Kosher Craft Beer

schmaltz. End of.

 

Hebrew Jewbalation?

 

I think Leinenkugel is kosher.

 

There are, but the market is way too small for it to be worth someone's time and effort. Jews who are very strict with kashrut will drink most beer on the market. It would come into play with barrel aged beer, specifically used wine barrels. Percentages are way too small.

 

Most kosher authorities, Star-K, etc. continue to hold that no beer requires hashgacha.

Most authorities would also say that a beer containing fruit is not recommended, especially if the fruit is from fruit syrup, as opposed to fresh or dried fruit. I believe most craft beers these days use fresh fruit, but as always, ask your local Rabbi.

Furthermore, some beers are fermented with champagne yeast, and those are almost definitely a problem. Again, ask your local Rabbi.

In terms of barrel aging, if you or your Rabbi is of the opinion that drinking Scotch aged in sherry casks are kosher due to being batel b'shishim, then beer aged in such barrels would have the same halachic treatment.

Message me privately if you're interested in a more throrough discussion.

 

Like others have said, most beer is kosher to begin with. it only really comes into play when brewers start playing with unconventional ingredients and aging. Obviously Rogue's Bacon beer isn't kosher, and some wine-barrel aged may not be, depending on the barrels to begin with.

 

Just a giving the OP a little more help... Link to Shmaltz brewing website: http://shmaltzbrewing.com/
Their beer shouldn't be too hard to find around NYC, north/central NJ. I see their stuff regularly at beer festivals and on shelves around the Philly area too.

 

a lot of sam adams beers!

and heres my googling find for you http://www.crcweb.org/LiquorList.pdf

 

And here's another article that discusses the halachic implications of brewing techniques: http://www.star-k.org/kashrus/kk-thirst-highspirits.htm

 

http://www.crcweb.org/kosher_articles/Beer.php

This was interesting.

Particularly interesting to me is the relationship of the Reinheitsgebot to Halacha.

 

ive actually always wondered this. I live in a pretty orthodox and hasidic jewish neighborhood, but have seen a lot of the more conservative jewish people buying the same sorts of beers i buy.

 

If you are a conservative Jew who follows the Dorff tshuva on staam yayin, then kol vakhomer there should be no problem with barrel aging.

Seriously, I am a C Jew and the only beers I will avoid are those with fish or meat ingredients.

 

Note "Conservative" Jews follow a centrist movement (between Orthodox and Reform) .

 

did not know.... thanks. learn something new everyday

 

In our house we go by ingredient kashrut mostly, so I am not sure it makes more sense to be more machmir for beer. Right now my bigger concern is that IIUC my favorite local brewery has one nonobservant Jewish owner. I intend to consult my local C rabbi before Pesach is over. and then if necessary talk to the good folks at Port City Brewing. How do you politely ask ifany of the owners is Jewish?

 

I'm just waiting for a beer that's kosher for Passover (Hops are from a vine (OK, bine...))


yes, I know that's not going to happen: the barley...

 

I've heard talk recently of someone making beer from quinoa. Also, I believe sorghum is KforP, so Redbridge should technically be an option. I don't know what else they put in there though.

 

I am not Jewish, so please forgive me if my question sounds dumb!

With what I know about the sanitary efforts production breweries use ("beer clean" involves use of caustic alkali and caustic acid), there should be zero chance of any ingredients from any previous batch being carried over to a new batch. Without these extreme cleaning efforts, every single beer would be infected due to residue. Is this cleaning regime insufficient for kosher law? Would a brewery using treyf ingredients need to do something else to be considered "clean" for kosher law purposes?

Thank you for any insight you can lend!