{"id":125,"date":"2019-02-01T12:19:22","date_gmt":"2019-02-01T12:19:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.veganfriendly.org.uk\/?post_type=is_it_vegan&p=125"},"modified":"2020-06-26T17:13:29","modified_gmt":"2020-06-26T17:13:29","slug":"beer","status":"publish","type":"is_it_vegan","link":"https:\/\/www.veganfriendly.org.uk\/is-it-vegan\/beer\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Beer Vegan?"},"content":{"rendered":"
Beer. Homer (J. Simpson, not the author of the Iliad<\/em>) said, \u201cAh, good ol\u2019 trustworthy beer. My love for you will never die\u201d, whilst also noting that alcohol was \u201cthe cause of, and solution to, all of life\u2019s problems\u201d. Here at VeganFriendly, we\u2019re not sure we would go quite that far but there is no denying it, we\u2019re rather partial to a drop, or even 568.3 millilitre-sized drops, of beer.<\/p>\n Beer comes in many, many different guises, from the weakest, blandest, palest mass-produced lagers right up to imperial stouts, viscous, packed with flavours of chocolate, coffee, milk and more, and sometimes boasting an ABV of 14% – or more. The key question about these joyous elixirs for every vegan though is simple: Is Beer Vegan?<\/em><\/p>\n Traditionally, beer consists of just four ingredients and, on the face of it, all four are vegan friendly.<\/p>\n As you can see, all four of beer\u2019s key ingredients are 100% vegan, with no real grey areas. People sometimes wonder if yeast is vegan or not<\/a> as it\u2019s a living organism, but it is classed as a fungus so is definitely vegan friendly.<\/p>\n Whilst it may seem that beer is vegan friendly based on these core ingredients, unfortunately, many beers are made with the help of fining agents<\/a> and Isinglass<\/a>, which we now discuss in more detail below.<\/p>\nHow Is Beer Made?<\/h2>\n
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\n \nIngredient<\/th>\n Purpose<\/th>\n Notes<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n \n Water<\/td>\n Dilutes product and facilitates production<\/td>\n Water is usually around 95% of the finished product and is 100% vegan!<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Yeast<\/td>\n Needed for fermentation<\/td>\n Various strains are used depending on style, with some beers using only wild yeast in the atmosphere.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Hops<\/td>\n Adds flavour and aroma and acts as preservative<\/td>\n There are almost 100 different hop varieties used in commercial beers.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Grain<\/td>\n Adds colour and flavour, also provides the head and creamy mouthfeel but is most crucial in providing sugars needed for fermentation<\/td>\n Malted barley is most commonly used but other grains can also be used. There are various different malts used and these can also be roasted to add even more colour.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n Why Some Beers Are Not Vegan?<\/h2>\n