Introduction to Beer Suitable for Vegans

[This page is in the earliest stages of production :3 February 2005]

Who is this page for?

This page is for the benefit of people who lead a strictly vegan lifestyle and who enjoy good beer. If you are not a strict vegan, or you don’t drink beer, or never buy beer for strict vegans, then this page is unlikely to be of much interest.

Why vegan beer?

I lead a strictly vegan lifestyle, and I relish drinking good beer. I enjoy home-brewing beer, using malt and crystal and hops, and enjoy drinking what I brew. However, I rarely feel sufficiently at peace with myself to brew. Instead, I buy beer from the shops, and this involves spending time sorting the vegan beers from those that are not vegan. I also enjoy drinking a wide variety of beers, from a range of brewing traditions: English, Scottish, Belgian, Dutch, German, Czech, French, North American (Canada and United States).

Vegan beer?

What makes one brew suitable for vegans, and another brew unsuitable for vegans? Two categories: ingredients and conditioning. Whilst the most obvious ingredients of all beers (malt, grains, hops, water, yeast) are suitable for vegans, many brews also include other ingredients (e.g. flavourings, caramel, honey, lactose, colourings, preservatives). It is rare to find a full list of ingredients (small quantities of ingredients do not always have to be listed even where listing is mandatory) on a bottle of beer, and therefore unless a bottle of beer is clearly marked as being suitable for vegans, there is no obvious way of knowing whether it is.

 

With the notable exception of some of the Co-op own-brand brews, I have rarely, if ever, found marked on the bottle details of the conditioning used (for an excellent discussion about labelling, read about it on the Co-op’s website: www.co-op.co.uk (search for ‘vegan’). Conditioning? Beer is fermented by holding yeast in suspension. Once the beer is brewed, the brewer usually removes the yeast and other particles, partly to prevent further fermentation and consequent cloudiness, and partly to prevent off flavours. During a telephone call I made to Samuel Smiths a long-standing independent brewer in Yorkshire, UK, the brewer explained to me that most cask beers are allowed a secondary fermentation in the cask by leaving the yeast in the beer. Later, before being served, the beer in the cask is fined. Finings are a substance put into the beer to clear out the yeast and particles. Some bottled beers are given a secondary fermentation in the bottle (creating a natural carbonation) by leaving the yeast in the beer. Usually, however, the brewer removes the yeast before bottling using one or more of three methods: centrifuge, filtration and finings. Duvel (a Belgian beer), for instance, is filtered and centrifuged. Most bottled real ales are fined before bottling. Many brewers claim (in personal telephone calls and e-mails) that because the finings are removed from the beer, they do not constitute an ingredient, and therefore should not impact on whether a beer is deemed “suitable for vegetarians … all of the cask beers still require the use of animal-derived protein (Isinglass) to clear them. This will be true of all cask beers. The actual isinglass is not consumed however and remains in the cask.” Vegans follow a lifestyle, not just a diet: strict vegans aim to do nothing that involves compromising animals. The commonest finings are isinglass, made from the swim bladder of fish (sturgeons). Other finings include egg albumin (some Co-op own-brand ciders are fined using egg albumin), casein/potassium caseinate (from milk products) and animal blood. Bentonite, a mineral derived from clay, is sometimes used. Even where all the ingredients used to make the brew are listed, it is exceedingly rare for the conditioning process to be acknowledged. Therefore, unless a bottle of beer states that it is suitable for vegans, there is no obvious way of discerning whether it is. The odds of knowing improve, however, with a list.

Kegs, casks, cans, bottles and bottle tops

Whilst the ingredients of a particular brew may stay the same regardless of how that beer is packaged, the same is not true of conditioning. It is a commonplace that most cask (wooden barrel) real ale is fined, making casked beer unlikely to be suitable for vegans. For instance, Jennings (a Cumbrian brewer) currently fine with isinglass all their cask beers, and currently fine none of their bottled beers. Whilst Samuel Smith’s fines its solitary cask beer (Old Brewery Bitter) with isinglass, it fines its keg beers with seaweed. A particular beer served from a bottle may be suitable for vegans, but that same beer served from a keg, cask or can may not be. A particular beer served from a small bottle may be suitable for vegans, but that same beer served from a larger bottle may not be. Grolsch (a Dutch beer) served from a spring top bottle has for a long time been suitable for vegans, but Grolsch served from a bottle with a crown cork is not suitable for vegans.

