Schlitz is Vegan

I stumbled across this site VeganVanguard.com which brought to my attention that some beers are not vegetarian/vegan. Turns out certain beers are filtered using products derived from animals. For example, isinglass (one of the oldest sources of gelatin) is a substance obtained from the dried swim bladders of fish. It is a form of collagen used mainly as a as a fining agent for wine and beer. Then there is also other types of gelatin used for the clarification of wine and beer derived from the collagen inside animals’ skin and bones. Say what?

VeganVanguard.com compiled a list that you should go check out. They have the “yeas and neighs and awaiting replies” list for your perusal. If you don’t see your brew here and want to know more, contact the manufacture and ask.

Three non-vegan beers listed were:

Barley Creek Brewing Company

Website: http://www.barleycreek.com
Concerns: This breweries specialty beers are fined using isinglass. Some of their specialty beers also contain animal products in the ingredients. All other types of beer from this brewery are fined using gelatin. Farmer uses the spent grain as feed.
Correspondance: 11/06/03
1. Are there any animal products or byproducts (honey, etc) contained in any of your beers?
“Yes (a few of our specialty brews)”
2. Are there any animal products or byproducts (isinglass, gelatin, etc) used in the manufacture (such as in the filtering or fining process) of your products? While materials used in fining do not end up in the final product, strict vegans have an aversion to the use of animal products in situations as such.
“Yes (Isinglass for cask conditioned brews & Clear Fine, a gelatin for the others)”
3. What does your company do with the waste grain after it is used?
“Farmer gets the spent grain after a brew and uses it as feed. We feel it is better than filling up land fills with it.”
Bayhawk Ales

Website: http://www.bayhawkales.com
Concerns: This brewery’s products are filtered using animal products some of the time. However, their Stout and Hefe Weizen beer are unfiltered and therefore considered vegan.  Aside from being filtered with animal products, Honey Blonde Ale contains honey which some vegans choose to avoid.
Correspondance: 5/26/03
“85% of the time our beers are not fined with animal products. We have two beers that are never filtered, Stout and Hefe Weizen. To the best of my knowledge, no animal products ever come in contact with these two beers. We do employ Honey in our Honey Blonde Ale. Regarding our spent grain, this has always been a source of great concern to me. Unfortunately at this point in time, we have to dispose of it with the regular garbage.”
Lucky Labrador Brew Pub (Portland, Oregon)

Website: http://www.luckylab.com
Concerns: Only the beer “Organic Golden” is vegan. Spent grain is used as livestock feed by a local farmer.
Correspondance: 6/13/03
“We have one vegan beer, Organic Golden, that is 100% organic (no finings). However, we recently heard that processed Carbon Dioxide has minute traces of non-organic substances. We have not confirmed this though. Do you know? Our grain is picked up by a cattle farmer and an organic farmer.”

You can see more of their list here.

In my search for cute, funny old school beer ads I found this other site Barnivore, a vegan wine, beer and liquor guide. I wanted to make sure Schlitz Beer was vegan before I used their ad in this entry. They are. :] This site is more extensive, check it out.

Cheers.

-Cara