I have to confess, I’m not a beer drinker, but there’s someone in my household that loves it, so I had to figure out the truth. Is beer really healthy? Why are the ingredients not listed on the label? Which brands can we trust? Which brands are trying to slowly poison us with cheap and harmful ingredients? All of these questions were going through my head at once at lightning speed. So a year ago, I started to research what was really in beer and after questioning several beer companies, reading books about food science, and talking to experts, the information I discovered was downright shocking.
I see it all the time. Someone who eats organic, makes the right choices at the grocery store, is fit and lives an extraordinarily healthy lifestyle but then drinks beer like it is going out of style.
Caring about what you eat doesn’t necessarily translate into caring about what you drink and this is a HUGE MISTAKE.
Before we get into what exactly is in beer that you should be worried about, let’s talk about how body reacts to alcohol in general.
Alcohol is metabolized by the body differently than all other calories you consume. Alcohol is one of the only substances that you consume that can permeate your digestive system and go straight into your bloodstream. It bypasses normal digestion and is absorbed into the body intact, where it goes straight into the liver.
Your liver is your main fat-burning organ. If you are trying to lose weight or even maintain your ideal weight, drinking alcohol is one of your worst enemies. The liver is going to metabolize alcohol first vs. the fat you want to get rid of – making weight loss even harder. Additionally, one of the primary functions of the liver is to remove environmental toxins from your body – if it is overtaxed with alcohol, the normal removal of these toxins becomes extremely diminished and can result in rapid aging, loss of libido, and other diseases.
The one thing that has gotten me before and I’m sure many of you – is the health marketing claims on alcohol products making drinking them seem like a good idea and an added “benefit” to your health. The low alcohol content of beer makes it appear as an innocuous beverage and something people throw back without even thinking about it. Who hasn’t seen those studies that say a beer a day is great for you (I want to ask who ever stops at just one beer?)?
So, inherently, alcohol by itself is not a healthy person’s best friend – but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Beer, especially American beer, is made with all sorts of ingredients beyond the basic hops, malt and yeast. There are numerous other ingredients used to clarify, stabilize, preserve, enhance the color and flavor of beer.
When you drink beer, there is almost a 100% chance that you don’t know what you are drinking (unless you quizzed the beer companies like I did). The ingredients in beer are not required by law to be listed anywhere on the label and manufacturers have no legal obligation to disclose the ingredients. For regular beer, calorie levels and percent alcohol are optional and for light beer calories are mandatory but alcohol levels are optional.
Michele Simon, a public health lawyer, author of Appetite for Profit, and president of Eat Drink Politics told me the reason that beer companies don’t disclose ingredients is simple: they don’t have to.
“Ingredient labeling on food products and non-alcoholic beverages is required by the Food and Drug Administration. But a whole other federal agency regulates beer, and not very well. The Department of Treasury – the same folks who collect your taxes – oversees alcoholic beverages. That probably explains why we know more about what’s in a can of Coke than a can of Bud. You can also thank the alcohol industry, which has lobbied for years against efforts to require ingredient labeling.”
I figured if the beer companies aren’t required to tell us the exact list of ingredients, I needed to investigate this for myself and asked them the pointed questions until I got the truth.
First of all, I was able to obtain a baseline list of “legal” additives allowed in beer from the book “Chemicals Additives in Beer” by the Center of Science and Public Interest. This list allowed me to ask specific questions about each beer I investigated. For example – beer sold here in America can contain several of the following ingredients:
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Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) – alcohol is already addictive with some people, but with MSG?! Holy smokes.
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Propylene Glycol (an ingredient found in anti-freeze)
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Calcium Disodium EDTA (made from formaldehyde, sodium cayanide, and Ethylenediamine)
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Many different types of sulfites and anti-microbial preservatives (linked to allergies and asthma)
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Natural Flavors (can come from anything natural including a beavers anal gland)
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High Fructose Corn Syrup
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GMO Sugars – Dextrose, Corn Syrup
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Caramel Coloring (Class III or IV made from ammonia and classified as a carcinogen)
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FD&C Blue 1 (Made from petroleum, linked to allergies, asthma and hyperactivity)
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FD&C Red 40 (Made from petroleum, linked to allergies, asthma and hyperactivity)
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FD&C Yellow 5 (Made from petroleum, linked to allergies, asthma and hyperactivity)
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Insect-Based Dyes: carmine derived from cochineal insects to color their beer.
