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Veggie Wines - UK Information on wines, beers & spirits suitable for vegetarians
and vegans.
Video
- C4 TV Programme - What's
In Your Wine?

What?
There's animals in booze?
Hi
Believe
it or not, I don't actually drink much. It's true! I've probably had 3 bottles
of wine in the past 2 years, I probably average about one unit of alcohol (small
beer or small glass of wine) a month! I created this site over 3 years
ago as I was surprised to find out that drinks could sometimes not be suitable
for vegetarians. I became vegan shortly after creating the site. I was out of
work for 2 months when I started it, but now in full time employment, don't have
as much time as I'd like to update the site, especially the wines section which
changes from year to year. Therefore your contributions are really appreciated,
please keep emailing with any information you may have gathered which will be
verified and added to the site, to keep it up to date.
Thanks
for your help and thanks for visiting.
Matt / Veggie Wines
September
2009
admin@veggiewines.co.uk
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The main issue
for vegetarians and vegans is the use of 'finings' during manufacture of
beers and wines. An array of
agents are used during the fining process to clarify and stabilise the drink.
Wines and beers which have not been fined are less likely to be clear and bright
or may form a haze once bottled. In addition,
tannic red wines can be made less astringent by fining since some of the tannins
are removed. The fining agent is a processing aid not an additive, so in theory
none should remain in the wine. However, it is impossible to guarantee this and
most
vegetarians
object to the actual use of the agent. You'd think organic would be better,
that's often the case, but not always, so do check.
There are over 50 additives allowed by the EU, but the wine industry is exempt
from labelling laws. Food
Labelling Regulations in the UK exclude all drinks with an alcohol content
exceeding 1.2% by volume, meaning only very low or non-alcoholic beers, wines
and ciders are required to list all ingredients. This is something the
winemakers are fighting hard to keep as they don't want you seeing all the
chemicals they use to make their wine. Not very helpful if you are
vegan or vegetarian.
These are the most
common agents used during the fining process.
Gelatine
-
from bones and connective tissues of cows or pigs
Isinglass
- obtained from fish swim bladders
Chitin - derived from the shells of crabs or
lobsters
Casein
- obtained from milk
Albumin - from egg whites
Bentonite
- a type of clay
Ox Blood - banned in
Europe
due to BSE
Bentonite
is suitable for vegetarians and vegans because it is not an animal-derived
product. Other vegan finings used are, kaolin and kieslguhr (clays), plant
casein & synthetic polymers.
Casein
and
Albumin
are animal by-products and are therefore suitable for vegetarians but not for
vegans. Any egg (free range or not) is considered vegetarian for the purpose
of this site.
Isinglass,
Chitin,
Ox blood
and
Gelatine
are animal products and are therefore unsuitable for both vegetarians and
vegans. |
Isinglass
finings are used extensively as a processing aid in the British brewing industry
to accelerate the fining, or clarification, of beer. They are used particularly
in the production of cask-conditioned beers, known as real ale, although there
are a few cask ales available which are not fined using isinglass. The finings,
a pure form of gelatine, flocculate the live yeast in the beer into a jelly-like
mass, which settles to the bottom of the cask. Left to itself, beer will clear
naturally; however, the use of isinglass finings accelerates the process.
Isinglass is sometimes used with an auxiliary fining, which further accelerates
the process of sedimentation.
Non-cask beers which are destined for kegs, cans or bottles are often
pasteurised and filtered. The yeast in these beers tends to settle to the base
of the storage tank naturally, so the sediment from these beers can often be
filtered without using isinglass. However, some breweries still use isinglass
finings for non-cask beers, especially when attempting to repair bad batches.
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Welcome to Veggie
Wines, I'm creating this site as an information resource in a world where
sometimes you have no idea if something is suitable for a vegetarian or vegan
and ringing the manufacturer isn't always an option. I wanted to have everything
in one place rather than having to trawl the web for every single product. I
thought I'd share the information I find as others may find it useful. Judging
by the visits in the first few months you do! While certain supermarkets label
their own products, mainstream brewers and distilleries rarely inform you of
their suitability on the label. We'll try to get all the answers in one place,
and keep it up to date. |
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Ever
wondered if your gin and tonic is suitable? Does Coke, Diet Pepsi or Fanta
contain animal products? Is Red Bull full of bull? Think before you celebrate with that bottle of
champagne. Are they vegan or even vegetarian? - Veggie wines has the alcohol answers.


