 Stop PressToday (Thursday)'s Evening Post has a full page feature about this weekend's Vegan Beer Festival at Nottingham's Sumac Centre.
Their website has the story as its 'Pick of the Day' featured article, thereby drawing plenty of attention to the fate of our fishy friends.
You can help keep it featured by adding your comment at http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/news/Real-ale-festival-showcase-vegan-beers/article-2260386-detail/article.html (Scroll down past the News and Sports sections).
Interesting to note that the Featured Review is of Leona Lewis, herself a keen supporter vegan causes.
Tasting Notes : Beers
| 1 | BREWERY | Location | Comments | Supplier | BEER NAME | ABV | Description |
|---|
| 2 | BELVOIR | Old Dalby, Leicestershire | 4.5 gall | dd | ? | |
|---|
| 3 | BELVOIR | Old Dalby, Leicestershire | 4.5 gall | dd | ? | | | |
|---|
| 4 | BUXTON | Buxton, Derbys. | | dd | KINDER STOUT | 4.1% | An Irish style dry stout |
|---|
| 5 | MAGPIE | Nottingham | 4.5 gall | dd | BEST | 4.2% | Copper coloured
best bitter |
|---|
| 6 | MAGPIE | Nottingham | 4.5 gall | dd | MIDNIGHT MILD | 4.4% | A nutty strong dark mild |
|---|
| 7 | MARBLE | Manchester | | BHC | MANCHESTER BITTER | 4.2% | A pale bitter with a fruity body |
|---|
| 8 | MARBLE | Manchester | | BHC | DOBBER | 5.9% | A hop-monster with a rich, hop-fruit flavour |
|---|
9 | SPECTRUM | Tharston, Norfolk | | mil | BLACK BUFFLE | 4.5% | Smooth, full flavoured easy drinking stout |
|---|
| 10 | SPRINGHEAD | Sutton on trent, Notts | | Spr | BLACK TOM | 3.8% | Nutty mild with hints of chocolate |
|---|
| 11 | SPRINGHEAD | Sutton on trent, Notts | | Spr | GINGER PIG | 4.4% | Pale brew with a delicate hint of ginger |
|---|
| 12 | STRINGERS | Ulverston, Cumbria | | BHC | DARK COUNTRY | 3.5% | Refreshing, easy-drinking dark ale, cunningly hopped with Goldings |
|---|
Tasting Notes : Ciders
Torkard ciders (Hucknall, Nottinghamshire)
All our ciders are made from locally grown fruit - we do not use any fruit grown outside of the Nottinghamshire County boundary.
Sheep Wash: 7.0% ABV. Pale, golden hue, with slight haze. Crisp, medium-dry sweetness. Light tannins.
2 Bees: 8.4% ABV. Strong, fruity, single-variety cider. Hazy, old-gold tint. Off-dry. Gentle, soft tannins.
Floppy Tabs: 7.0% ABV. Clear, light, almost wine-like cider. Medium sweetness. Light tannins.
Rockingham Forest (Middleton, nr. Market Harborough, Northamptonshire)
Made with fruit collected from old orchards in Worcestershire.
Rockingham Forest Cider: A tannin-rich cider characteristic of the West Country, containing a high percentage of "Vintage Quality" bittersweet cider apples. Dry.
Blakeney Red Perry: A Single Variety perry made from a classic perry-pear. Medium dry.
 Any Questions?- Is it likely much of the beer will be drunk out by Sunday - meaning if we want to get a good sample we should go on Saturday?
Being the first ever Vegan Beer Festival, it is hard to judge how many people will come, in which case there might be a bigger range of beers on the Saturday. On the other hand, we might continue finishing off suplus supplies throughout the following week!
- What about those that don't like beer?
There will also be organic, vegan cider, lager, wine and spirits, plus organic ginger beer, lemonade and cola, and other soft drinks, as well as fair trade, organic teas and coffee.
- If it's sunny outside during the day are we allowed to take our glasses out to enjoy it or must we stay inside in the bar room?
We hope it will be fine as we'll be encouraging people to circulate outside. If necessary we will have marquees for cover/shade.
- Can I come along to help entertain the crowds?
Musicians, poets, djs, juglers, rappers and other entertainers are welcome, in the garden during the day (if fine) and in the club room during the evening. You are welcome to bring your favorite vinyl for the open-decks disco.
 . - Food?
There will be food from Veggies Catering Campaign, Screaming Carrot are baking special Ale & Mushroom Puff Pastry Pasties, based on a recipe from Kelham Island Brewery and there will be vegan ice cream!
- Is there parking space available?
There will not be any parking on site, but there is a limited amount of on-street parking, and the Forest park and ride carpark is 10 minutes walk away.