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Animal Based Clarifiers: Findings include isinglass (dried fish bladder), gelatin (from skin, connective tissue, and bones), and casein (found in milk)
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Foam Control: Used for head retention; (glyceryl monostearate and pepsin are both potentially derived from animals)
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BPA (Bisphenol A is a component in many can liners and it may leach into the beer. BPA can mimic the female hormone estrogen and may affect sperm count, and other organ functions.)
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Carrageenan (linked to inflammation in digestive system, IBS and considered a carcinogen in some circumstances)
During my investigation, I couldn’t get a single mainstream beer company to share the full list of ingredients contained in their beer. But I did get some of them to fess up to the use of these ingredients in writing so I’m going to share this information with you now.
Carcinogenic Caramel Coloring
Newcastle, a UK brand, confessed to using what I would consider one of the most controversial food additives. Toasted barley is usually what gives beer its golden or deep brown color, however in this case, Newcastle beer is also colored artificially with caramel color. This caramel coloring is manufactured by heating ammonia and sulfites under high pressure, which creating carcinogenic compounds. If beer companies were required by law to list the ingredients, Newcastle would likely have to have a cancer warning label under California law because it is a carcinogen proven to cause liver tumors, lung tumors, and thyroid tumors in rats and mice.
Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)
Many of the beers I questioned contained one or more possible GMO ingredients.
- High Fructose Corn Syrup (Guinness – unable to provide an affidavit for non-GMO proof)
- Corn syrup (Miller Light, Coors, Corona, Fosters, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Red Stripe)
- Dextrose (Budweiser, Bud Light, Busch Light, Michelob Ultra)
- Corn (Red Stripe, Miller Coors Brand, Anheuser-Busch Brands)
Most beers brewed commercially are made with more GMO corn than barley. Many of the companies I contacted dodged the GMO question – however Miller Coors had a very forthcoming and honest response. They stated “Corn syrup gives beer a milder and lighter-bodied flavor” and “Corn syrups may be derived from a mixture of corn (conventional and biotech.)”, admitting their use of GMOs.
Pabst Blue Ribbon responded saying their corn syrup was “special” and “made of carbohydrates and some simple sugars like dextrose and maltose. The sugars are fermented into alcohol and CO2, and the carbohydrates, both from the corn syrup and the malt, remain in the beers as flavor, color and body components.”
Dextrose and maltose can come from a variety of substances that are sweet, but likely are derived from GMO corn because it is super cheap for a company to use corn instead of fruit or other non-GMO sources. With cheap beer – you are not just getting a cheap buzz, you are getting the worst of the worst. Just like with cheap fast food – if you don’t invest in your beer – you will be drinking a lower quality product like Pabst Blue Ribbon that is made from GMO Corn and Corn Syrup.
In 2007, Greenpeace found unapproved and experimental GMO Rice strain in Anheuser-Busch (Budweiser, Bud Light) beer. Anheuser-Busch responded saying their US-grown long-grained rice “may have micro levels” of a genetically engineered protein called Liberty Link, but added that the protein is “substantially removed or destroyed” during the brewing of beer sold domestically. Don’t you think it’s hard to trust any beer company that gets caught using experimental food made in a laboratory? GMOs have not been tested long term on human beings and one of the main pesticides (Roundup) they spray on GMO crops are linked to inflammation, cancer and other diseases.
High Fructose Corn Syrup & Fish Bladders
Speaking of trusting companies, let’s get one thing straight, Guinness beer is no longer owned by the Irish, they are now owned by a large beer conglomerate called Diageo and manufactured in over 50 different countries. No matter how many St. Patty’s Day celebrations you’ve had with this dark stout, it’s time to stop because they use high fructose corn syrup in their beer (4/2/14 Update: Guinness Beer claims they do not use high fructose corn syrup any longer, but refuses to disclose ingredient affidavits or full of list of ingredients.) But, Guinness beer also contains isinglass, a gelatin-like substance produced from the swim bladder of a fish. This ingredient helps remove any “haziness,” solids, or yeast byproducts from the beer. Mmmmm… fish bladder sounds delicious, doesn’t? The sneaky thing this beer company does like many of the companies mentioned here today is create an illusion of using the best ingredients when in actuality what they tell you publicly on their websites is a complete farce. On Guinness FAQ’s – they have a question that states: “What are the key ingredients in Guinness” and the answer doesn’t reveal the whole picture – it only states “Our key ingredients – other than inspiration – are roasted, malted barley, hops, yeast and water.” What BS, right? You have to call, email, question and know the right things to ask to even have a chance at getting the truth. This is insanity.
