Is your beer vegan?

I used to hate beer. But thanks to S, I'm a craft beer lover now.

I'm going to tell you that a lot of beer is actually vegan! And your first thought's going to be..."Why wouldn't it be?" Right? Let me explain.

There are several ingredients which are used to filter/clarify, color, and flavor beer. These ingredients are NOT vegan: isinglass, honey (if you're pretty strict), gelatin, and other animal products. Usually, these ingredients don't actually end up in your glass of beer, but are used in the brewing or bottling/casking process. You can actually find a list of more of these ingredients here (a good beer site).

Lucky for you, there's a great website called Barnivore, where you can look up all your favorite beer to see if indeed it is vegan. People are always emailing/calling breweries to find out if their beers are suitable for vegans. I've also contributed to the site by checking with breweries. So if YOU know if your beer is vegan (and it's not already listed), please email that site and let them know, so they can add it to the list. (you can also see if your favorite wine and other liquor is vegan here too!)

These days it's a lot easier to find vegan beer. Though there are some holdouts. I find that English/Irish ales are often not vegan. The same goes for most cask-conditioned ales. And then there's honey......there are several beers that use it. But these will most likely tell you right on the label. Common beer ingredients: hops, barley, yeast, malt, and water. Though many add in other varieties of grains, spices, fruit, and herbs.

No, I'm not a wine drinker.

And if you do love your beer, like I do, you're welcome to follow along in my beer tastings on my beer blog: A Taste of Beer.

What are your favorite brews?

Cheers!!

Eat smart,
T.