Yorkshire’s Magic Rock Brewing has announced that is is now one of a handful of entirely vegan-friendly cask beer producers in the UK.
Magic Rock — part of craft beer portfolio business, In Good Company, which also owns Fourpure and Big Drop — has traditionally used isinglass finings, a gelatin derived from the swim bladders of fish, to aid the conditioning and clarity of beers.
“The UK has seen a growing trend of consumers looking for healthier alternatives, including when sitting down at the pub for a pint of beer,” said Andrew Kruze, marketing manager at Magic Rock.
“Here at Magic Rock, we’ve seen a growing demand for gluten-free and vegan-friendly beers, which led us to launch our vegan-friendly core range in keg and can, alongside our gluten-free beers Saucery and Fantasma.
“Our aim has always been simple: to create beers we love to drink and proudly serve to everyone. As a result, we have been keen to offer an alternative to isinglass-fined traditional cask and meet demand from cask consumers.”
Over the past year, head of production Ari Rovati has been tasked with ensuring the majority of the Magic Rock range is vegan-friendly. To complement the core range, cask beer was the next piece of the puzzle to crack.
Ari said: “On the whole, we try to make our releases as accessible as possible. The majority of our keg and can products are all vegan-friendly, unfiltered, and brewed without the use of isinglass finings, with the exception of a few special releases.
“This got us thinking, as a business built on the accessibility of modern-day beer, we wanted to ensure everyone could enjoy our full range, including cask, which personally is some of my favourite beer to drink.”
He added: “After extensive trials across all our cask products throughout 2023 and 2024, we have switched to a vegan-friendly fining agent, Super F. This will ensure all our cask beer will continue to have the same appearance and taste like they have since Magic Rock was founded in 2011.
“The new finings will work on the same principle as the previous finings, and the change will not impact quality, flavour, or aroma. The only different will be that while tapping and conditioning remain the same, it will take a little longer (up to three days) to completely drop bright.
“As a modern craft brewer, we are excited about the future and our ability to offer hazy and unfined cask beers. Watch this space!”