So What Beers Are Additive and GMO Free?
If you enjoy the occasional beer and wish to maintain your healthy lifestyle, choosing one without GMOs and additives is ideal. Unfortunately, most of the mainstream beers available have additives, but luckily, there are a few that don’t. For example, Sierra Nevada, Heineken, and Amstel Light (7/31/13 UPDATE: It has come to my attention that Heinken USA has changed their formula to use GMOs – I called their customer service line 1-914-681-4100 to confirm and asked for the list of ingredients – the man told me “water, yeast, malted barley and hops” – then I asked if their beer contained any genetically engineered material and he confirmed “YES,” but wouldn’t tell me what ingredients are genetically engineered. They recently changed their formula after my initial research that started in late 2012.) (8/1/13 Update: Heineken reached out to me personally to say their customer service department made an error in telling me and others who called their beer has GMOs. I met with a head brew master and have viewed affidavits from the company and confirmed Heinken and Amstel Light do not contain GMOs – they apologize for the confusion.) appear to be pretty clean (but these companies still wouldn’t disclose the full list of ingredients to me. They did say they use non-GMO grains, no artificial ingredients, stabilizers or preservatives).
German Beers are also a good bet. The Germans are very serious about the purity of their beers and enacted a purity law called “Reinheitsgebot” that requires all German beers to be only produced with a core ingredient list of water, hops, yeast, malted barley or wheat. Advocates of German beers insist that they taste cleaner and some even claim they don’t suffer from hangovers as a result.
An obvious choice to consider is also Certified Organic Beers. They are required by law to not include GMOs and other harmful additives. Organic beers also support environmental friendly practices and reduce the amount of pesticides and toxins in our air, support organic farmers – which is a huge plus. (To this day, the beer drinkers in my family haven’t found one they love so if you have suggestions, please let us know in the comments!)
Craft & Microbrews Beers – For certain local craft and micro beers, you can ask those companies for a list of ingredients and many of them will be up front with you. However, companies like Miller Coors are slowly closing in on craft beers and buying them up one by one… like they did when they created the unique popular variety called Blue Moon (the beer you drink with an orange) and Anhesuer-Busch did this with Rolling Rock and Goose Island Brewery. Make sure your favorite craft and microbrew is still independently owned and controlled before taking a sip.
In the end – if you decide to drink beer, you are definitely drinking at your own risk for more reasons than just the crazy ingredients that could be in them. The key point to remember is – if you like to drink beer and want to be healthy, drink it infrequently and quiz the beer companies for the truth. Find a beer that you can trust and stick with it.
For your reference, here are some important questions to ask your favorite beer company:
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What are the ingredients in your beer – all of them from start to finish?
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Are any of your ingredients GMO?
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Do you use any soy, corn, or rice processing ingredients? (Examples include: dextrose, corn syrup, etc.)
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Do you add any natural, artificial flavors or colors to the beer? (Examples include: yellow #5, caramel coloring, red #40, MSG, natural flavors)
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Are there any additional preservatives, stabilizers and/or clarifying agents added to your beer during processing? (Examples include: propylene glycol, Calcium Disodium EDTA, anything ending in “sulfite” like sodium metabisulfite, Heptylparaben, isinglass)
If you know someone who drinks beer – share this post with them.
These ingredients are no joke. We must inform and protect each other from these industrial chemicals, untested and potentially harmful ingredients and it starts by sharing your knowledge with the ones you love.
Bottoms up!
Food Babe
if that`s a recent picture of you, your too boney girl. that can`t be healthy either.
Glen, when you eat organic foods you might be surprised about the results that happen without even trying to lose weight. Maybe you should take her advice – get my drift?
