Franconia Beer Message Board
Kosher beer |
| Posted by FredW on 2017-11-13 07:30:58 |
| Back in the 90's I had a chance to interview Ken Allen -- one of the founders of Anderson Valley Brewing in Northern California. (This was for a public access TV show I did) At the time they brewed the He'Brew Genesis Ale for Schmalz Brewing, which was (I think) the first certified Kosher beer in the US. I asked him what was involved with the certification and did they do anything different than they did with their other beers. The answer was basically no. A Rabbi came periodically (monthly? -- I don't remember the details) to inspect the brewery to make sure they weren't making any non-kosher products on the side (a reverse Metzegerbräu -- making sausage in a brewery  ). There were also could be issues with some finings (isinglass and gelatin I would guess) but they didn't use them so it wasn't an issue. Later, we also got to do an interview with Jeremy Cowan, the founder of Schmalz Brewing who confirmed a lot of this. From this, I would gather that most traditional German beers would be acceptable for kosher use. British beers would be more problematic unless you knew about any finings. Note: I found this which says some people say the finings don't matter. |