Introduction
The use of animal derived products in the production of alcoholic beverages
is fairly widespread not because no alternatives exist, but because they
always have been used and there is little demand from the consumer for
an alternative.
The main obstacle when trying
to judge the acceptability to vegetarians of any given product is
a clause in the 1984 Food Labelling Regulations (UK) which exclude
from the 1984 Food Act all drinks with an alcohol content exceeding
1.2% by volume (ABV), leaving only very low or non-alcoholic beers,
wines and ciders being required to list all ingredients.
The main appearance of animal
derived products is in the fining or clearing process, though others
may be used as colorants or anti-foaming agents.
It must be pointed out that
alcohol is routinely tested on thousands of animals each year (though
this is not usually done directly by any individual company).
Beer
Cask-conditioned ales need
fining to clear the material (especially the yeast) held in suspension
in the liquid. This is invariably done by adding isinglass, derived
from the swim bladders of certain tropical fish especially the Chinese
sturgeon, which acts as a falling suspension. If you were to hold
a pint of real ale up to the light and see cloudy lumps swirling
around that would suggest that the cask had been recently disturbed
and the isinglass shaken up from the bottom. Bottled naturally conditioned
beers will not always have been treated with isinglass. Keg Beers
and Lagers are pasteurised and usually passed through Chill Filters,
as are canned beers and some bottled beers, however a considerable
number of breweries still use isinglass to clear their pasturised
beers, though sometimes only to rescue selected batches which are
considered too hazey. Also occasionally the sometimes animal derived
additive Glyceryl Monostearate is used in place of 900 Dimethylpolysiloxane
as a foam-control agent in the production of keg beers.
It is sometimes possible to
buy barrels of cask-conditioned beer from a brewery before it has
been fined. The beer would then have to be left for a considerable
time to stand before consumption. To our knowledge, only one pub
in England sells unfined real ale on draught: The Cumberland Arms
in Byker, Newcastle on Tyne.
Cider
Most of the main brands of cider will have been fined using gelatine.
Scrumpy type ciders are less likely to have been fined.
Wine
With wine, it is again in the fining process that animal derived ingredients
make an appearance. Finings can be isinglass, gelatin, egg albumen, modified
casein (from milk), chitin (derived from the shells of crabs or lobsters)
or ox blood (rarely used today). But alternatives do exist in the form
of bentonite, kieselguhr, kaolin and silica gel or solution. Also newer
methods such as centrefuging and filtering are becoming more popular.
The majority of organic wines do not use animal derived finings - but
some do, Thorson's Organic Wine Guide by Jerry Lockspeiser and Jackie
Gear, lists those wines which are suitable. You might like to note that
the Wine Development Board claim that the fining agents are removed at
the end of the process with the possible exception of very minute quantities.
Spirits
Most spirits appear to be acceptable to vegetarians, with the possible
exception of Malt Whisky, some blended whiskies and Spanish Brandies
which have been conditioned in casks which had previously held sherry
which may have been treated with animal derived finings. (Brandy itself
is not produced from wine which has undergone any fining processes).
Also some imported Vodkas may have been passed through a bone charcoal
filter.
Fortified Wines
All ports except crusted port are fined using gelatin. Sherry should
be treated in a similar way to wine.
Colorants
E120 cochineal produced by extracting the red body material from pregnant
scale insects of the species Dactilopius Coccus is used as a colorant
in a small number of red wines, soft drinks and Campari. |
