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View Full Version : Are there vegan ways of alcohol filtration?



VegandanieL
Jan 19th, 2007, 08:33 PM
Ok, so I just bought some co-ops own brand of cider. It says on it that it is vegan, but on looking twice it says that it has been cleared by filtration. I have read that if a drink says that it has been cleared using filtration then it most probably won't be vegan. Are they vegan ways of filtration?

I don't really trust coops labeling after a few years ago when we got some "vegetarian snowballs" from there and after inspecting the ingredients, we saw they had gelatin in. We complained.

Anywho, might this cider not be vegan?

edit: I think I got a bit mixed up, I read "Any filtered product, generally speaking, will not be made using isinglass or gelatin. The latter two items are used in lieu of filtration." And read it wrongly.

So does anyone want to clarify that I can drink this cider :)

Pob
Jan 19th, 2007, 09:00 PM
I think you answered the question yourself. They do seem pretty good on labelling their alcohol - but all you can go on is whether you trust them or not. I presume the mislabeling of the snowballs was an honest mistake.

VegandanieL
Jan 19th, 2007, 09:01 PM
So there is friendly methods of filtration other then the likes of fish's bladders

edit: ah, I have emailed them to ask how they filter their products and I shall have to wait to have a few drinks.

Pob
Jan 19th, 2007, 11:13 PM
Using finings like isinglass isn't called filtration - it's more like precipitation I would think.

Cherry
Jan 20th, 2007, 03:43 PM
Yeh, precipitation/fining. Isinglass and other fining agents are attracted to the cloudy bits in the beer or cider or whatever, and because they get a lot heavier when they're sticking to something else they sink to the bottom and make the drink clear.

Filtration on the other hand means putting it through a filter. Y'know, like in GCSE chemistry. Just like sieving it, really.

Kevster
Jan 20th, 2007, 05:48 PM
Teacher ahoy

Risker
Jan 20th, 2007, 05:55 PM
The snowballs may well have been vegetarian, I believe that sometimes the term gelatin is used in ingredients lists even when a veg*n alternative is used.

Corum
Jan 20th, 2007, 07:32 PM
Ok, so I just bought some co-ops own brand of cider. It says on it that it is vegan, but on looking twice it says that it has been cleared by filtration. I have read that if a drink says that it has been cleared using filtration then it most probably won't be vegan. Are they vegan ways of filtration?

I don't really trust coops labeling after a few years ago when we got some "vegetarian snowballs" from there and after inspecting the ingredients, we saw they had gelatin in. We complained.

Anywho, might this cider not be vegan?

edit: I think I got a bit mixed up, I read "Any filtered product, generally speaking, will not be made using isinglass or gelatin. The latter two items are used in lieu of filtration." And read it wrongly.

So does anyone want to clarify that I can drink this cider :)


Hmm. fairly tricky one this - I suppose the cider you are buying isn't what they would call 'real cider' as in not processed or anything. It would be 'manufactured' in a similar way to Magners or some other such national brand, as opposed to using Isinglass.

My best advice would be to seek out a local cider producer - considering how many breweries are there on Manannan's fair isle :D you shouldn't have much difficulty.

Down here where me and Hemlock live, there's this place called Middle Farm that houses the National Collection of Cider and Perry, which is brilliant as you can walk round there with a tasting cup, try as many different ciders and perries as you can stand and come out with an eight pint container of your favourite tipple (or two four pint containers if you can't make up your mind).

VegandanieL
Jan 20th, 2007, 08:26 PM
Risker, it said "pork gelatin" so it was quite specific, anyway, after reporting it to the trading standards people, the packaging soon changed

and Corum, I think I might pay a visit to bushys, i'm scared though incase they are not very helpful and make me feel stupid with replies like "of course our ale is vegan" or "vegan?" or "beer does not have meat in it"

Corum
Jan 20th, 2007, 08:46 PM
Bushys - from my experience - are pretty good people anyway so they'd tell you straight off (I met Razz from there about... 17 years ago at a Birdland gig in Leeds - invited me over, sadly haven't been back since I went with the rugby crowd before then - long overdue return visit). The beers from there go (according to CAMRA's Good Beer Guide) 'one step further than the Manx Pure Beer Law, preferring the german Reinheitsgebot that excludes sugar.' you never know, they might be vegan...