Glen,
Looked in the mirror lately? Wow! NOT
Wow, Glen! She looks great and you know it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7r76H62tzrg
*you’re
As in: “Glen you’re a muppet”
Gotta agree with you Glenn, way to thin!
yeah, i get your drift. maybe that`s why i`m on here for the first time. sorry if i insulted your Queen.
Ummmm please ignore his comment…I scrolled down to read peoples comments about BEER and I see this. You are beautiful woman!! I swear if I was allowed to call an overweight person “chunky” everytime I was called boney….Im sure you’ll probably ignore his comment but just incase there was a split second you didn’t. And thank you for all the research you do also…much help!
Food Babe is a friend of mine, and let me assure you, she is not too bony. Food Babe is absolutely healthy. Girl can eat – I’ve known her for years and have seen it many times!
It’s annoying when people say crap like this! My fiancée has had to put up with this crap her whole life. She is skinny, but definitely not boney. She can almost put down as much food as me (sometimes more) and I run and lift weights and have 80 pounds on her!
There are some people that don’t eat and look sick and skinny. That is bad, but just because you are skinny doesn’t mean you fall under that category.
So Glen, stop being typical rude skinny hater.
She’s gorgeous. Looks perfectly healthy to me.
Lol that’s crazy, she looks gorg!
Look at the fat guy talking about Food B, a woman that is obviously healthy and has a perfectly healthy weight.
maybe “fat guy” signed up for a reason. now what could that be……?
Go celebrate with a big mac and down yourself a six pack everyday! Happy sick days to you!
Telling someone that they’re too thin is no different than telling someone that they’re too fat. Quit body shaming! It’s no wonder the majority of females are insecure about their body. Vani’s perfect jus the way she is!
She looks amazing! She looks thin(which is definitely not a bad thing!) because the majority of Americans today or overweight(probably due to overprocessing, hormones, & portion sizes re. food).
I’ve tried Samuel Smiths Organic Cider and Organic Chocolate beer. They are from the UK and are both very good.
I have problems when I drink red wine sold at trader joe’s 2 buck chuck. It so inexpensive yet taste surprisingly good, i would really like to know how its made or
what really in there?
Actually some wines use isinglass as well to reduce the haze. Supposedly, it’s so processed that only trace amounts of the fish bladder remain in there.
Want to know exactly how I found out? I have a severe fish allergy, which requires me to carry around an epi pen. While drinking a certain brand of wine, I had a HUGE allergy attack. Full blown hives, all over rash, asthma attacks, throat closing up, everything. The only new thing that I tried that day was the wine. After contacting the wine company about it, they admitted to using fish bladders to clarify the wine.
Which drives me insane. Isn’t it a law to label the 8 common allergens? This stuff should be on the label!
So be careful with the fish bladder stuff in wine as well. I’ve only experienced allergy attacks twice so far, and it was only in the extremely cheap, no name brand wine/ $2 buck chuck.
Which beers had MSG? That would ex[plain the headaches my husband sometime gets when having a beer.
No beer brewed today has MSG in it.
What about Gluten free beers?
Hi Vany, you’re such an incredible fighter for the truth. I really admire you for investing all this time into research to give us (your supporters and readers) better picture about what is going on with the food industry. Well, I don’t drink beer myself, only occasionally with good sushi in a fine sushi restaurant. It’s usually a Sapporo, the Japanese beer. But what’s about vine? I noticed you with the glass of Champaign in one of your picture. We drink vine with dinner. I know that Red is preferable because of the health benefits, but I like White. How safe is that? What is in the vine that you won’t approuve. I know there are sulfites if it’s not Organic vine. How much is safe? Organic wines are more expensive and there’s not a very big selection. We tried it few times, well it wouldn’t be my choice for the taste. Can you please investigate and give us your input about the vine industry. Thanks Vani for your time and dedication to teach us, your readers about what is good and what foods to avoid. Can’t wait to hear from you about the vine business.
Your admirer, Irina.
Please, can you research wine? Would love to know the story behind this wonderful beverage too, or maybe I don’t???
