Vegetarianism and beer facts for kids
Beer is a popular drink made from ingredients like barley malt, water, hops, and yeast. Because of these main ingredients, many beers are suitable for vegans and vegetarians. However, some brewers add special ingredients called finings to make the beer clear. These finings can come from plants, like Irish moss, or from animals, like isinglass and gelatin.
Most breweries do not share if they use animal products when making their beers. But some, like Samuel Smith, Heineken, Harp Lager, Anheuser-Busch, the Marble Brewery, the Black Isle Brewery, and Black Sheep Brewery, have said that their beers are vegetarian or vegan.
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What Makes Some Beers Not Vegetarian or Vegan?
Clearing Agents Called Finings
In the past, many British beers were served without being filtered. This meant that tiny bits of yeast that helped make the beer would stay floating in it. This could make the beer look cloudy and taste a bit yeasty. To make the beer clear, brewers use things called finings. These finings help the yeast bits settle to the bottom.
There are different types of finings. Some are plant-based, like silicon dioxide. But others come from animals, such as gelatin and isinglass.
Isinglass is the most common animal fining used for a type of beer called cask ale. Isinglass comes from the swim bladders of fish, usually large fish like sturgeon. Because isinglass comes from animals, beers cleared with it are not considered vegetarian.
Ingredients for Foam or Sweetness
Brewers might also use animal products in other parts of making beer.
Glycerol Monostearate for Foam
Sometimes, a brewer might use something called glycerol monostearate. This ingredient helps create a nice foam or "head" on top of the finished beer. This can sometimes come from animal sources.
Honey for Sweetness
Honey is sometimes added to beers to give them flavor and make them sweeter. Even though many vegetarians eat honey, it is an animal product made by bees. Because of this, honey is not suitable for vegans.
Lactose from Milk
Some beers, especially those called milk stouts, contain lactose. Lactose is a type of sugar that comes from milk. So, beers with lactose are not suitable for people who do not eat dairy products.
Packaged Beers and Filtering
Most beers that come in cans, bottles, or kegs are filtered in some way. This filtering usually does not need animal finings. However, sometimes if a batch of beer is very cloudy, brewers might still use animal finings to clear it before packaging.
Breweries That Make Vegetarian Beers
Even though many beers are vegetarian, most breweries do not tell you which ones use animal products. But some breweries do share this information. These include Bartleby's Brewery, Samuel Smith, Anheuser-Busch, MillerCoors, the Marble Brewery, the Black Isle Brewery, Little Valley Brewery, Pitfield Brewery, Black Sheep Brewery, the Epic Brewing Company, and Broken Compass Brewing Company.
Guinness is a well-known beer brand. In 2016, Guinness opened a new filtering system that made their beer vegan-friendly. By 2017, all types of Guinness beer (from taps, bottles, and cans) became suitable for vegans.