Brands
within the pages Include:-
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Absolout Vodka
Ameretto di Saronno
Archers
Amarula Cream
Babycham
Bacardi Breezer
Bailey's
Bass Beers
Becks
Beefeater Gin
Bell's
Benedictine
DOM
Blackthorn
Boddingtons
Bollinger
Bombay
Sapphire
Britvic Mixers
Bud
Budweiser
Budvar
Bulmers
Canada Dry
Captain Morgan Campo Viejo
Carling Black Label
Carlsberg
Cobra Beer
Coca Cola Corona
Coke
Cointreau
Cordoníu
Courvoisier |
Denbies
Diamond White
Diet Pepsi
Dom Perignon
Dows Port
Dr Pepper
Drambuie
Duvel
Efes
Fanta
Fetzer
Fosters
Freixenet
Fullers Bitter
Gallo
Gatorade
Gilbey's
Gordons Gin
Grand Marnier
Greene King
Grolsch Beer
Guinness Stout
Hardys Wine
Harveys
Bristol Cream
Harp Lager
Heineken Beer
Hoegaarden
Holsten Pils
J&B
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J2O
Jacques Cider
Jack Daniels
Jameson's
Jean Pierre Fleury
Jim Beam
John Smiths
Johnnie Walker
Jose Cuervo
Kahlua
Kopparberg
Kronenbourg
Krug NV
Kumala
Labatt's
Lambs Navy Rum
Lanson
Laphroaig
Laurent Perrier
Lech
Leffe
Lilt
Lowenbrau
Magners
Malibu
Michelob
Miller
Minute Maid
Moet Et Chandon
Mount Gay
Mumm
Mulled Wine Nastro Azzurro
Noilly Prat
Oasis
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Ommegang
Oranjeboom
Pepsi Peroni
Peter Lehmann
Pimms
Piper Heidsieck
R Whites
Red Bull
Red Russian
Red Stripe
Rioja Wine
Rose's Lime Cordial
San Miguel
Schweppes Bitter Lemon
Schweppes Ginger Beer
Schweppes Indian Tonic Water
Schweppes Lemonade
Schweppes Lime Cordial
Schweppes Russchian
Schweppes Slimline Bitter Lemon
Schweppes Slimline Ginger Ale
Schweppes Slimline
Scrumpy Jack Cider
Seven Up
Shandy Bass
Shepherd Neame
Sheppy's Cider
Skol Lager
Smirnoff Ice
Smirnoff Vodka
Sol
Southern Comfort
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Sprite
Oxford Landing
Skol
Stella Artois Lager
Stolichnaya Vodka
Stowells Wines
Strongbow Cider
Taittinger Champagne
Tango
Tanqueray Gin
Teachers Highland Cream
Tennent's Lager
Tetleys
Tiger Beer
Torres
Tsingtao
Tyskie
VAT 69
Veuve Clicquot
Vodka Reef Orange
Westons Cider
White Horse
WKD
Woodpecker
XXXX Castlemain
Yalumba
Zywiec |

Disclaimer. Makers may
change their methods from year to year, information is believed correct as at
02/02/08 (or see date on page). There is no guarantee that anything listed on this site is suitable
for vegetarians or vegans, information has been gathered from winemakers.
brewers, distillers, soft drink manufacturers and
supermarkets by us. It has been known for makers to use finings to rescue
batches which are overly cloudy, If in doubt, check yourself. We will, however,
keep checking the information listed here is up to date, and correct to the best
of our knowledge as we use it ourselves. Please
get in touch if you believe any
information listed here is incorrect.
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