Regular (unflavored) domestic and Canadian unflavored beers are Kosher without supervision. Dark beers brewed overseas may have grape extract added to the brew.
Mike’s Hard Lemonade/Ice Tea are not under anyone’s hashgacha.
I just called the OK, who confirmed that Smirnoff Ice in the states is NOT kosher, however it is certified in Israel because it is made from a Kosher base there. Smirnoff does not allow the sale of the Israeli product in America.
Red Bull is not Kosher because it's made with a hot fill system - on non-Kosher equipement.
Addendum - Skyy Blue is certified Kosher Parve when bearing the OK symbol. THe certificate expires in May 2005, so check back then.
1. 'A visitor' posted on the Wed 14 Jul 2004, 2:43 pm
ReplyDeleteDo you know what the source is for the issue with grape extract in foreign dark beers? I've spoken with a couple of professional brewers (admittedly US based, but knowledgable about the practices used overseas), and they seriously doubted that such an extract would be used.
Beerhound
2. 'Dani Weiss' posted on the Wed 14 Jul 2004, 3:09 pm
ReplyDeletei'll have to look into. the thing is, it only takes one company who *does* use grape extracts to neccesitate having certification on such beers. if you don't follow, please write back (or email me) and i'll explain better.
3. 'Jessica' posted on the Fri 16 Jul 2004, 7:45 pm
ReplyDeleteHey Dani,
What about the new Smirnoff flavored vodkas that just came out? Flavors like green apple twist, etc. Looks suspicious to me, have you heard anything about them?
4. 'A visitor' posted on the Sun 18 Jul 2004, 10:19 am
ReplyDeleteto the best of my knowledge, Smirnoff isn't uder any hashgacha, so no go on any of their flavors.
want Kosher smirnoff? get the West Side together in a letter (email) writing campaign. if you can show that their profits would increase, they'd probably go for it.
dani
5. 'A visitor' posted on the Mon 19 Jul 2004, 12:18 pm
ReplyDeleteIt would take less effort to do this one yourself.
Seal some cut up fruit (remove any peels/rinds) with a decent vodka in a glass container, let it sit for two weeks, and then strain out the fruit.
See http://www.arctic.org/~adam/sites/fillet/97/01/index3.html for more detailed instrcutions and suggetsions, or see a NY Times article fromthe sometime in the summer of '00 on how to infuse spirits with other other flavorings.
Beerhound
6. 'Dani Weiss' posted on the Mon 19 Jul 2004, 1:13 pm
ReplyDeletegood point. you can acheive a similar effect with vanilla bean, as well.