I, too, would love to know about what’s in our wines! Red wines are supposedly also beneficial when enjoyed in moderation. Been reading more and more lately about unnecessary and harmful additives in them. Haven’t had a chance to listen to the information, but have been reading more and more and wondering. Here is a link to my most recent ‘finding’: http://foodintegritynow.org/2013/07/17/paul-frey-of-frey-wines-on-organic-and-biodynamic-wines-gmo-yeast-pesticides-and-nuclear-power/
THANK YOU in advance!
I guess I’m lucky – I don’t like beer and I’m also allergic to hops and barley 🙂
Great article. Thank you for sharing – I have had this question in my head for a while so I am happy you are here to pass on the interesting and also very scary information. Regarding organic beers, I love this one – maybe something for your family to try: http://www.samuelsmithsbrewery.co.uk/purebrewedorganiclager.html – as far as I know they are still independent! Have a beautiful day!
Actually some wines use isinglass as well to reduce the haze. Supposedly, it’s so processed that only trace amounts of the fish bladder remain in there.
Want to know exactly how I found out? I have a severe fish allergy, which requires me to carry around an epi pen. While drinking a certain brand of wine, I had a HUGE allergy attack. Full blown hives, all over rash, asthma attacks, throat closing up, everything. The only new thing that I tried that day was the wine. After contacting the wine company about it, they admitted to using fish bladders to clarify the wine.
Which drives me insane. Isn’t it a law to label the 8 common allergens? This stuff should be on the label!
So be careful with the fish bladder stuff in wine as well. I’ve only experienced allergy attacks twice so far, and it was only in the extremely cheap, no name brand wine/ $2 buck chuck.
Thanks for bursting my full-headed bubble. 🙁
This is great information to have. I love beer and never stopped to think about what kind of crap might be in it.
As for organics, Samuel Smith has a delicious organic pilsner (http://www.samuelsmithsbrewery.co.uk/purebrewedorganiclager.html) and St. Peter’s has a yummy gluten-free brew. I don’t know if it’s organic or not. (http://www.stpetersbrewery.co.uk/our-beer-range/bottled-beers/)
Stop worrying. Things that are in beer are healthy, with the exception of the alcohol which can be abused.
You’re my hero. Keep up the good work!!
Have you looked at New Belgium Brewing in Fort Collins? They used to have an organic wheat beer (Mothership Wit). They’re very Eco friendly and progressive. I lived in Fort Collins, where they’re located, for 7 years and love their beer!
Samuel Smith’s Organic Fruit Beer for your family beer drinkers are great!
I’d like to know more about some Canadian beers, like Kokanee. It is my favourite. Another beer I drink not listed here is labatt blue. So I’m gonna get on this to find out! Thanks for including questions that we as individuals can use!! Awesome article! I love beer and now I will be more conscious of the choices I make in choosing a beer.
I’m pretty sure Labatt Blue and possibly Kokonee are owned by Molson who likely uses the nasty ingredients that Food Babe listed. Mill St. Brewery has an organic beer called “organic” lol…..it’s pretty popular.
Geez you people, it was just an observation. right away you start defending her. like she needs your help. Food Babe is obviously stronger than all of us. but truth be told she is not at her optimal weight. and i think she`s beautiful too. but stop brown nosing.
We are brown nosing. We are correcting your false assumption that she isn’t at ideal weight. She eats real whole foods and I doubt she counts a single calorie. You ideal weight is eating when your body ask for food and giving it real food.
You ideal weight isn’t something you can look up in a book, no matter what you’ve heard.
*aren’t
(if I had a dollar for every time I wrote are instead of aren’t)
you`d have a dollar.
LOL, I wish it was just a dollar! In reality I would never have to work again 🙂
Easy to say, friend. What, exactly, is her ideal weight? State a number and it can be proven wrong, state a general opinion and you end up just arguing on the internet… which is a fools game.
GlenLW is fat, ugly and jealous.
i agree i`m fat. now what would a fat guy be doing on this site? i don`t know why you had to throw in ugly. and i`m not jealous.
Glen, I disagree with your comment about Food Babe being too skinny, but I agree there is no reason to attack you for being overweight (and rude nonsense like ugly / jealous).
thanks Justin, i was beginning to think the food babe`s diet made people mean and vindictive.
