Monday, January 11, 2010

NC Beer List


Over the past year, I've become more interested in local craft beer due to a growing relationship between local brewers and local rock musicians, as well as a growing buy-local mentality. With that in mind, I've started to compile a list of the vegan-friendliest brews for those of you who live in the NC area (or have access to some of these beers). I've withheld my own personal recommendations from this list because it is incomplete and because I hope to possibly pilgrimage (a la Beer Y'all) to some of these breweries and do a side by side comparison of their wares to bring you the best and brightest from each one!

Without further ado, the list thus far:


Aviator - Vegan Friendly

Fuquay Varina, NC

We don’t use isinglass in any of our beers (we did use it in the past…but have discontinued it) and to now we have not used honey.

You can list them all!

Cheers,

Mark.


Carolina Brewery - Vegan Friendly!
Chapel Hill and Pittsboro, NC
carolinabrewery.com

Thanks for your interest in the Carolina Brewery. We always have Sky Blue Golden Ale, Copperline Amber Ale, Flagship India Pale Ale and Oatmeal Porter on tap, plus seasonal beers.Our beers are made with malted barley, hops, yeast and water. None of our beers contain isinglass, dairy, gelatin or honey. For a complete list our beers please visit our website www.carolinabrewery.com.
Thanks, -Jon



Carolina Brewing Company
- Vegan Friendly!
Holly Springs, NC
http://www.carolinabrew.com


According to J
ohn, "We don’t use any honey, isinglass, dairy or gelatin at all so every beer we make is vegan."



Catawba Valley Brewing - Vegan Friendly
!
Morganton, NC

http://www.catawbavalleybrewingcompany.com/


At this time all of our Beers are Vegan, In the past we used some different clarifying agents, (Isinglass to be exact) But I haven't used anything in many years . So were safer , fresher and happier..
Thanks
W Scott Pyatt



Craggie Brewing Company - Vegan Friendly!

Asheville, NC
www.craggiebrewingco.com


My name is Bill Drew and I am the owner/ brew master of Craggie Brewing Company. Thank you for your interest in our beers. Have you had a chance to come to our tasting room to sample our wares yet? All our beers are "Vegan". No clarifying agents or foam inhibitors. We don't filter either. Most of our beers are just malt, hops, yeast, water. Since yeast is a living organism, is it an exception to the rule? Some of our other beers do contain candy sugar, molasses, ginger, spruce tips, strawberries, blueberries, etc. depending on the seasonal recipe. I hope this is helpful. Thanks and cheers!
Bill



Foothills Brewing Company - Vegan Friendly!
Winston-Salem, NC
http://foothillsbrewing.com/

We do not use isinglass in any of our products, nor do we use honey. I believe, as a result, all of our beers could be considered vegan. If you have any more questions, feel free to contact me at jamie@foothillsbrewing.com or directly at 3364079276. Thanks for the interest! Jamie Bartholomaus (Brewmaster)




French Broad Brewing Company - Vegan Friendly!
Asheveille, NC
http://frenchbroadbrewery.com

Thanks for your interest in French Broad beers. We would love to be listed on your blog. We do not use isinglass or any other animal by-product in the production of our beers. Thanks again for checking with us.

Cheers,
Drew Barton



Ham's Brewhouse - Mostly Vegan Friendly!
Greenville, NC
www.hamsbrewhouse.com

It's actually easier for us to list our brews that aren't vegan. The only ones that are not vegan are our Mother's Milk Cream Stout (it contains lactose) and our Sunfest Lager might not be vegan. We filter our Sunfest Lager and our filter modules contain DE (diatomaceous earth), but I'm not sure how you guys feel about DE. Here's something to read if you're not familiar with DE....

http://veganfootprints.blogspot.com/2008/06/diatomaceous-earth.html.

Other than that, all our brews can be considered vegan.

The only fining (used for clarity) we use is Irish Moss, which is made from different kinds of seaweed.

Other than those two, any of our brews listed at www.hamsbrewhouse.com would be considered vegan.

Thanks!

TL Adkisson




Heinzelmännchen Brewery - Mostly Vegan Friendly!
Sylva, NC
http://yourgnometownbrewery.com/


Except for our Ancient Days Honey Blonde Ale, all our other Ales (Gopher, Hoppy Gnome, Gnutty Gnome, Middleworld Brown, Black Forest Stout, Weise Gnome, & Big Amber Ale). We use a cold maturation process to clear most of our beer with an occassional dose of Trub Clear (an Irish Moss product) in our specialty Ales due to the higher protein content of that style. You can find beer style descriptors on our website.
Prosit,
Dieter



