Vegetarian Society Awards 2006 - Best Veggie Pint
Short-list Announced

The Vegetarian Society is delighted to announce the short-list for our best vegetarian ‘pint’ award. The list includes some well known brands as well as a number from emerging independent breweries. Voting has been taking place over the last three months with the public nominating their favourite beer, lager or ale (bottled and draft) on our website and via our members’ magazine The Vegetarian.

The brands that received the most votes is as follows:

A judging panel will taste-test these ‘top five’ most popular brands and the results of the winner will be revealed next month (August).

Spokesperson for The Vegetarian Society, Collette Walsh, says: “We are really pleased with the response from voters. People are clearly passionate about their favourite tipples. The shortlist reflects a good cross section and all are clearly popular choices for vegetarians but there can be only one winner.”

The Vegetarian Society’s Awards are highly regarded in the food and drinks industry. They promote the best practice among caterers, manufacturers and retailers, and highlight the importance of integrity in the vegetarian market place.

EDITORS NOTES

What makes a beer or lager vegetarian?
Surely all beer and lager is vegetarian you may assume. Actually, not all are. In fact, a number of alcoholic beverages contain, or are produced, using animal products. Many beers, lagers and wines are clarified or "fined" by adding isinglass (derived from the gall bladders of fish) or other animal products such as egg albumen and chitin, from the shells of crustacea.

The lack of labeling of these ingredients makes life difficult for the UK’s three million-plus vegetarians, as well as those with food allergies too (notably seafood allergies).

For more information about The Vegetarian Society Awards, please contact Collette Walsh, Press Officer, on 0161 925 2012 or email: (collette@vegsoc.org),
Out of hours contact: 07973108165