Very good article. You have mentioned German beers as a better alternative. It is good they pride themselves on using real foods without all the preservatives and GMOs but a lot of German beers have high levels of arsenic. There was study done that found German beers were slightly higher than the World Health Organization standard of ten micrograms per liter in drinking water.
The preservatives in beer are alcohol and isomerized alpha acids which are the bittering agent in hops.
You all know that *alcohol* is a poison, right?
Lighten up Tim!!
Did you know alcohol is probably the reason farming started?
Thanks for the info! Another reason to go the small batch, nano brewery route if you love beer like I do!
Home brewing is a fantastic way to control what exactly goes into your beer. We grow our own hops in the backyard, without any chemical pesticides, and my husband brews beer that is far and away better tasting than what you can buy from the big brewers.
For organic beer I love Monk in the Trunk. I had it randomly at a bar one day because I liked the name. This was before I was mostly organic like I have been for the last 7 months.
It’s also a beer made in Floirda, less than 2 hours north of Miami. So I got my *localish* and organic beer!
I know you are familiar with Dr. Robert Lustig and his opinions about how the body metabolizes the fructose molecule which is bound with a molecule of glucose to make up sugar, whether it’s sucrose or high fructose corn syrup. His position is that only the liver can process the fructose molecule and it’s effects on the body are almost identical to the metabolism of alcohol (ethanol) except that a portion of ethanol is metabolized by the brain. So when you state that “Alcohol is metabolized by the body differently from all other calories you consume.” what research are you basing that on? Or did I misunderstand Dr. Lustig’s position when he said that “Fructose is ethanol without the buzz.”? (Around 1:21:30 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM )
Oh that’s awful! My poor husband! But I drink red wine. Have you done any studies on that?
I too am curious about red wine. This article has put me off beer for sure.
Here are really good organic beers from my home state : http://www.fishbrewing.com/fish-tale-ales/
Thank you for the insightful report! My two favorite organic beers are Eel River Amber http://eelriverbrewing.com/
and Bison Honey Basil http://bisonbrew.com/
We’re lucky to have them at the Whole Foods here in Washington!
Awesome, awesome research! Thank you SO much for compiling all this! Only one little fact check issue Irish beer drinkers will notice. http://paddynotpatty.com/ 🙂
Great article. I’d love to see one done on wine next!
Vani, love the gusto and voice in the post, but I think you’re missing a very important point. The major beer producers you’ve interviewed do use dyes and GMO’s, but there are many other beer producers out there that do not. You failed to get the whole picture of the industry and put a false umbrella of misguided truth over all beer producers in this post.
Secondly, most clarifying agents are organic and natural – also flavorless. There is an entire community of home brewers and craft brewers that rely on these ingredients. Not to mention, the volumes of these agents that might make in the end product are fractions of a percent. Much like the organic chocolate you might enjoy has a percentage of dead bug parts in it. “Ingest at your own risk” messaging is ridiculous as the danger of actually consuming a measurable amount of these additives is low.
I think you owe it to the thousands of beer producers you did not mention to update this post with a list of beer you’ve researched that in fact are “up to par” with your standards.
Merlin,
(First…Thanks for the work on this FoodBabe. Truly!!!) …I have to disagree, Merlin, that FoodBabe owes anyone anything. I get your point, but perhaps you would have time to put together a more comprehensive list of beer manufacturers who are not poisoning us? I’m just not sure the point was to get a detailed report about more beers on the market. To me, the point is to pass on information that was obtained and raise our awareness about an unregulated. secret industry. From there, it is OUR job to take responsibility for researching what we are putting in our bodies. Personally, I hope FoodBabe spends her time on other important investigations, rather than spending gobs more time on a larger analysis of a massive beer industry. All this said, your point is well taken that there are companies producing beer without complete lack of conscience.
I’ve tried a few organic beers, but may favorite affordable one is by Fish Tail (out of Olympia, WA). I love their Organic Amber. http://www.fishbrewing.com/fish-tale-ales/organic-amber-ale/
they also have an organic IPA and Pale Ale. I’m from Seattle and they are all the grocery stores here, but I don’t they distribute out of this area.
Perfect! A few more reasons for me to give when people ask me why I don’t drink.
