Are most wines and beers vegan?!
Are most wines and beers vegan?
one would think so, because they are made primarily of grapes or other plants, but are there hidden ingredients that use animal products.
Answers:
I am not sure about beer, but wine is only vegan if clearly marked as such. Most wines use a finishing technique called "fining" to clarify and filter the wine. The use eggshells and gelatine (made from boiled animal skins, bones, ligaments, and tendons) as fining agents. Most whole food stores have vegan wines available.
Can't name a single beer or wine that uses animal products. Wine is simply grape juice that is fermented, usually in oak barrels, and beer is a combination of grains that is fermented. Brewer's yeast is often used to accelerate the fermentation process, but again, no animal products in yeast.
Yeast is a micro-organism. I'm not sure if that counts as vegan or not. Some wines and beers use a substance called isinglass to clarify them. This is made from fish and is definitely NOT vegetarian or vegan.
Is mother's milk vegan? (good luck answering that one!)
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Most all wines use either dried egg whites for clarification, diotomacious earth for fining, both of which are animal.
Beer - For the US, here's a list:
Anchor Brewing--All products (thanks Amy!)
Anderson Valley
Anheuser-Busch
Arrogant Bastard (Stone Brewing Company)*
Barley's
Beach
Beck's
Bell ’s Brewery--all beers (thanks to Drew!)
Big Dog's Hospitality Group
Blue Ridge
Brick
Brooklyn Brewery (all vegan except cask-conditioned ale)**
Buffalo Bill's Brewery in Hayward, CA (thanks Angelica!)
Carlsberg-Tetley
Columbus
Courage
Dallas County
Dempsey's
Deschutes
Dock Street
Dogfish Head Brewing (thanks Amy!)
Dubuque
Eddie McStiff's
Fremont
Fullers
Genesee Brewing Company
Golden Pacific
Grant's Yakima (but Grant's Apple Honey Ale uses honey)
Greene King
Grolsch
G. Heileman
HighFalls Brewery (Genesee Brewing Company)
Irons
James Page
Jones Street
Lakefront
Latrobe (Rolling Rock)
Legend Brewing (Thanks Richard!)
Les Brasseurs du Nord
Lost Coast
Mad River
Manhattan Beach
Masters Brewpub & Brasserie
Miller
Miracle
Nelson
Nevada City
New Belgium Brewing Co.
North Coast
Nouveaux Brasseurs-Bar L'Inox
Odell
Onalaska
Oranjeboom
Otter Creek
Otto Brothers'
Pacific Hop Exchange
Pennsylvania
Pete's
Pyramid Ales
Ragtime Tavern
Rainier
Richbrau
Rogue Beers
Roslyn
Sam Adams Cream Stout
Samuel Smith
San Andreas
Saranac
Scottish & Newcastle
Shan Sui
Sharky's
Shepherd Neame (**except for cask-conditioned ale, which contains isinglass)
Sierra Nevada
Silo
Sleeman
Sonoma (Dempsey's)
Spinnakers Brewpub
Sprecher
Star
Steelhead
Stone Brewing Company*
Summit Brewing Company
Table Rock
Telluride
Thames Valley
Treaty Grounds
Triple Rock
Truckee
Umpqua
Upper Canada
Vaux Brewery
Victory Brewing Company (all bottled or standard keg products)
Weeping Radish
Whistler
Whitbread Beer
Woodstock
Young & Co.
You also have to think about what type of fertilizer (if any) is used when growing the grains or vines necessary for wine and beer. And whether or not they fall into the category of vegan-appropriate
nah... don't think so
I would be careful when going to brewerys though. I work at a brewery, and our brewmaster told me there is gelatin used in the brewing process. She checked to see if it was kosher, but it wasn't. Therefore, the beer brewed at my work is NOT vegetarian :(