Is Beer Vegan? Can Vegans Drink Beer?

With a hike in the number of vegetarians arising out of personal choices, or reasons associated with health or ageing concerns, and sometimes, switching into an eco-friendly diet without affecting the fauna community, alcoholic beverages aren’t far away from the vegan list to appear in search engines a dozen time! To be honest, even if you are not into drinking frequently, being health conscious in your own ways won’t take away your share of happiness and satisfaction. So, what’s wrong in exploring the different options that are already available at your convenience?
It might fetch you some good information for a better living! Keep reading to find out Is beer Vegan?

The demand for purely plant-based products has undoubtedly witnessed a spike throughout the years to the present day. FDA has regulated processed food labels, claiming animal-derived ingredients need to be clearly mentioned, while alcoholic beverages like beer have turned out to be the exception. Then, you may be surprised to know about the composure of these brewers. But it won’t be a shock if you are already informed about it beforehand. Once you are aware, it won’t be difficult to reach out to your friend circle or peers by word of mouth.

Can Vegans Drink Beer?

To all those doubtful minds, the question “Is beer vegan?” is answered hereby!

Why Is Beer Not Vegan?

Some non-vegan beers are however easy to identify if you look at the label. Two common flavour additives, namely honey, and milk, typically celebrate this fact right upfront. But the regular beer that you might come across in pubs, bars or outlets doesn’t necessarily cater to the vegan section. The default lies in the filtering process. The method of distilling hard liquor is traditionally vegan, but the most common technique used for filtering beer and wine use a few animal-based ingredients into the compound. Yes, you’re reading right.

Some manufacturers don’t, however, filter beer until near the end of the fermentation process, accounting for a dismal look. Going back to the 19th century, many brewers conceived such filling to be unattractive towards consumers and started purifying them with “finings” like gelatin and isinglass.

Components Sourced From Animals

Gelatin is made from bone, skin, and tissue extracts, while isinglass is carved out from the dried bladders of fish, making it a sticky substance. These are injected into beer casks. The leftover yeast and sediment cling to the derived paste, which is then removed to give the beer a transparent look. Even though the clumps are taken out, certainly some traces of isinglass might remain in the storage container.

Ingredients Used In Vegan Beers

Various filtering procedures have evolved with technological advancements to craft breweries using modern equipment, rather than additives to refine the extract. The debris left behind by yeast and grain doesn’t affect the final product at all for which the manufacturers don’t conform to such means nowadays. Meanwhile, vegetarian finings like Irish moss, seaweed have found their usage in vegan beers.

Which Beers Are Specifically Vegan?

If you are looking for some widely available beer brands to pick up from the menu, these might fit into your vegan type in one go-

Vegan-Friendly Beer Brands

• Abita (Except Honey Rye Ale)
• Big Sky Brewing (Except Summer Honey)
• Budweiser and Bud Light
• Coors and Coors Light
• Corona
• Goose Island
• Great Divide
• Guinness (Original and Blonde American Lager Only)
• Heineken (Beer Only, Not Cider)
• Odell IPA and 90 Shilling Ale
• Labatt
• Miller Lite and Miller High Life
• New Belgium (All Varieties)
• Pabst Blue Ribbon
• Rogue Chocolate Stout & Hazelnut Brown Nectar
• Schiltz
• Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
• Stella Artois (Beer Only, Not Cider)
• Yuengling

Till the next time you visit a beer shop, don’t forget to check if its vegan or not.

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