Every St.Patrick's Day, millions celebrate by downing a tall frosty glass of Guinness Stout. However, I'll bet many of those beer-guzzlers don't know that the beverage they are drinking is not vegan. Is your beer vegan?
It's true. Both beer and wine are sometimes processed using animal by-products including gelatin, casein, glycerin or in the case of Guinness - isinglass. Isingglass is a by-product of the fishing industry.
Guinness's statement on the matter:
"All Guinness brands are free from animal matter. However, isinglass, which is a by-product of the fishing industry, is used as a fining agent for settling out suspended matter in the vat. The isinglass is retained in the floor of the vat but it is possible that minute quantities might be carried over into the beer."
Rule of thumb: Vegans should avoid British beer and choose German or Belgium beer. Generally, British beers use isinglass, gelatin, glycerin or casein. German and Belgium beers using traditional methods of brewing are vegan. Hooray for "purity laws". They rule that only the ingredients of water, grain (barley or wheat), hops and yeast can be used in German beer. Belgium beer as well.
Personally, I'm a wine lover, but this beer ingredient info carries over to the wine industry, thus both vegan wine and beer drinkers should be informed.
Good news is... There are plenty of beer brands worldwide (German, Belgium and beyond) that are indeed 100% vegan. Click ahead for a list of vegan and not vegan beer brands...
If you are a hardcore veggie like me, you may want to rule out Guinness and all of Britain.
For a more specific breakdown...
Wow Barnivore.com has an amazing database of beer brands labeling which are vegan, mostly vegan and not vegan.
Click here for their complete beer database.
Below are a few notable findings:
Vegan:
Abita Brewing Company
Amstel & Amstel Light
Corona
Heineken
Magic Hat
Michelob (except Honey Lager)
Mike's Hard Lemonade
Miller Brewing Co.
Redhook Ale Brewing
Roque Ales (except for Honey Orange Wheat and cask beers)
Rolling Rock
Santa Cruz Ale Works
Trader Joe's Brand Beers
Mostly Vegan:
Brooklyn Brewery
Coors
Dogfish Head Brewing
Samuel Adams Brewing co.
Thirsty Dog Beer
Not Vegan:
Fosters
Guinness Stout
Lighthouse Brewing Co. Inc
Moorhouse's
Murphy's Irish Stout
Sol
Wooden Hand Brewery
WINE:
Worried about your wine being vegan?
Check out a nice vegan wine database here.
Dave says
You're going to trigger the Irish saying Guiness is British beer lol
Curt says
Also it is vegan now!
Kathy says
Well said ZB!
Zucchini Breath says
"Anonymous said... Isnt yeast itself considered a living organism? Wouldn't all beer and wine brewed using yeast be considered "not vegan?" "
Not to be rude, but by that logic doing laundry or washing your hands isn't vegan.
Yeast like bacteria and plants has no central nervous system, thus does not feel pain.
Being vegan is about reducing suffering that I personally cause to sentient individuals not about saving every bacteria that comes along.
I hope this was helpful.
Anonymous says
Isnt yeast itself considered a living organism? Wouldn't all beer and wine brewed using yeast be considered "not vegan?"
Zucchini Breath says
Thanks for the tips. I like an occasional beer and vegan is ALWAYS best! Cheers!
Anonymous says
I'd double check the Belgium beer purity assertion. Belgium's famous lambic style, for example, contains fruit which would be against purity laws in Germany. Maybe they have laws about the process or purity of ingredients I am not aware of... Also, the Belgian style of Gueuze is fermented using wild yeasts - literally they leave the vats of beer near open windows and let whatever mix in as part of the fermentation process. That is off putting to some.
Anonymous says
Thanks so much for sharing this info! I'll keep an eye out for my vegan beers from now on. I really think you should put this information up on RawPeople so other vegans and vegetarians can know what to look for on St. Patty's too. http://www.rawpeople.com/?utm_source=A&utm_medium=B&utm_campaign=C