Is Craft Beer Vegan?

What is craft beer?

The terms craft beer and microbrewing have been around since the 1970s, but if you’ve only come across these names in the last five or so years, you’re not alone. What were once passion projects for the few have filtered their way down to the major leagues. 

Craft beers are generally produced by small, independently-owned breweries that aim for quality of flavour and variety of style over mass production. They rely on traditional brewing methods that aren’t dissimilar to artisanal brewing that has been around in Europe for hundreds of years 

Why is craft beer so popular?

This isn’t the easiest of questions to answer. In fact, you could ask 10 different people and receive 10 different answers.

Many beer fans appreciate the quality of ingredients used in craft beers and for others, it’s the care given to each individual batch or their varying and unique flavours. Many people like the craftsmanship and many like the creative design of the cans and their personality. 

Is craft beer vegan-friendly?

Unfortunately, this isn’t the simplest one to answer either. Whilst you’d think that all beer should be vegan as it’s basically just barley malt, hops, yeast and water. Well, more often than not animal-derived products, like isinglass and gelatin are used during the filtration process making many beers not suitable for vegans.

Whilst craft beers are more likely to rely on vegan-friendly methods of filtration than mass-produced alternatives, it’s not a hard and fast rule. It’s always worth checking ingredients or brewers websites. 

Whilst these aren’t all from independent breweries, check out our guide to the best vegan beer next.