This article looks into one of the most frequently asked questions regarding beverages that are vegetarian and vegan friendly: Can vegetarians and vegans drink beer?
The short answer: In general, most beer is made from barley malt, yeast, hops, and water. These ingredients contain no animal products and therefore make beer both vegetarian and vegan friendly. With that said, some breweries use add-ins in their beers for flavor or filtration that are derived from animal sources. The following sections breakdown possible non-veg beer components and provide a list of veg friendly breweries and tools.
Ingredients
The basic ingredients in beer are water, a starch source (malted barley, corn, rice, wheat or sugar), a brewer’s yeast, and a flavoring (ex. hops). In general, each of these ingredients are not derived from a animal source and making beer vegan.
However, an issue arises when additional flavorings are used in while making the beer. These flavorings can include dairy products (ex. lactose in a milk stouts) or honey used as a sweetener. While these ingredients are generally considered suitable for vegetarians, both are animal products so they are not suitable for vegans.
Brewers are not required to disclose ingredient lists on the label, so choosing a veg friendly brewery or a beverage know to contain no animal products is essential.
Filtration
A more unknown side of beer is the products used for filtration before packaging. These products are called finings and can come from both plant or animal sources. Typical plant derived finings include Irish moss and pectin. Typical animal-derived finings include isinglass (a form of collagen derived from the dried swim bladders of fish), gelatin, egg whites, and sea shells.
Brewers are not required to disclose finings used, so choosing a veg friendly brewery or a beverage know to contain no animal products is essential.
Veg Friendly Breweries
As Wikipedia suggests, most brewers do not reveal which beers contain animal products. Brewers that have published this information and are both vegetarian and vegan friendly include:
- Anheuser-Busch
- Black Isle Brewery
- Black Sheep Brewery
- Broken Compass Brewing Company
- Epic Brewing Company
- Guinness*
- Little Valley Brewery
- Marble Brewery (Manchester, UK)
- MillerCoors
- Pitfield Brewery
- Samuel Smith
Tools to Identify Veg Booze
In researching for this article, multiple tools were found that can be extremely helpful in determining if a beer (or other alcoholic beverages) are vegetarian and vegan friendly. These tools are the web-based Barnivore and associated mobile applications.
Barnivore
As their slogan suggests, Barnivore is “your vegan beer, wine, and liquor guide.” It is a web-based database that has compiled entries on over 45,000 beer, wine and liquor products that includes information on both ingredients and filtering methods used. You can find Barnivore here.
iOS Applications
Four iOS applications provide a mobile friendly experience while using Barnivore’s data. These include: Green Vegan ($1.99) Vegaholic ($0.99), VeganXpress (Free), and veggiebeers (Free). Of the four, Vegaholic is the most download and at the time of this article is ranking #55 in the “Food & Drink” category on the App Store. An added bonus to Vegaholic is that all of its data is offline accessible meaning you can access it regardless of your cell reception. Veggiebeers is the highest rated of the four and is free to download.
Android Applications
Two Andorid applications provide a mobile friendly experience while using Barnivore’s data. These are VegeTipple ($1.49) and VeggieBeers (Free). Of the two, VeggieBeers is higher rated, more downloaded, and Free so it would be our recommended Android app.
Windows Phone
Windows phone users have their own vegan drinking app called, fittingly enough, Drink Vegan (Free). Similar to the other applications on this list, Drink Vegan uses Barnivore’s database for its information.
Summary
While the general ingredients used in the beer making process are vegan friendly, additional animal-derived ingredients or filtration methods can be used without disclosure. It is best to use a tool such Barnivore (or a related app) when deciding on a beer to drink. In the end, both vegetarians and vegans can most definitely drink beer.
