“Whilst isinglass is a very effective means of clarification, and has been used for many years, we expect to stop using it as the new filtration asset is introduced,” the spokesman told The Times. We hope to have the new system up and running by late 2016 and available for purchase in stores soon after." The use of isinglass has been used since the 19th Century, and while large quantities of the agent are filtered out during the brewing process, there are still traces of fish bladders in the finished product. A spokesman for Guinness told The Times that the firm would now look at using a new filtration plant that would be vegan-friendly, having previously used isinglass - a by-product of the fishing industry used to help the yeast settle faster.
– After pressure from beer-chugging vegans who were behind a long-running campaign and several online petitions, Guinness has elected to change its 256-year-old recipe and remove isinglass—a gelatinous byproduct of fish bladders that helps filter yeast particles—from its brewing process, reports CNN Money. Guinness now says it will use a new filtration plant to be installed at its flagship brewery in Ireland at some point in 2016, reports the Independent, while it doesn't yet plan to change its other breweries scattered across 49 countries. The company had previously responded to requests to remove isinglass by saying it provides a "very effective means of clarification," and as recently as January said in a company email to Barnivore, which tracks animal ingredients in adult beverages, that it had yet to find a replacement "as effective and as environmentally friendly." No word yet on what it's come up with. Parent company Diageo has said that competition from microbreweries flattened its sales in 2015. Meanwhile, many popular beers, including Anheuser-Busch, Heineken, and Miller, are deemed vegan-friendly by Barnivore. (Guinness lovers may want to check out one of Starbucks' latest latte flavors.)