Repurposed mushrooms could make an animal-free, vegan beer — all while using up food waste

Credit: Nick Wanserski
Credit: Nick Wanserski

It’s not common knowledge, but not all beers out there are vegan. Some brands use finings in the brewing process that are derived from animals, making the final product not 100% free from animal byproducts and therefore unsuitable for vegans. But now, researchers are exploring how upcycled mushrooms can help create animal-free fining agents to make beer vegan-friendly, while also fighting food waste. 

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[Startup Chinova] plans to deploy its proprietary white button fibre technology to be used as a fining alternative to commonly used animal-based agents in breweries, such as fish swim bladders or isinglass, gelatin, glycerin or casein. 

Other animal-based ingredients used to filter alcohol products include pepsin, which comes from the stomach enzymes of pigs, or chitin from crustacean shells or carmine, from insects. 

According to Chinova, the use of its Chiber technology could come with additional advantages on top of vegan-friendly and using up food waste. 

The company’s early tests show that Chiber works around 8-times faster when it comes to settling yeast in the post-fermentation stage, and can even potentially add in “residual antimicrobial benefits” to make beer longer-lasting. 

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