Beer

[bradders]

indeed, they seem to evade answering direct questions on use of isinglass etc etc
I'm beginning to worry that they have consulted their lawyers and found out that there's no legal definition of vegan.

[Risker]

Hmm... It makes me a bit cautious when their responses are so concise.

Quite, which is why I'm still not drinking stella. A simple 'yes' doesn't cut it for me.

[Cumin]

Hang on... I'm confused now.
Risker, are you saying that the statement regarding Stella to the VS is not enough for you? Or are you talking about the statement you got from InBev?

[Risker]

The message I got from inbev isn't good enough for me, not after they ignored my first email where I detailed exactly what I meant by vegan.

[Frank]

Quite, which is why I'm still not drinking stella. A simple 'yes' doesn't cut it for me.

This should help:


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Collister, Simon <Simon.Collister@edelman.com>
Date: Wed, Jun 25, 2008 at 12:39 PM
Subject: Re. Isinglass
To: colmmcb@XXXXXXXXXXX

Hi Colm

Thank you for submitting an enquiry to the Stella Artois Newsroom and my apologies for the delay in responding.

I can confirm Stella Artois does not contain any fish extracts. Although Isinglass was at one time used in the clarification process of Stella Artois it is no longer so and Stella Artois contains no fish products.

I can also confirm that Stella Artois contains only 4 ingredients: Maize, Hops, Malted Barley and Water.

I hope that answers your question. If you have any further enquiries about Stella Artois please do not hesitate to contact me.

Many thanks
Simon Collister

on behalf of Stella Artois, Inbev UK


-----Original Message-----
Sent: 17 June 2008 11:55
Subject: [Contact us] Isinglass
Colm Mc Briarty sent a message using the contact form at
http://stella-artois-news.co.uk/contact.

Hi there, I've noticed the recent advertising for Stella which states that it only has four ingredients - barley, water, hops and yeast. I'm vegan - I don't eat any animal prodcts or animal derivatives - and I always thought that isinglass was added to Stella artois as a filtering agent.

Would you be kind enough to check if isinglass is still used or if Stella is now suitable for vegans?
Thanks ever so much,
Colm.''

[Frank]

I'm beginning to worry that they have consulted their lawyers and found out that there's no legal definition of vegan.

That is why you must always tell a company what vegan is to you - and ask them if their product conforms.

[bradders]

I send something loosely along the lines of:
Dear....
I am vegan and as such do not consume... or use products tested on animals or use products where animal products (.......) have been used. Please can inform me if your products contain ...., are tested on animals or use animal products in their production...

All I ever get is a very brief response stating something along the lines of

Dear Sir, thank for contacting... we are pleased to confirm that our product is vegan or suitable for vegans

Kind Regards
Company Automaton

When I leave out the vegan issue and then send from another email address I get no response, if I reply from the same email address I get no further response when asking specifically and directly something such as "thank you for your reply, however can you confirm whether or not you use isinglass finings or beef collagen .... in your product?"

Should they just say "our product is suitable for vegans" all they have to do to comply with legislation on that is demonstrate that multiple people who profess to be vegan would consume the product as that means legally it is suitable for vegans (i.e. some not all while there remains no legal definition of vegan)

[Cumin]

Frank,
If I received that reply from Stella, I'd be a little suspicious. They don't actually say what they _do_ use to clarify it. Just that it isn't fish-bits. I like to have positive information, not just lack of negative.
That being said, it would be extremely bad of them to make such a misleading statement when Colm had clearly said he was vegan. I am going to contact them myself.

[Frank]

Cumin - they did answer his specific question.

I'm waiting to hear back on the rest of their products too.

[Risker]

Thanks frank :) I now feel confident enough to drink it.

[bryzee86]

Re: Meantime Brewery.

I emailed them after their last reply, specifyig what I meant by vegan, and he replied that, yes, they are all vegan. I saw one of their bottles (can't remeber which), and it said suitable for vegans on the back. Whoop.

