Vegan Drinks

If you’re having a vegan wedding, then you might want to put some time aside to understand what alcohol you’ll be serving. Believe it or not, a lot of drinks available in the UK are not vegan-friendly either because of the ingredients used or the filtration process.

Finding out whether your favourite drink is okay can be a little hard. Some things like honey, lactose and gelatine we know to look out for, but there are other things like albumen and albumin which are made from eggs, or casein which comes from milk, are less obvious.

Lagers and Real Ales

Most lagers are fine. Their processes and ingredients are totally vegan friendly, particularly those brewed in Germany or Belgium whether their brewing purity laws minimise what can go into them, meaning they’re pretty much all vegan friendly.

Real ales on the other hand use isinglass, fish guts, to clarify ale. If you’re having a vegan wedding and real ales are on the drinks menu, just ask for them not to be served.

Ciders

Most ciders are sadly not vegan-friendly. They include gelatine in the manufacturing so there is only a small base for us cider-lovers to choose from.

Wine

This is where some vegans might get a little sad. Most wine is not okay. White wine and rose use isinglass, those fish guts again, for a clear end-product, and red wines use egg whites and milk protein to get rid of bitter flavours. Oh, and fortified wines use gelatine. Wine looks like a total no-go.

However, there is a growing number of vegan wines where the producers choose to let the wine clarify on its own rather than use animal products to quicken up the process. Barnivore is a great website with a directory of thousands of beers, wines, and liquors for you to search and find the perfect one for you. They also have a list of apps that you can download, so you can check your purchases while shopping.

Spirits

Spirits are probably the easiest drinks to safely choose from. Most of the big brands available in the UK are vegan-friendly. Some imported vodkas might not be acceptable so stick to a brand you know. This also includes gin, hurray! A lot of it is common sense. Baileys and Advocaat have cream in them, it’s part of their advertising, so that’s not a surprise and cocktail menus have lists of ingredients to help you make an informed decision.

Thanks to the growing vegan movement, it is becoming easier and easier for you to get the products you want to match your lifestyle. Checking with the caterers what they have in stock for the bar before you hire them will give you one less thing to think about on the day. Our caterers at Capesthorne can help with your decisions making – Recommended Suppliers