Are alcoholic drinks vegetarian?

Question

Although I only drink occassingly, I have heard that many alcoholic drinks contain fish glue and other animal deritaves. Is this true for all types of alcohol drinks or are there also drinks or brands which are suitable for Vegetarians?

Answer 1

Okay, funnily enough, ignore what these people have said and look it up yourself. Some beers have isinglass in them, many do actually and I personally avoid them and stick to ones I know are vegetarian (Carlsberg, Budweiser, etc). Though the medicine point was a good one, some people prefer to cut out animal by-products wherever they can.

Red wine commonly has colourings that aren't suitable, as well as other things in it. Jelly drinks should be avoided unless you find veg ones, in which case down to your hearts content!

Also, be wary of coloured alcopops, especially red, purple (due to the red), pink, orange and yellow ones, all these colours can be derived from animal sources, depending on if you are vegan or vegetarian.

This is a list of British beers, ciders, spirits and wines that are vegetarian:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/geraint.bevan/Vegetarian_beers.html

I'm not too content with the ignorance is bliss attitude, and that website has been fantastic for me!


EDIT: On the comment that there is no isinglass actually in the brew, the last two mouthfuls contain the isinglass, so if you are wary of the beer, just avoid the last two mouthfuls :p


The vegsociety website on alcohol if it'll help:
http://www.vegsoc.org/info/alcohol.html

:)

Answer 2

I think we need a Yahoo rule to make people re-visit a question, many people here will probably never return to see they are wrong

I thought that most of the answers would be ok when i first saw the question as this is fairly well know. I can't beleive so many people answer as if they know, but most are wrong

About 80% of alcoholic drinks have animal slaughter by-products in them. Its 100% true

The product is gneerally either Issinglass, whch is the swim bladder of a Japanese sturgeon fish, or Charcoal, which is actually not charcoal but burn and fractured bone meal.

Other non-veggie products used include gelatine, chitin or ox blood.

There is no particular reason for using this type of fish other than the bladder is large and its traditional.

This applies to Ales, beers, largers, spirits and wines. Port is fined with Gelatine, as are most ciders. Cochineal ( beetles ) is used in some red wines. Vodka is filtered with bone charcoal.

There are vegetarian and vegan alternative fining processes and these bottles are normally labelled as such.

More information is available at this site:
http://www.vegsoc.org/info/alcohol.html

One of the real problems is that Alchohol about 1.2 % by volume is excempt from ingredients labelling.

This answer is not guesswork, its backed up by facts at the vegetarian society website above

Answer 3

i love mixing drinks and i have a number of books that i've read up on about alcohols and drinks.
there's only one beverage i've heard of ever that has something from an animal in it.
and that was a story a friend of mine told me after spending a week in hongkong.
apperantly it was deer penis wine.
i still can't figure out how they fermented it without it spoiling...

if an alcoholic beverage seems thick to you, it's just high sugar content. no gelatin thickening or anything.

!Alexiis

Answer 4

It is pure vegetarian. Yeast is a plant cell that converts sugar into alcohol. Beer may contain gum that is also from trees. No animal products can be aded to alcoholic products.

Answer 5

They are pretty much all vegetarian, unless there happens to be a worm at the end of your tequila bottle. But some alchoholic beverages do use and ingredient made from fish bladders (isinglass I think), and are unsuitable for vegans. The only very vegan friendly booze I can think of is organic red wine, but there are many beers that are veg friendly, too.

Answer 6

yes
there is no glue
but some use a highly refined animal product (isinglass)
you can not truly apply the animal rule..
BECAUSE you can NOT find many medicines that are animal free.
IT is ridicules
The isinglass forms a film on the beer or wine and then by osmosis settles to the bottom filtering the liquid..
The brew is then siphoned and the scum is discarded.
SO no animal products IN the brew....
This was NOT worth the 2 points

Answer 7

If you so worried about Alcohol contain fish… then stop drinking!

Answer 8

Fish glue? sounds like a fable.

Answer 9

All alcohol's, that I know of, are derived from vegetable starch (liquors), fruits (wines),or fermented yeast (beer) I've NEVER heard of any alcoholic drink that had any kind of meat,fish or fowl. Enjoy :)

Answer 10

fish glue?

never heard of it