Alcohol and vegetaianism - do they mix?

One of the areas where people are less aware of the use of animal by-products is in alcoholic beverage production. The main reason for this is probably due to the fact that alcoholic drink producers are not bound by law to state which additives or ingredients are used during the making of their products. An obvious example of this discrepancy is the advertisements of Guinness down through the years stating that there are four ingredients used in the making of the drink - hops, barley, yeast and water. What we are not told about is the additives used during the production process. A single phone-call to the Guinness consumer information line in Dublin revealed quite readily that the fining agent used in the clarification process is isinglass (a fish gelatine). Mother beer maker, Hoisten, who recently had an advertising campaign around Ireland also states that only four ingredients are used for making their beer Hoisten pus. Hoisten beer however, is approved by The UK Vegetarian Society and The UK Vegan Society.

So, what is the difference? What are fining agents? And what is the clarification process? Once production is underway, there comes a stage where deposits in the raw product need to be removed because they create a cloudy appearance which makes the liquid unappealing to drink. The removal of the deposits is called the clarification or clearing process. This can be done using filtration, natural settling, or by using a variety of fining agents. There are many fining agents available and they tend to vary widely, with some suitable for vegans, some for vegetarians and others which are animal-derived materials. The most commonly known non-vegetarian types are gelatine and isinglass. Gelatine is the jelly made from boiling animal parts such as bone, tendons, ligaments and skin. Isinglass is a gelatine which is obtained from the air bladders of various freshwater fish especially species of sturgeon. There are vegetarian types such as egg whites or milk products and vegan types such as bentonite, which is a clay material. These often feature more prominently in the wine making process however. Wine producers use a range of the various read more