Lists and dates

The list of beers suitable for vegetarians and vegans I have seen (on the internet) most commonly is a document drawn up by the (UK) Vegetarian Society some years ago. I have seen that list reproduced on two other websites. The Vegetarian Society withdrew the list some while ago, and may have stopped supporting it (i.e. updating it) some time before that. Therefore, the Vegetarian Society list (regardless of where encountered) is now significantly out of date, and consequently unreliable. It is time to produce a new list.

 

The list below includes dates because brewers change the ways in which they brew their beer. A case in point is that St Peter’s Brewery (Suffolk), a brand of beers to be found on many UK supermarket shelves, has recently started fining with isinglass all its beers. When Linda McCartney foods switched the ingredients of their vegetarian sausages away from solely vegan, they advertised the switch with the word “improved” on the box – a warning bell for all vegans. Brewers do not advertise changes either to ingredients or to conditioning method. Until recently, St Peter’s classed (although never labelled) some of its beers as suitable for vegans. Information is only any good if it is up-to-date.

How have I compiled this list?

I have used several methods to compile this list. I have contacted many of the brewers directly, by post, by e-mail or by telephone. On each occasion I have explained that I am a strict vegan and wish to know whether any animal products are used as ingredients or in conditioning their beers. When I have received vague responses, I have pursued the matter until I have been given a definitive response. When I have been told that the brewer’s beers are suitable for vegetarians (e.g. in a recent e-mail from Fuller’s), I have pursued the matter until I have been given a definitive response about suitability for vegans.

The Vegan Society website appears to be updated from time to time, giving information about suitability for vegans. On the other hand the Vinceremos website inaccurately lists as suitable for vegans: St Peter’s Organic Ale, Caledonian Golden Promise and what I guess to be the Darwin Brewery’s Original Flag Porter. I have verified directly with the brewers all the details I have gleaned from the Vegan Society website included in this new list.

 

I have made use of lists from supermarkets, notably the Co-op. These lists rapidly date. With the exception of own-brand brews, I have verified directly with the brewers all the details I have gleaned from the supermarket lists. Note that in the past five years, Sainsbury’s (in the UK) has produced only one (2002) list of own-brand products suitable for vegans, although some information can be obtained from their on-line shopping website; and Safeway (in the UK), which used to produce a valuable list, has been taken over by Morrisons. I mostly shop in supermarkets, which is why such lists are important to me.

 

The easiest, but least frequent, source of information is from the beer’s packaging. Durham Brewery, for instance, mark their bottled beers as suitable for vegetarians. Not good enough for this new list, but a step in the right direction. The Co-op not only labels as suitable for vegans its own-brand beers (ciders and wines) that are suitable for vegans, but also sometimes gives full details of ingredients and of conditioning. However, food manufacturers do not always keep their labelling up to date (e.g. Sunita grape juice halva), and so direct contact is always to be preferred. The bottles both of Bateman’s and of Sam Smith’s beers carry the Vegan Society logo.

How this list can be used?

I carry in my head a list of many popular brews that are currently suitable for vegans. However, even were I to know them all, I could not memorise them all. Consequently, I carry paper lists around with me, and consult the lists whenever I encounter a brew new to me. This new list is intended to supersede all past lists. You may print out this list for your own personal use.

 

With the wonderful rise in Britain of many small breweries and micro-breweries (sometimes in the basement of a public house), Britain enjoys a huge variety of locally-produced beers. I have little hope of keeping up to date with any but the most commonly-encountered real ales. Similarly, although I have sampled a few, I have yet to encounter most vegan-suitable Belgian and German beers.

 

Although I shall attempt to upload an updated list from time to time, this new list will rapidly date. To update the latest list, I have included details about how to contact the brewers. My experience of contacting (by post, e-mail and telephone) brewers is that they are customer-friendly companies. I hope that you enjoy a similar experience.

 

If you know of, or learn about, beers that should be included in this list, please write to me or e-mail me, giving details. Provided that you wish it, I shall try to acknowledge your help. If you recognise that some information listed here is incorrect, please write to me or e-mail me, giving details.

Disclaimer

The information I have included in these web pages has been compiled with integrity and goodwill, but is only as good as the information I have been given. You use the information at your own risk. I disclaim all responsibility for any use to which anyone puts this information. If you do not feel confident about the information, do not use it. Instead, use the supplied contact details to obtain the information yourself. Only frequent contact with brewers will persuade them that there is a market for beer that is suitable for vegans.

 

New list of beers suitable for vegans

." p.g.h@btinternet.com