March 13, 2013 Guinness sells about 10 million pints a day
across 100 countries. On St. Patrick’s Day, that number hops to
13 million. When Arthur Guinness set up shop in Dublin back in
1759, he never would’ve guessed that his stout would become the
unofficial beer of the Irish and the go-to beverage to shout to
the bartender come March 17 (besides Jameson). Even Obama
honored his Irish lineage with a highly-publicized Guinness at a
pub in Ireland last year. But the classic brew isn’t for
everyone. For the hardline vegetarians and vegans out
celebrating this St. Paddy’s Day: there could be traces of fish
bladder in your Guinness. Isinglass, a gelatine-like substance
made from the air-bladders or sounds of fish like the sturgeon
is added to cask beers like Guinness to help any remaining yeast
and solid particles settle out of the final product. As the
finings pass through the beer, they attract themselves to
particles in the fermented beer that create an unwanted
“haziness” in the final product and form into a