Aldis is a german store. I think I’ll look there for German beer and see if I find one I like. Trader Joes would be a good bet as well. But in my area there are more Aldis than Trader Joes.
most women are flattered when you say they`re boney. i`m hearing from everybody but her. Geez, get a grip.
I guess you don’t know many women.
Glen, really? She is ignoring you and your irrelevant comments. She just posted something that she worked hard on and you’re commenting on her weight. Her weight has no significance to her article and the fact that your sole focus is on that makes you look like a jerk. She has no reason to respond to your attention seeking behavior and I applaud her for that.
She did not work hard on this article.
Millstreet Organic in Canada is really good (http://www.millstreetbrewery.com/). Charlotte’s Olde Mecklenburg Brewery (OMB) is also very good (http://www.oldemeckbrew.com/welcome.php). They practice German Purity laws.
Hi all, here every person is sharing these
knowledge, therefore it’s good to read this web site, and I used to pay a quick visit this website all the time.
Time for wine review!
Thanks Vani, you are awsome. as far as the beer drinker in your fam. sam smith organic nut ale is like new castle but even better. thanks for the info 🙂
Red Oak is a great German style beer that is pure, unfiltered, and unpasteurized. It is made and distributed only in NC because it needs to stay cold and can’t be shipped long distances. If you ever get a chance to try some, it is worth it!!
Thanks for shedding some light on this topic. My husband and I were just talking about this the other day. We have grown away from these brands & some of our favorites have not been as appetizing as the once were. We don’t drink often but if we do, we want a quality craft beer. I’d love to hear more on what brands we should support. Id also love to read a report on other alcoholic spirits. Thanks for all you do
Thanks for this great research.
WHAT ABOUT WINE??
Hey vani,
So I’m from Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada and we have this great Brewery locally called Picaroons. For example, their summer brew is called Melon Head and its organic and made with organic watermelon. Check it out for me and let me know, and maybe I can send you some:) Cheers, and thank you for your dedication. I love it!
Janette
(Please email me and let me know what you find out)
Hey Food Babe! Thanks for the great info. I will certainly think twice about the frequency and brand choice of my beer, going forward. I don’t have much anyway, so not too tough to give up. However, it’s nice to know that you and I both live in a state with MANY local, wonderful breweries… North Carolina! Will stick with my Red Oak when I do decide to indulge. Thanks again!
Peek Organica Summer Ale and Hop Nior are fantastic!
I’d like to give and Aussie view on this, as a home brewer and beer drinking for couple of decades.
The big growth in beer here in Australian and I believe in the USA is micro brewing the small boutique brewers use organic ingredients and brew the finest tasting beer on the market.
It’s expensive compare to commercial brew however it taste better and you don’t feel the same effects as with the commercial brew.
I agreed with more regulation in the food/ beverage labeling to detail where the primary ingredients come from, and also what trace chemicals may be inside (Such as clearing agents & sterilizing chemicals)
P.S Know one in Australia Drinks Fosters go to any local bar and ask for fosters and 99% of the time you get “We don’t sell that here”
FoodBabe, My husband was wondering if by chance you contacted Sam Adams/Boston Beer Company. He says they seem to make a quality product, and now he is interested in what is in it.
That wine you’re toasting us with has got tons of sulfites. Or is that okay?
Bet you a $100 it’s not!
Thanks for the article. Like many of the other commenters, I too love Samuel Smith Brews. I’m curious about Sam Adams beers which appear to be high quality, which is why I drink them. Did you, or anyone reading this post, find out anything about the ingredients in their beer? Thanks for all the efforts.
all the more reason to drink Canadian beer. American beer is shit anyways.
Considering the negative health impact of gluten, which is found in almost all beer, from wheat, barley or rye, and all the health issues with American wheat in general, I’d not recommend drinking ANY beer. If you really want an alcoholic beverage, stick with wines or distillates.
There is nothing wrong with Gluten unless you have Celiac Disease. You’ve been misinformed.
Just because you don’t know the problems gluten can cause to many people, beyond people with Celiac, does not mean it doesn’t exist. Gluten makes me very ill when I eat it, and I do not have Celiac’s disease.
What about Mexican beer, wine from the US and other countries. Maybe you could let us know about them as well. Thanks this was a good read. Your looking real fine too.