Some alcohol drinks are vegan while others are not. As with other products, there is no shortcut to scrutinizing every label before a purchase. In fact, because there are far too many wine, liqueur, and beer brands, it is quite easy falling in the trap because much as non-vegan elements may not be used directly in such drinks, they may occur indirectly thanks to alcohol processing and filtering stages. Some ingredients you should look out for in non-vegan alcohol include egg white, isinglass, and gelatin. Again, you have to be extra cautious because more often than not, these ingredients will not be listed on the label.

 

The fining process is usually common with alcohol production and it sometimes uses various ingredients derived from animals. This process involves clarification of wine or beer in order to remove organic compounds like proteins and copper ions, although quite surprisingly elements used during fining are not expected to remain in the final drink. However, this is not a guarantee.

 

Other non-vegan ingredients to watch out for, that may be used during finning include:

• Albumin, which is derived from dried blood and eggs
• Charcoal from animal bones
• Lactose and lactobacillus
• Gelatin that comes from boiled bones, tendons, and skin from animals
• Sugar whitened using born char
• Honey coming from bees
• Isinglass from the bladders of fish
• Chitin removed from crabs shells and lobsters.

 

But because there is always something for the vegan, alternative vegan alcohols brands you can check out are:

Vegan liquors:

• Grey goose
• Malibu Rum
• Skyy Vodka
• Hanngar 1

 

Vegan beers:

• Budweiser
• Miller lite
• Yuengling

 

Vegan wines:

• Frey Vineyard
• Yellowtail
• Charles Shaw red wine

 

What are your thoughts on alcohol overall?