This is most definitely the case, as per the FAQ on the Fosters website. I came across this interesting and under-publicised tidbit at BeerLeaks.org, which is a WikiLeaks parody brought to us by Brewdog Brewing. It appears their new website was recently shutdown, probably because the giant breweries threatened to sue the pants off them (their Twitter account has also gone quiet). Amongst their claims that many big brand beers aren’t vegetarian (and they named some big names, one of which rhymed with Guinness, I mean, yeah it was Guinness), they also let it be known that most imports aren’t actually imported and that clear bottles lead to skunkification. The last two I knew, but I didn’t think the giant evil beer companies would stoop so low as to trick vegetarians into betraying their principles. So much for the Bavarian purity law, eh? At least the solution to the problem is clear, people should stop being vegetarian, or at least switch to craft beer.
Now containing dead animal!
I found about BeerLeaks.org through this article on the 37signals blog about Brewdog’s struggle to become a top craft brewer. It’s really good reading and so you should read it.
Cheers,
Chris
Just a bit of a clarification on this. Guinness is Vegetarian, but rather not Vegan as the Isinglass (a clarifying agent) is used in the production of the beer, but doesn’t turn up in the end product.
Thanks for the clarification. Does that apply to all Guinness or just the Guinness brewed in Ireland?
As per Guiness
“All Guinness brands are free from animal matter and from contact with animal matter. However, isinglass, which is a by-product of the fishing industry, is used as a fining agent for settling out suspended matter in the vat. The isinglass is retained in the floor of the vat but it is possible that minute quantities might be carried over into the beer.”
I did some reading on that too. Isinglass is a part of a dead fish and can be found in Guinness, so it’s pretty clear that Guinness isn’t vegetarian. To me, that quote translates like “We use dead fish parts in our brewing process and some dead fish parts might still be in the beer when you drink it.”