What Alcohol Is Vegan?

When you first start eating a plant based diet you might find yourself asking what alcohol is vegan. Let me demystify vegan alcohol for you.

A Guide to Vegan Beer, Cider, Wine, and Spirits

When you first go vegan you might be surprised to know that your favourite tipple might have more than just alcohol in it! Unfortunately, many commercial brewers and winemakers and distillers use animal products as part of their processes.

All sorts of animal based ingredients like isinglass (from fish bladder,) gelatine, egg whites, and sea shells can be used to filter out impurities in the final product. Some drinks are made with castoreum, a musky flavouring derived from the castor sacs (next to the anal glands) of dead beavers. Gross!

The good news is that there are many animal-free alternatives and so there are plenty of vegan alcoholic beverages to choose from! When we talk about "vegan alcohol" we mean the spirits, beer, wine and cider which are free from animal products. But, don't forget to check the ingredients of your cocktails too!

How do I know if a drink isn't vegan?

Although there are lots of vegan drinks available, it can be hard to know whether or not a drink is or isn't made with animal products. The labelling requirements that apply to other food products don't apply to drinks. So, unfortunately these ingredients are never listed on labels.

Because producers are under no obligation to list the animal products used in the production process, it can be near impossible to identify vegan drinks by their label. Instead, the best way of knowing whether or not a drink is vegan is to check Barnivore. It's an amazing website which maintains an incredibly comprehensive and (most importantly) up to date vegan alcohol list. There are now over 44,000 different vegan-friendly alcoholic drinks on its list.

Occasionally drinks will be marketed as vegan but that's very rare.

Which alcoholic drinks are vegan?

Beer

Commercially made beer is often not vegan due to the use of fining agents. These extra ingredients makes the end product clear rather than cloudy. Fining can happen naturally but producers sometimes speed up the process by adding other ingredients (known as fining agents). The most common fining agent in beer is isinglass.

In the craft beer scene there's a lot of experimentation with flavours going on which means animal products can also sneak their way in as a flavouring. For example dairy products (such as lactose) can be found in milk stouts, some sour beers and craft beers that describe themselves as "milkshakes". Honey is also sometimes used as a sweetener.

Cider

Cider is made in a similar way to beer so has the same issues. Gelatine is also often added to fruity ciders as well!

Brands like Old Mout, Thatchers and Stowford Press all follow a natural process and as a result are vegan. Traditional scrumpy is also vegan. It's naturally cloudy (so no fining agents used) and is naturally fermented in large oak barrels. Traditional processes are always best!

Wine

Wine is also sometimes not vegan due to the fining process. The most common fining agent in wine is albumin which is derived from egg whites.

Although fining agents are removed from the final product, there will still be traces that have been absorbed into the wine and so they are not suitable for vegans.

Spirits

For those of you who like to drink "hard liquor" or spirits, the good news is that nearly all brands of whisky, vodka, gin and other distilled spirits are vegan. Spirits are distilled by taking a grain or sugar and fermenting it to make alcohol. It is then distilled to remove excess water and create a much stronger drink. So no fining agent needed!

You may have heard that tequila isn’t vegan because of a worm kept in the bottom of the bottle. This isn’t true and tequila is vegan. But, Mezcal (made from the agave plant) is sometimes bottled with moth larvae which apparently improve the taste! As a result, some Mezcal brands aren't vegan.

The only other times you need to double check are cream-based liquers and products like honey and some spiced rums that mention honey on their label.

Infuse your own spirits

Cocktails

The sheer number of ingredients in a cocktail makes it a bit of a minefield when trying to order a vegan drink.

The good news is that most high end bars will list each ingredient on the menu so it can actually be easier to order a vegan cocktail than a vegan beer for instance.

When ordering a vegan cocktail the main things to look out for are honey and egg whites. Egg whites are very popular right now as they create a velvet, foamy texture. But, aquafaba can be used to achieve the exact same result.

Cocktails that commonly aren't vegan include:

Pornstar martini, belinis, or mimosas - unless made with vegan wine.
Chambord Royale and French Martinis - Chambord sadly is made with honey but other raspberry liquers can be used in its place.
White Russian - this classic cocktail is made with milk.
Blood Mary - this breakfast cocktail currently includes Worcestershire sauce. Vegan version are available if you're making Bloody Mary's at home.

Vegan cocktail recipes

More drinks recipes

I hope you've found this guide useful. If you have any questions pop them in the comments below.

More helpful resources

To help you get through Veganuary I've written a bunch of posts covering everything from vegan baking to meat substitutes. you can find out more on the Go Vegan! page or follow the links below.

What guide would you like me to write next? Let me know in the comments.