Irish Alcohol for St. Patty's Day

St. Patrick's Day is just around the corner. For many people, this means a trip to the local Irish pub. Personally, I LOVE Irish pubs. I think they have way more personality than most bars. I could be biased, being of Irish descent and all.

Ok, so the point of this post is to list a few vegan-friendly Irish alcoholic drinks** that you can find when you are at the local pub for St. Patty's day. Forget the green beer. That's just cheap non-Irish beer with green food coloring. Go for something more traditional and authentic.

IRISH BEERS
O'haras Celtic Stout
Curim Gold Celtic Wheat Beer

Molings Traditional Red Ale

Bulmers Pear Cider

Magners Pear Cider

IRISH WHISKEYS

Bushmills Irish Whiskey

Jameson Irish Whiskey

Connemara Whiskey

IRISH MISC.

Boru Vodka

AMERICAN-MADE, IRISH STYLE

George Killian's Irish Red

Samuel Adams Irish Red

Coast DIS Dry Irish Stout

Michelob Irish Red

RELATED

[Found at most Arizona Irish Pubs]

Strongbow Cider (Original & Super only) (British)

Four Peaks Kilt Lifter Scottish-style Ale (Arizona)

Unfortunately, some of the imports can't be found at the local pubs and require a trip to the more specialized liquor stores. The best stores for harder to find alcohols are:

Tops Liquors [Tempe]

Sun Devil Liquors [Mesa]

BevMo [Tempe, Chandler, Scottsdale, Queen Creek, Glendale, Phoenix, Goodyear, Peoria]

AJ's Fine Foods [Phoenix, Scottsdale, Mesa, Glendale, Chandler, Tucson]

You might even try:

LeeLee Oriental Supermarket [Chandler, Peoria]

Barnivore.com is great at helping vegans navigate the most common alcoholic beverages. So if you have any other alkie bevs you are wondering about, check them out.**

And just so you know, these typical Irish alcohols are NOT vegan-friendly.

NOT VEGAN-FRIENDLY

Guinness ak "Guinney" (Isinglass)
Murphy's Irish Stout (Isinglass)
Smithwick's (Isinglass)
Beamish (Isinglass)

Bailey's Irish Cream (Dairy)

O'Mara's Irish Country Cream (Dairy)

Wexford Irish Cream Ale (Dairy)

**At this point you might be wondering why beer, cider, wine, etc. might not be vegan friendly. The answer comes down to two points: first, many alcohols actually contain animal ingredients (honey, albumin [egg whites], casein [dairy], colorings [from insects], isinglass [swim bladders from fish], gelatin, etc); second, many alcohols are clarified/filtered/processed with isinglass, gelatin, egg whites, sea shells, etc. It's just another example of how pervasive animal ingredients are in foods that actually seem vegetarian. And honestly, most of us don't even realize what is in our food or how it is made. I definitely see this changing, for non-vegans as well as vegans. However you decide to eat, knowledge is power.

*****

Ok, so go forth and enjoy your St. Pat's!
Sláinte!