Highland Brewing Company - Vegan Friendly!
Asheville, NC
www.highlandbrewing.com

Hi – Thanks for your interest in our brews. All our regular and seasonal beers are vegan. Our regular beers are Kashmir IPA, Oatmeal Porter, Gaelic Ale, Black Mocha Stout, and St. Terese Pale Ale. Our seasonal beers are Cold Mountain Winter Ale, Black Mountain Bitter, Clawhammer Oktoberfest, and Cattail Peak Wheat. Barb @ HBC




Liberty Steakhouse and Brewery - Mostly Vegan Friendly!
High Point, NC and Myrtle Beach, NC
http://libertysteakhouseandbrewery.com

Nice to hear from you and also about your interest in our craft beers. We do not use isinglass or gels here at Liberty, nor do I add lactose to any of my beers. Sometime in the future (as I have in the past), I will be utilizing honey, but it would be advertised as such. I believe I will be making a honey wheat ale in the Spring. One point to make is the fact that beer is created by the metabolism of sugars and other constituents by yeast. There is active academic debate whether fungi, which brewers yeast is a type of, is a plant or animal. I personally (along with most) categorize fungus into its own group and leave the plants and animals into their own respective groupings. I would guess that you would have to interpret the definition of fungus to yourself and decide whether or not beer is in fact vegan. I personally think it is as long as lactose, finings or other animal products are not utilized. If you have any other questions, please contact me at your leisure. Thanks!
Cheers,
Todd Isbell
Brewmaster




Lone Rider Brewery - Somewhat Vegan Friendly

Raleigh, NC
http://www.loneriderbeer.com


Shotgun Betty (unfiltered Hefeweizen) is completely vegan. Our other beers do use finings.



Natty Greene's Brewing Co - Mostly Vegan Friendly!
Greensboro and Raleigh, NC
http://bigdraft.com

the only
beer we use isinglass finings on is our General Stout, and the Irish Honey Red contains honey.
all of our beers are vegan aside these two. here is the list of the main sellers:

Guilford Golden
Wildflower Witbier
Southern Pale
Buckshot Amber
Old Town Brown
Cannonball Double IPA
Black Powder Russian Imperial Stout
Red Nose Winter Ale

at our pub locations in Greensboro, and Raleigh we brew over 40 recipes over the year and all of these are vegan.

in a follow up email, Sebastian mentioned:

I missed one, the Milk Stout we do has lactose sugar in it which is derived from dairy products...specifically whey.

Sebastian Wolfrum

Director of Brewing Operations | Natty Greene's Pub and Brewing Company



Olde Hickory Brewery - Mostly Vegan Friendly

Hickory, NC

www.oldehickorybrewery.com

Thank you for contacting the Olde Hickory Brewery! I've spoken with our brew
master and confirmed that the vast majority of our beers are vegan friendly. The only beers we make which are not are the Imperial Stout and Christmas Ale, both of which contain honey. The bottles of these are labeled with "made with honey." All of the rest of the beers listed on our website are vegan friendly, as well as our Dopplebock which is new and not yet on the site. Best, Nikol Wuest



Red Oak Brewery - Vegan Friendly
Whitsett, NC
www.redoakbrewery.com

Thank you for your inquiry. We brew 3 different lagers and all are vegan. We brew according to the 1516 law of purity the oldest consumer protection law in the world. This allows only 4 ingredients; Malted Barley, Hops, Water and Yeast. The beers we brew are Hummin' Bird, Red Oak and Battlefield Bock. We do not filter the beer or clarify it. We brew the way all beer used to be made.

Let me know if you have any more questions.

Chris Buckley
Brew Master



Top Of The Hill - NOT Vegan Friendly
Chapel Hill NC East Franklin St., Third Floor, Chapel Hill, NC 27514 100 East Franklin St., Third Floor, Chapel Hill, NC 27514
"I am sorry but we use Isenglass in all of our beers. No isenglass remains in the beer but we do use it to clarify instead of filtering.
Cheers!"

Scott Maitland
Proprietor



Triangle Brewing Company - Vegan Friendly!
Durham, NC
http://trianglebrewery.com/


As of last inquiry (July 2009) all beers are vegan.



Still Awaiting Feedback:

Appalachian Craft Brewery - Fletcher, NC
Asheville Brewing Company - Asheville, NC
Big Boss Brewing - Raleigh, NC
Boyland Bridge Brewpub - NC
Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery - Farmville, NC
Front Street Brewery - Wilmington, NC
Green Man Ales and Brewery - Asheville, NC
Huske Hardware House Brewing Company - Fayetteville, NC
Outer Banks Brewing Station - Kill Devil Hills, NC
The Mash House Restaurant and Brewery - Fayetteville, NC
Mother Earth Brewing - Kinston, NC
Pisgah Brewing Company - Black Mountain, NC
Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery - Charlotte, NC
Weeping Radish Farm Brewery - Jarvisburg, NC

1 comment:

Eric said...

nice work.

next time im down there I will make sure to try some local brews now that I know they are vegan.

cheers.