pub night – VegOttawa Association

Recent social hullabaloo at the NCVA

May 27, 2011Leave a comment

Don’t you just love that word… hullabaloo? It sounds like an exotic vegan dish that creates a lot of fuss. I’m into it, as I’m sure were the attendees at the past pub night at the Arrow & Loon in the Glebe (Thurs. May 12) and the NCVA monthly potluck (Sat. May 14), an event to say farewell to the Jack Purcell Community Centre location. While, truth be told, we had a slightly smaller turnout at both events compared to previous similar events, the atmosphere was pleasantly intimate and conversation was overflowing. Indeed, the pub night peeps conversed passionately about interesting issues relevant to themselves, their lives, and particularly vegetarianism and animal rights. Similar interesting tidbits of conversation were snatched up by my prying ears at the potluck dinner. Among the diners were familiar and new faces, and the food at the event was excellent (although that goes without saying). What a great way to share a hearty vegan meal with friends for only $1 for members (and $3 for the rest of ya)! In my NCVA-induced reverie, I foolishly neglected to snap any photos at either event and in consequence, I have nothing to show of it, except my word that good times were had. Anyway, no one uses the word hullabaloo without meaning it.

See you at the next one?

Can vegans drink beer?

March 22, 2011August 24, 2014Leave a comment

Well, the short answer is yes, they have the capacity to drink beer, and yes, they do drink beer, but I guess the real question is:

Is beer vegan?

And more generally…

Does my liquor have animal in it?

It may be somewhat painful for the vegan beer-drinking enthusiast to ask the question, but most vegans are in essence truth-seekers, and as such we like to know what exactly is impacted by the choices we make, particularly the food and drink choices. For example, some vegans do not eat cane sugar (of your standard white variety), since it may have been processed with charcoal made from animal bones (a.k.a. “bone char”). It would be logical to assume then that these vegans would also not be ok with drinking beer that contains dairy or honey, or is filtered using fish or eggs. Here are two examples of animal-derived products that are used to filter beers:

Isinglass is a common additive to beer used for filtering the yeast from certain beer so that it doesn’t look cloudy. It is made from fish bladders.
Glycerol monostearate (animal-derived) may be used by brewers to form foam (“head”) on a beer after being poured.

The good news is, there are veg alternatives to using many of the animal-unfriendly filtering methods, and there is a wide selection of beers that do not add honey or dairy or use animal products in their filtering methods. Not surprisingly however, finding out whether your beer has beast is not straightforward. Most companies do not advertise the animal or animal-derived products on their ingredients label and even if a beer is vegetarian, it is rare that it is touted as such. So avoiding animal products at bars and pubs becomes even more tricky. Thankfully, there are websites dedicated to helping you determine if your drink is truly vegan (e.g., Barnivore). If this concerns you, you may want to consider learning a sublist of vegan beers before a night out on the town with friends. It is highly not recommended to ask your bartender or server if the beer on tap is vegetarian. You will get blank stares from the staff and perhaps some mocking remark from a companion. (We haven’t gotten to that level of understanding just yet!)

In anticipation of our very exciting pub night coming up this Thursday, March 24 from 6:30pm-9:30pm at the Lieutenant’s Pump (361 Elgin St.)–dont you dare miss it–I have provided a selection below of beers offered at the Pump that are claimed to be vegan and others that clearly are not. This way, we will all feel comfortable on Thursday (and any future day) to drink, be merry, and most importantly, be veg!

Veg*n:

Heineken
Tankhouse
Mill St. Organic
Alexander Keith’s
Coors Light
Creemore
St. Ambroise
Molson Canadian
Labatt Blue
Corona
Carlsberg (Canada)
Stella Artois
Steam Whistle

NOT Veg*n:

Guiness
Smithwicks
Strongbow

I think if you get a domestic beer, you’re probably safe. It’s the imported beers (especially from Britain) that tend to be iffy.

Similar to the beer-making process, wine is clarified sometimes using animal products (like isinglass, gelatin, or egg albumen). Likewise, some liquors may have animal ingredients in them or be produced by using animal products for processing or filtration. Thankfully for liquor, it seems to be less common (e.g., compared to wine or beer).

A Mexican pub night… con muchos amigos.

March 5, 2011Leave a comment

Although we had to change venues last minute and we arrived to half the number of tables we had reserved at Ahora restaurant for the pub night, it was, as expected, a huge success. Clearly, little will deter veg*ns from social drinking and Mexican food. The atmosphere was cozy. The restaurant was packed. And we dominated the booth section, to the extent that we had to ask some omnis to move to another table to accommodate our significant numbers.

Some expressed disappointment that Burrito Borracho hadn’t finished its renovations in time to host us, but hopefully the knowledge that they will be ready soon and that I plan to have an upcoming pub night there once they are should alleviate any long term symptoms of related sadness.

In any event, we made up for it easily at Ahora restaurant with plenty of conversation and good times, even if you may have had to sit on the lap of another veg*n stranger in the beginning. The initial forced intimacy of the event only helped develop the ongoing relaxed atmosphere later. Well, that and the beer.

If you sadly missed out on this pub night, stay tuned for the next one. I can’t imagine coping with missing two in a row.

Getting Borracho with Burritos! (Pub night)

February 15, 2011Leave a comment

Riding on the success of the inaugural pub night, we have planned to have another one in less than two weeks. A.k.a. you now have plans for Thurs. Feb. 24, 2011 after work/school. So come and be a part of this new movement of vegetarian pub-goers who are not only trend-setters, but pretty fabulous at any rate.

In support of the NCVA Restaurant Outreach program, we are duly holding the upcoming pub social at Burrito Borracho in Byward Market. This new Mexican restaurant has just been newly renovated and is bound to impress with a brand new liquor license and everything on their menu prepared to be veganised. Who wants delicious Mexican grub and beer? Todos nosotros!

So, mis amigos, below are the details to note in your social agenda:

Event: NCVA Pub night
Location: Burrito Borracho (105A Clarence St.)
Date & Time: Thurs. Feb 24, 2011, 6:30 pm onwards

To RSVP, please check out the NCVA Facebook event page. Hope to see you there!

Pub night/Café corner revival!

January 16, 2011Leave a comment

We simply need more meet-ups which involve either caffeine or alcohol, both of which gets people talking. I’m sure we can rally up a good number of veg heads to come to a pub night, now can’t we? For starters, the next (and first in a long while!) pub night will be held at the Clocktower Brew Pub, at 575 Bank St. on Thurs. Jan. 27, 2011. Come out and let’s make the veg presence known at a local Ottawa favourite.

Here are the details:

Location: Clocktower Brew Pub, 575 Bank St. (map)
Date and Time: Thurs. Jan. 27, 2011, 6:30 PM onwards

I will be making this an official Facebook and/or Meet-up event. Please RSVP to help us get an idea of numbers.

Hope to see you there!