 How can I help promote the event?
The Marble Brewery, a small brewery in Manchester, makes cask ale from only organic and vegetarian ingredients. Stringers and Magpie regularly supply vegan ale. Vegan bottled beers are available from Pitfield Organic, Fallen Angel and Cropton Brewery. Longer lists of bottled beers are available from the Vegetarian and Vegan Societies.
Wibblers brewery: All their bottled beers are vegan and you can also arrange to buy a keg that has not been fined with isinglass.
 Brass Castle Brewery: Brass Castle ales were at the Nottingham Beer Festival in October 2011. "We are 2 vegans who own Brass Castle so are particularly keen to get any feedback from vegans who are drinking our beer! We're on Twitter and Facebook so either email us or tweet / Facebook us!"
See also the listing of
Vegan Beers on CAMRA website
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isinglass
"Isinglass finings are widely used as a processing aid in the British brewing industry to accelerate the fining, or clarification, of beer. They are used particularly in the production of cask-conditioned beers, known as real ale, although there are a few cask ales available which are not fined using isinglass. The finings flocculate the live yeast in the beer into a jelly-like mass, which settles to the bottom of the cask. Left to itself, beer will clear naturally; however, the use of isinglass finings accelerates the process. Isinglass is sometimes used with an auxiliary fining, which further accelerates the process of sedimentation."
 Veggie Wines - UK Information on wines, beers & spirits suitable for vegetarians and vegans
These are the most common agents used during the fining process.
Gelatine - from bones and connective tissues of cows or pigs
Isinglass - obtained from fish swim bladders
Chitin - derived from the shells of crabs or lobstersChampagne
Casein - obtained from milk
Albumin - from egg whites
Bentonite - a type of clay
Ox Blood - banned in Europe due to BSE
Isinglass finings are used extensively as a processing aid in the British brewing industry to accelerate the fining, or clarification, of beer. They are used particularly in the production of cask-conditioned beers, known as real ale, although there are a few cask ales available which are not fined using isinglass. The finings, a pure form of gelatine, flocculate the live yeast in the beer into a jelly-like mass, which settles to the bottom of the cask. Left to itself, beer will clear naturally; however, the use of isinglass finings accelerates the process. Isinglass is sometimes used with an auxiliary fining, which further accelerates the process of sedimentation. Non-cask beers which are destined for kegs, cans or bottles are often pasteurised and filtered. The yeast in these beers tends to settle to the base of the storage tank naturally, so the sediment from these beers can often be filtered without using isinglass. However, some breweries still use isinglass finings for non-cask beers, especially when attempting to repair bad batches.
http://www.veggiewines.co.uk/
 Real Ale For All (RAFA) wants real ale to be available to all and therefore opposes the use of animal products as finings:
"Our aim is to campaign to have them removed from the brewing process. We feel this will benefit both the consumer and the brewing industry. We recognise the good work done by other organisations to promote the availability and consumption of real ale but we seek to make further progress and make real ale available to all."
More at http://www.myspace.com/realaleforall
or http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=22613765137
 
Return to Sumac in the future for our regular brews, including Sam Smiths, established in 1758, and always vegan.
 Veggies will be at this event - Sign Up to join our crew.
If you'd like us to bring you any of our foods, literature or campaign goods, some of which are on our online shop please contact us with details
  Whenever possible Veggies feature the publications of the Movement for Compassionate Living, which we print and distribute to promote simple living and vegan self-reliance as a remedy to the exploitation of humans, animals and the Earth. We also support our nominated charity, Vegfam, ‘Feeding the hungry without exploiting animals’. If you can help us with either of these projects at this event, whilst we are busy with Veggies catering, please email pat@veggies.org.uk.
 The Sumac Centre is an independent community and social centre in Nottingham, part of the UK Social Centre Network and Radical Routes.
Sumac provides resources, meeting spaces and skills for groups and individuals campaigning for human rights, animal rights, the environment, peace and co-operation world-wide. [wikipedia]
On Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings, the Centre becomes the Forest Fields Social Club (FFCS a.k.a Sumac Bar) from 7.30. The FFSC is a members club, but membership is easy and guests are welcome. For gigs and fundraising benefits, guests can pay at the door and members are invited to make a donation.
Getting To Sumac
Accessible entrance at back door at 73 Beech Avenue . Full directions: http://www.veggies.org.uk/sumac/map.html
Postcode: NG7 6HX . Mapping websites: http://maps.google.co.uk . http://www.streetmap.co.uk . http://www.multimap.com (photo)
Note: Maps are based on postcodes which can cover a wide area, especially for rural locations. Public Transport details may be available from http://www.traveline.org.uk/
Concerned about carbon emmisions? click here |
