Vegetarian Beer?

[djskip]

As a vegetarian, I was shocked recently to discover that one of my fave brews, GUINNESS was considered NOT vegetarian!

Sad, sad news indeed! Guinness, I'm going to miss thee!

"Guinness is not suitable for vegans and vegetarians due to the use of a fish based fining agent called isinglass.

Isinglass is a substance obtained from the swimbladders of fish (especially sturgeon), used mainly for the clarification of wine and beer. Prior to inexpensive gelatin production and other competitive products, Isinglass was used in confectionery and desserts such as Fruit Jelly and blancmange. Isinglass was originally made exclusively from sturgeon until the 1795 invention of a cheap substitute using cod by William Murdoch. This was extensively used in Britain in place of Russian isinglass. The bladders, once removed from the fish and processed, are formed into various shapes for use.

Isinglass finings are used extensively as a processing aid in the British brewing industry to accelerate the fining, or clarification, of beer. They are used particularly in the production of cask-conditioned beers, known as real ale, although there are a few cask ales available which are not fined using isinglass. The finings, a pure form of gelatine, flocculate the live yeast in the beer into a spongy mass, and ultimately settles to the bottom of the cask. Left to itself, beer will clear naturally, however the use of isinglass finings accelerates the process. Isinglass is sometimes used with an auxiliary fining, which further accelerates the process of sedimentation. "
sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinness
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/geraint.be ... beers.html

[djskip]

So i decided to embark on some investigative blogging to find out which beers in Canada are considered vegetarian. So far every beer has responded positively:

Labatt's says, "You will be pleased to hear that we do not use any animal products in our beer or the production of it. "

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Creemore Springs says, "There are only four ingredients in our beer, barley, hops, yeast and water."

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Hello Skip!

Thank you for your inquiry. I am pleased to tell you that we do not use
any additives or preservatives in any of our beers. There are no animal
products in our products.

I hope that is good news for you!
Consumer Relations
Sleeman Breweries Ltd.

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Dear Skip:

Thanks for your e-mail. We are always interested in hearing from our consumers.

Coors does not use animals in testing of products. The PETA organization
(People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) includes Coors on their list ofcompanies that have no animal derived ingredients in our products and do not test our products on animals.

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Dear Skip, Thank you for contacting us. Yes, all Moosehead brands are vegetarian...the ingredients are: barley malt, corn, hops, yeast and water. We do not use isinglass in any of our products. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any further questions or comments. As one of the country's few remaining independent brewers, your support means a lot to us.

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Skip, We use Irish Moss as a clarifier. - Trafalgar Ales and Meads
We do not use any isinglass finings which are made from the swim bladdersof sturgeon, nor do we use any gelitan which is made from cow hoof.However all beer (all alcohol) uses yeast in its fermentation. Yeast is asingle cell organizim that consumes the sugar and expells alcohol andCO2. - Church Key Brewing

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Hi Skip I’m pretty sure our beer would qualify as vegan.
The precipitant we use is based on a silica gel. This helps remove protein and trub from the fermenter. In addition filtering beer removes any precipitating agent.
The strange thing is that from a scientific point of view yeast is a fungus based organism that behaves both like a plant and an animal. Sorry to through this quandary your way. Plants have rigid cell walls and animal cells do not. Just another thing we as humans choose to exploit. - The Black Oak Brewing Company Ltd.

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Our kegged and bottled products are vegetarian. As a vegetarian concerned about isinglass, you should avoid all cask or "real ale" products.- Wellington Brewery

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Hello Skip. Thanks for your interest in Cameron's beers.To answer your question; we do not use isinglass in our brewing process.

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Hello dj skip! Yes indeed, Steam Whistle Pilsner is a vegetarian-friendly beer. We brew using only four all-natural ingredients: water, barley, hops and yeast. I recently became a vegetarian myself, so rest assured, it is 100% free of animal products. The only “animals” we test our beer on are us, the employees!

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Hi Skip! The only products in our beer are malt, barley, hops, water and yeast. Our Hefe Weissbier is made from all 100% organic products of wheat malt, hops and yeast and water. There are not preservatives or any additives in our beer. We filtre using filtre sheets only and from there directly into the bottle. Hope that helps. - Lakes of Muskoka Cottage Brewery Inc.

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Cool beer's products do not use Isinglass (fish bladders), as a fining agent never have never will. Hope this helps.

