isinglass finings

After a Facebook friend posted about Guinness not being vegetarian, I looked into it.

The issue is isinglass finings which come fish. It is "the purest form of animal gelatin" that is basically used as a filter. So it's not actually an ingredient, but small amounts make it into your beer or wine which is of course important to some vegetarians (like me). According to wikipedia:

Isinglass is a substance obtained from the swimbladders of fish (especially Beluga sturgeon). It is a form of collagen used mainly for the clarification [IE, remove suspended solids and cloudiness] of wine and beer.

My guess is that this is largely a cosmetic thing done to make the beer or wine more palatable. If it wasn't done it'd probably look like mold was floating in it.

What's annoying to vegetarians is that this process isn't necessary, because according to wiki, "left to itself, beer will clear naturally; however, the use of isinglass finings accelerates the process." Some breweries such as my favorite, Magic Hat, uses a centrifuge as a vegetarian alternative. From what I see on the net they began using finings, but tested the centrifuge on the beer Mother Lager and then years ago moved over to using the centrifuge on all their beers.

It seems a centrifuge is a true alternative to isinglass finings, although I saw reference to Irish moss (a red algae), it is not a true alternative.

The process differs, however: isinglass is added at the end of the brewing process, before bottling, whereas Irish moss is added to the hot wort while it is being boiled, and primarily reduces hazes caused by proteins. Since the two fining agents act differently, some beers will make use of both.

I have not found a general rule of thumb for knowing which wine is vegetarian; however, all beer from Germany is safe because of the Reinheitsgebot, a law passed in 1516 which requires beer to be made with only water, barley, and hops.

I'm not clear on whether Kosher wine is vegetarian, but as a general rule of thumb it sounds as though it is not. Isinglass from sturgeon (the "best-quality" isinglass) is not acceptable (some disagree), but "Isinglass also comes from carp, which is Kohser." I didn't find anything definitive, but one or two articles said Kosher wine uses isinglass finings.

If you are interested in Kosher food and vegetarianism, then you should look into a movement within Judaism called Eco-Kashrut. There is some buzz within the movement right now and I'm not convinced it has clearly defined itself, but someday we may have wine that is Eco-Kashrut meaning nothing unnecessarily suffered to create it. Whether that means fish being killed or workers being treated unfairly.

So the bottom line is that as with all foods if you're a strict vegetarian you have to do your research. Here's some helpful lists from wikipedia:

* [A list of vegetarian beers]
* [Beer and cider suitable for the Vegetarian]