With non-alcoholic beers becoming more popular, you might be looking for non-alcoholic beers that are also vegan-friendly.
Since beers are traditionally brewed with four main ingredients: water, hops, yeast, and barley, is non-alcoholic beer vegan?
Is Non-Alcoholic Beer Vegan?
Maybe – and here’s why some non-alcoholic beers aren’t vegan.
Non-alcoholic beers are typically brewed using the same method and ingredients as alcoholic beers, which are traditionally brewed with four main ingredients: water, hops, yeast, and barley.
While these four ingredients are vegan-friendly, some non-alcoholic beers have additional animal-derived ingredients or additives added to enhance the taste and looks of the beer, or animal-derived products might be used in the filtration process.
I have found that brewers are not legally required to include if they used animal-derived materials in their brewing process, so it can be hard to filter and find vegan-friendly non-alcoholic beer.
Also Read: Is Non-Alcoholic Wine Vegan? Plus 5 Of The Best We Like!
How To Tell If A Non-Alcoholic Beer Is Vegan-Friendly
The first step is checking the beer label or packaging, but it can be hard to tell if a non-alcoholic beer is vegan-friendly if you don’t know what to look out for. Here are some things to check before purchasing that NA beer:
Watch out for these ingredients
Some non-alcoholic beers have additional animal-derived ingredients or additives added that you would want to avoid. Here are some ingredients that you would want to look out for:
1. Lactose
Lactose, otherwise known as milk sugar, is sometimes added as a form of sugar and texture.
You can commonly find lactose being used in stouts, which has a sweeter flavor profile to compliment the malt and chocolate notes. It can be used to add foam or “head” to a beer and also lends the beer a creamy “mouthfeel”.
In recent years, brewers have also started adding lactose to Juicy/Hazy IPAs to enhance the fruity flavor profile or create a “milkshake” texture.
For example, Juicy IPAs have fruits added to balance out the tartness, and lactose gives it that added sweetness.
But it doesn’t stop with stouts and Juicy/Hazy IPAs. We’ve seen non-alcoholic pale ales, sours, lagers, blonde, and many other styles of beer with lactose added.
2. Honey
Another sweetener that can be found in some non-alcoholic beers is honey. Honey has been used in beer since the 12th century, and some brewers might add honey to lagers and ales.
3. Glycerol Monostearate
Glycerol monostearate (GMS) is a type of compound without smell or color and it is often added in the final stages of beer brewing to form a frothy head.
GMS can be either derived from vegetable or animal sources, so vegans will need to extra cautious if a non-alcoholic beer contains Glycerol monostearate.
Know their filtration process
Besides animal-derived ingredients or additives, brewers might also use animal-derived products during the beer filtration process.
In traditional beer brewing, many breweries use fining agents such as gelatin or isinglass to make a beer clearer and remove hops and yeast, or other particles suspended in the liquid.
Isinglass
Isinglass is a clearing agent made from the swim bladders of certain fishes such as sturgeons, and is still used today because it is a good filter.
While modern centrifugation has diminished the need for isinglass, it can still be found in cask-contained ales.
Gelatin
Some brewers add gelatin into the fermenter during the fermentation process to make the beer clearer. Gelatin – yup, that gelatin – is made from boiling connective tissues of cows and pigs.
Gelatin helps speed up the beer clarification process by binding haze forming proteins and other particulates. This gives the beer a cleaner, clearer appearance.
While gelatin was once favored by craft brewers over isinglass because of its availability and cost, advances in filtration technologies has reduced the need for both isinglass and gelatin.
Casein
Casein is a product found in all milk products, and some non-alcoholic beers contain casein to add richness and body to the beer.
Egg Whites
For centuries, egg whites have been used to make beer clearer. As the heavier egg white sinks to the bottom of the beer, it grabs other particles in the beer down along with it. Egg whites are less commonly used today for beer filtration.
Look Out For Vegan labels
In the US and Canada, brewers are not legally required to include whether they used animal-derived materials in their ingredients or brewing process. Hence, it can be tricky knowing if that non-alcoholic beer is vegan-friendly.
In the UK, there is a required allergy declaration for milk and eggs, although they only need to be declared if they reach a set limit level. Isinglass and gelatin do not have to be declared.
Thankfully, some non-alcoholic beer brands brewing vegan non-alcoholic beers have a “vegan” label on their packaging. So if you see a vegan label on the label, it is safe to consume the drink as a vegan.
Reach out to the company directly
It can be hard to tell if a non-alcoholic drink is vegan if there isn’t a “vegan” label or if you’re unsure about the fining agents used. When in doubt, we recommend reaching out to the company directly.
You can also use Barnivore to check if a non-alcoholic beer is vegan. Its database contains confirmations from many breweries about whether their beers are vegan-friendly.
How Vegan Beers Are Filtered
Thankfully, I have noticed more breweries embracing newer filtration techniques which don’t require using animal-derived materials. A good example is Guinness, who confirmed in 2017 that it had removed isinglass from its filtering method.
One of the 100% vegan-friendly fining agent that is being used today is Irish Moss, a fancy sounding clearing agent that isn’t actually moss or Irish.
It is in fact a type of seaweed that is often found in dry powder form. When added to beer as a clearing agent, it becomes a sticky gelatinous material that grabs the fine particles in the beer and drags them to the bottom.
Another vegan-friendly clearing agent is silica gel. Silica gel adds clarity to non-alcoholic beers by binding itself to the proteins suspended in the beer.
Then there’s Bentonite Clay, which is made by weathered volcanic ash and used to clean and make a beer clearer.
Conclusion
Not all non-alcoholic beers are vegan-friendly, and it can take some sleuthing to filter and find the vegan options.
I’ve done some sleuthing for you and identified several non-alcoholic vegan beers that you can enjoy: 10 of The Best Vegan Non-Alcoholic Beers We Love