Things that suck: some beer is made with fish bladders.

1 April 2012 in Tips & Tricks by Erika | No comments

“Oh hey, did I tell you I found out Guinness isn’t vegan?”-Kelly Golden, uttering the words that ended my life as I knew it.

Ok, I’m kidding a little bit. But only a bit, because the Erika that exists in this world without an occasional well-poured stout is an empty husk of an Erika existing otherwise. Granted, there are some stouts made without unethical fining agents (examples include gelatin, egg albumen, casein, and isinglass, which is collagen obtained from the dried up swim bladder of a fish), but those beers aren’t Guinness. It’s a decent stout and St. Paddy’s day staple, and mostly people love it or hate it, which is probably why you can find it on tap pretty much anywhere, because it’s contentious. I’ve adored it since before I became a regular beer-drinker (and developed the accompanying gut). And I’m part Scottish.

Seriously. If my part-ancestry can’t keep me away from a dratted beer, it’s got to be something important that can.

As you can imagine, I was desperate and heart-broken, and in my denial I emailed the company to confirm. Every digit I possess was crossed.

It didn’t go well. What follows is a transcript, because making screenshots of all the emails seemed like a lot more work than copy->pasting it. I did not edit them.

9/11/11
From:Me
To: Guiness
Subject: Isinglass finings.
I love Guinness Draught, and up until recently I was a loyal customer. I recently became aware that Guinness Draught is made with animal products, and as a vegetarian no longer feel comfortable drinking Guiness products. Is it likely in the future that Guinness will switch to more environmentally friendly and cruelty-free ingredients?

Erika Gill.

9/12/11
From:Diageona@consumer-care.net
To: Me
Subject: Re: Your Comment/Question Case #630797
Dear Ms. Erika Gill,

Thank you for taking time to contact Guinness & Co. We appreciate hearing from our consumers because your feedback is important.

In reference to your inquiry, isinglass, a fish product, is used during the clarification process as a magnet to get rid of excess yeast. To the strict Vegan, this would be considered an animal product and therefore unsuitable. Once again, thank you for contacting us.

Sincerely,

Kathleen L.
Guinness Consumer Representative

Cheers!

Drinking Responsibly is Brilliant!!

Check out www.thebar.com for fabulous drink recipes, party ideas, store locations in select states and much more

9/13/11
From:Me
To: diageona@consumer-care.net
Subject: Re: Your Comment/Question Case #630797
Dear Ms. Kathleen L.,

Thank you for responding. I appreciate hearing back from corporations, because Guinness’ ethical and environmental impact is important.

However, I am still curious about whether any consideration has been given about changing the finings in the Guinness Draught recipe to something more ethical and sustainable. Could it not also be more economical to use an alternative?

9/14/11
From:Diageona@consumer-care.net
To: Me
Subject: Re: Your Comment/Question Case #630797

Dear Ms. Erika Gill,

Thank you for taking time to contact Guinness. Your feedback is important to us.

Our policy does not allow us to consider ideas, suggestions or proposals for new products, production or distribution, creative works, advertising, or promotions, except those developed internally or by parties under contract with Diageo. Consequently, we are not seeking any unsolicited ideas, suggestions or proposals relating to the development, design, manufacture, distribution, advertising or marketing of beverage alcohol products, including your proposal.

While we appreciate your suggestion and enthusiasm for Guinness, we are, however, unable to consider any unsolicited submissions.

Sincerely,

Jennifer H.

Guinness Consumer Representative

Cheers!

Drinking Responsibly is Brilliant!!

Check out www.thebar.com for fabulous drink recipes, party ideas, store locations in select states and much more

I’m pretty sure I drafted a scathing reply, in which I offered to allow them to compensate me for my “ideas, suggestions or proposals” and therefore be solicited, but I can’t find a record of this and my phone was stolen shortly after this altercation so, whatevs.

After that day I did some research and found a few websites with good vegan beer references. Veganconnection and Peta both have lists, but I prefer Barnivore.com. It’s continuously updated, with meticulous documentation (sometimes too meticulous), and it displays well on my phone browser. I love it!

The best thing is that Barnivore, being so thorough, can change practically overnight on a brewery’s status. So when I looked up Guinness at first, probably around St. Patrick’s Day last year (this should give you some idea of how much I procrastinate) the across-the-board status on the brewery was that it wasn’t vegan friendly, and was backed up by some pretty lengthy correspondence.

Recently it has been noted that Moosehead Breweries, the American brewery/distributor for Guinness Extra Stout, located in St. John, Canada, doesn’t use isinglass for that particular beer. Which wasn’t as good as I remembered. Maybe it’s because it really isn’t anything special, or maybe it’s because I know that the corporation is sort of soulless and impersonal and are largely unethical in fining every other beer they make…

To date, we have not found any alternative that is as effective and as environmentally friendly as isinglass for our product. (Feb 2012)

/barf

So these days, whenever I buy wine or beer, I tend to spend some extra time searching for particular brands in the database (this time is compounded when it’s wine, since I’m concerned about the corks too) but it’s not too bad a system, on the fly. I still wish someone would make a cross platform eco-veg app. *crickets*

The smart thing to do would be to pick out a few options of beers or wine that I’d like and cross-reference them before I go, which would take all of 5 minutes. But let’s be real, it’s me. I will stand in the aisle like a creep for 20 minutes waiting for my browser to load each brand. Because I am dedication.

I’m not too concerned about having a limited selection in the future, because my all-time fave stand-by, Blue Moon (excluding the Summer Honey Wheat, because duh), is vegan friendly across the board. Party on and pura vida!