|
|
Guinness Goes Vegan!
Guinness Goes Vegan!
Great news for all our beer-drinking friends – Guinness announced that they will no longer use fish bladder to filter their traditional stouts, making their world famous beer friendly for vegans and vegetarians! After 256 years, the brewers behind the famous pint of Guinness are shaking up its original recipe.
Ireland's famous stout, Guinness, hopes to stop using isinglass, a gelatin obtained from fish, in its filtration process for the first time. This will provide a pint that's suitable for vegetarian and vegan consumers. Guinness is in the process of installing a new filtration system at St James's Gate brewery in Ireland that once in place will remove the use of isinglass from the brewing process. The plan is to have the system running by late 2016, with the new brew on the shelves for consumers to buy soon after.
According to The Times newspaper, the new brew will be vegan-friendly, allowing a broader range of consumers to enjoy the drink. Isinglass comes from fish bladders, and is used during the clarification process of some beers and alcohol, to make the yeast sediment settle more quickly.
While most of the ingredient is removed during the process, Guinness has said in the past that traces of isinglass may be found in the drinking product; hence making it unsuitable for vegetarians and vegans. In many countries, alcohol companies are not required to include isinglass on the label, as no side effects have been logged and it isn't used for texture or flavor purposes.
In January this year, Barnivore published an email from Guinness saying it was "seeking alternatives" to the fining agent. But, it added that no alternative had been found that had proved as effective or as environmentally friendly. Guinness is looking into two filtration practices that would not need to use isinglass, according to The Times.
This news comes on the back of several online petitions, which have asked Guinness in the past to make their drinks vegan-friendly, by using alternative agents. Guinness sells its products in more than 150 countries globally, with 10 million glasses of Guinness consumed every day, according to the brewer.
While we're not really sure why breweries need to use fish bladders to make beer in the first place, we must give Guinness a big round of applause for their decision to break a 257-year-old tradition in favour of a more animal-friendly option. The fact is, back in the 1700s they might have only had fish bladders to help the yeast sediment settle faster – but now, we have a wealth of synthetic, non-animal options to get the job done just as well.
Now that is something that is truly cheers-worthy. So let’s all raise a glass to Guinness and the kind folks at St. James’s Gate Brewery. Sláinte!
If you'd like some plant-based snacks to nibble while you sip your pint, be sure to see our latest promotions on http://KindMeal.my.
Sources: http://goo.gl/OTEmgi, http://goo.gl/0EpXjB
« Back To Articles
|
|
|
|
|
Member Login