[lister]

Is that really an issue just for political vegetarians/vegans or does that include the non-militant doing-it-by-choice-because-it's-healthy-or-because-it's-doctor's-orders types too?

[djskip]

it could be. i'm vegetarian mostly for health reasons. i just never even thought that animal products would ever be a part of the brewing process so this might be newsworthy to someone...drink up!

[Al of Kingston]

Watch out for geletin, too, then as the knees of cows also provide clarifying agents in brewing. You would think that the concerned vegetarian would be safest dealing with beers which are not clarified like real hefeweizens.

[Hamilton Brian]

As a vegetarian myself, I can share your concern. However, realizing that isinglass is used, and yeast itself is a living organism, I'm fine with the decision to consume such products. It's sort of like Indians who had a lower caste perform the hiding and tanning of dead cows to meet their leather needs. When brewing myself I use Irish Moss.

[Belgian]

Plant and animal life forms live together, like the aforementioned yeast cells killed in alcohol production, or in a yoghurt culture - these ARE tiny animals, happy to live & die with purpose. Your body is full of/covered with billions of tiny animals, many of which are getting killed in horrible ways every second.

On a larger scale there are, by mass probably more 'incidental inclusions' of insect bodies in a typical beer than any animal-derived finings. They can't keep all them critters out of the grain they grew up around, can they? Likewise, most prepared commercial coffee will contain some roasted-up bits of dead cockroach bodies. Cockroaches love getting into coffee beans! Who really cares?

Do most vegetarians/vegans ever consider 'the point of diminishing returns?' Like the mosquito you occasionally swallow while riding your bike, is that a 'gimme?' Can these intelligent adults draw a line?

Maybe not. I heard of one girl who freaked out because she swallowed a little flap of dead skin that came loose from her healing cheek lining. Her own body cells were non-vegetarian for her! If she only knew how often the human body 'recycles' its cells in a lifetime... horrors!

[djskip]

Do most vegetarians/vegans ever consider 'the point of diminishing returns?' Like the mosquito you occasionally swallow while riding your bike, is that a 'gimme?' Can these intelligent adults draw a line?

each draws their own line. mine is that i'm not vegan. cheese, milk and eggs are too essential to give up personally. i still eat cereal knowing full well there's a ton of dead bug in it. i'll still drink the beers that don't use Isinglass. fish is out for me and you'd be surprised how many ppl think fish is not meat. how could one ever cut yeast out of their diets is beyond my comprehension. like what would you do for bread??

to each their own. that is hilarious about that girl!

[Belgian]

i'll still drink the beers that don't use Isinglass. fish is out for me and you'd be surprised how many ppl think fish is not meat.

Yeah fish are meat - very light, digestible meat, and the omega oils are killa healthy for me.

I have a very respectful, restrained attitude to animal consumption. Try to be a 'conscientious carnivore.' Even animals hunting in the wild take only what they essentially need. They don't gorge for the fun of eating or throw away a mess of food, like we humans do.

[esprit]

I try to exercise restraint in my food consumption and will only eat anything that crawls, walks, swims or thrashes around in any way, shape or form...I don't eat things that grow in dirt as it's dirty.

[Tapsucker]

I'm very sensitive to living things...

Treat them well and they will taste good.

[Belgian]

I'm very sensitive to living things...

Treat them well and they will taste good.

No kidding! Stressed livestock = funky flavor. Try naturally rasied beef or chicken for a change and you will see: the emotional life of the animal does chemically affect the taste of the food.

Because it's not nice to fool with mother nature.

I try to exercise restraint in my food consumption and will only eat anything that crawls, walks, swims or thrashes around in any way, shape or form...I don't eat things that grow in dirt as it's dirty.

Great... those damn garden slugs are eating my Hostas again, Peter. Bon appetit!

(No really don't save any for me.)

[Bobbyok]

As a vegetarian, I was shocked recently to discover that one of my fave brews, GUINNESS was considered NOT vegetarian!

I can think of so many other reasons not to drink Guinness. The best one being St. Ambroise Oatmeal Stout.

[X]

I always thought it was weird that Caledonian 80 Schilling has "Suitable for Vegetarians" logo on the side of the can. Guess I know why now.

[El Pinguino]

I'd just like to add that I love baby animals...because they just taste better!