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The world of alcohol is plagued with myths, and it can be hard to know which claims are true. Some misconceptions don't make much of a difference, like thinking . After all, you're probably going to drink what tastes good.

Others, however, can affect people's lives, like the widely accepted idea that all beer is vegan. We hate to be the bearers of bad news, but this is not true. In its simplest form, beer contains hops, yeast, water and a grain (like wheat or barley), so the drink should technically be vegan.



But industrialization has brought about the need for techniques to speed up certain processes. Companies also try to come up with new profiles that can outshine the competition, and to experiment with ingredients. And to achieve these things, animal products can sometimes offer the easiest solutions.

What kind of animal products can you find in beer? Many companies use isinglass, which is made from fish bladders, to clarify the beer faster. Other common ingredients derived from animals include bone char, gelatin, and lactose. Some ingredients, like the honey in honey ales and the oysters in oyster stouts, are obviously not vegan.

Since most people are used to thinking of beer as vegan, however, they may not even stop to think about it. How to tell if a beer is vegan There's not really an easy way to tell if a beer is vegan-friendly. Looking at the ingredient list may help in some cases, but you'd need to memorize every single animal-derived ingredient that may appear in .

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