections of the U.S.

USA Today reports that Pizza Hut will begin offering a gluten-free pizza at roughly 2,400 of the chain’s 6,300 U.S. locations starting on January 26.

Likewise, MillerCoors announced it will begin selling a “naturally gluten-free” version of beer called Coors Peak Copper Lager in Seattle and Portland next month, AdAge reports.

While Pizza Hut isn’t the first quick-service pizza joint to sell a gluten-free pie, it is the first to have a certified gluten-free preparation process, the company says.

About two years ago, Domino’s launched a gluten-free pizza, only that pizza wasn’t actually suitable for consumers with celiac disease – an autoimmune disorder in which gluten proteins damage the small intestine.

To create the certified product, Pizza Hut partnered with the largest gluten-free company in the world, Udi’s Gluten Free Foods, and the Gluten Intolerance Group, a non-profit that verifies safe, gluten-free foods, USA Today reports.

The new pizza, which is 10-inches and comes with six slices, will sell for $9.99.

For MillerCoors, the decision to produce a gluten-free beverage came as a way to offer consumers more options when it comes to trips down the beer aisle.

Officials with the company, which doesn’t plan to distribute the beer nationally just yet, tell AdAge that brewers developed a process that is specifically designed to deliver 100% gluten-free beer under the Coors name.

In order to make Peak Copper beer without gluten, the company will replace barley with brown rice, malted brown rice and protein from peas. The beer will also be made separately from other libations that contain gluten in order to comply with certification rules, a spokesman for the company says.

MillerCoors describes the new beer as a “light to medium-bodied crisp copper lager” with a “malty, slight caramel profile offset by subtly spicy hops and the finish is slightly bitter, crisp and perfectly balanced.”

While consumers with gluten intolerance weren’t completely shut out from the beer cooler before Peak Copper, they were largely relegated to products from smaller regional and specialty brewers, and naturally gluten-free hard cider.

In 2006, Anheuser-Busch launched, and still sells, gluten-free Redbridge beer, but reviews from beer fans appear to be fair-to-poor for the brew.

Pizza Hut to sell gluten-free pizza [USA Today]
Coming Soon: Gluten-Free Coors [AdAge]

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