[Stu]

I wonder why some of their drinks are labelled as veganish, and others aren't...

[bryzee86]

I'm going sainsburys tomorrow and I'll note down the ones that are, and aren't, and I'll email again, armed with knowledge.

[Marrers]

veganish
That word makes me think you mean it is almost vegan but not quite . . .

[Frosty]

Is that the same as for people that are Jewish?

[bradders]

too funny

[bryzee86]

I went to sainsburys today and saw that the London pale ale (500ml) and London stout are both labelled vegan, whereas the 750ml porter and pale ale, as well as the winter ale, had no disclaimer. I'll email them again later to clear up whether these unlabelled beers are indeed suitable. I got the stout in the 'meantime' (ba-dum tish).

ETA: the stout is nice, if a bit sparkly.

[vorpal]

cornishorchards.co.uk (http://www.cornishorchards.co.uk/index.php)

Received a message on my phone yesterday saying that they did not use any clarification products at all when making their cider, instead it is filtered through recycled paper. Also the lady said she agreed that it would be a good idea to add information to this effect on their website and that they would try and do so when they update early next year :D

Unfortunately for my boyfriend this meant I was able to help him finish off his 5 litre box of medium draught farm cider, poor thing, I bet he wanted it all to himself as well. It was extremely drinkable I must say.

(When I wrote to them I said I wanted to know whether or not their cider was suitable for vegans and in particular I would like to know if any animal products such as fish isinglass or egg albumen are used in the clarification process. I would like to think that stating exactly what I needed to know helped them in their reply somewhat.)

[matt35mm]

Has anyone here made a joke along the lines of "They're taking the hobbits to Isinglass?" It's all I think about!

[Cumin]

I am a terrible old pedant, but I did ask Stella Artois for clarification.
They said:

"The statement is intended to be very clear. I think the key point is
that Stella Artois "is suitable for vegetarians and vegans" and contains
only the four ingredients listed. There are no other ingredients used at
any time during the production process"

:thumbsup:



Cumin - they did answer his specific question.

I'm waiting to hear back on the rest of their products too.

[bradders]

that's good then

[Pob]

Well I sampled the Meantime porter and the Festive brew.

The porter is good. Been a long time since I had porter. Festive brew is strong and dry. Grows on you I think.

Why are the big bottles so expensive, though? Even before the little bottles are discounted in the promotion the big bottles are substantially more per litre (even for the same drink!). And the porter is only in a big bottle.

[bryzee86]

Well I sampled the Meantime porter and the Festive brew.

The porter is good. Been a long time since I had porter. Festive brew is strong and dry. Grows on you I think.

Why are the big bottles so expensive, though? Even before the little bottles are discounted in the promotion the big bottles are substantially more per litre (even for the same drink!). And the porter is only in a big bottle.

Do you have a waitrose near you?

I noticed they've 1/3 off at the moment - down to about 2.60 or so.

ETA: this was an offer on the 750ml champagne bottles of Porter and IPA.

[ALderado]

Hiya! I can't see anywhere that anyone might have mentioned Fullers beer's?? Anyway, all their bottled stuff in Vegan friendly and keg stuff too, but not draught for some reason?? Their London Pride is a great bench mark for a bitter, much the same as Becks is for lager!! A favourite Belgian beer of mine, well, beer full-stop!!, is Duvel (Flemish for devil!!) and is also Vegan friendly!! But watchout, it's deceptively strong at 8.5%!!!! I'm also into bottled stuff by George Batemans!! On the back of the bottle it has a Vegan friendly logo,....grrrrrrrrrrreat!!
Enjoy!! AL!!
Is what I'm hearing about Stella Artois being suitable for Vegan's again true??!!

[bradders]

there are issues with fining barrels as some remain active in barrel and would get cloudy etc (seaweed provides a good alternative to this though). Which is why the cask ale from Sam Smiths isn't vegan either.
It would appear that Stella Artois is now vegan.