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Does anyone know if kosher beers exist? To be kosher, the beer would have to totally (100%) brewed by Jewish hands? Such wines do exist!

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  • While Schmaltz Brewing (shmaltzbrewing.com) plays up the Jewish puns in its beer names, I cannot find any reference to Kosher certification in its publications and press releases.
    – Rube
    Feb 16, 2016 at 15:56
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    Beer does not have to be "100% brewed by Jewish hands"; it just needs to be under supervision, which might not be constant. Wine has special rules that don't apply to most other foods and drinks, because wine is sometimes used by other religions and the prohibitions about being involved with idolatry are very strong. If you want to know more about that, I recommend visiting Mi Yodeya.
    – Monica Cellio
    Feb 17, 2016 at 1:52
  • @MonicaCellio Great source of information. Thanks
    – Ken Graham ♦
    Feb 18, 2016 at 13:51

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Indeed there are kosher beers

All unflavored beer with no additives are considered to be kosher, even without certification. Some of the most popular kosher beer companies include:

Many breweries are coming out with specialty brews that have additives; don't assume that all varieties are acceptable - check the label.

  1. Coors
  2. Saranac all products
  3. Pete's Brewing all products
  4. Brooklyn Brewery all products

These beers are generally available where ever beer is sold.

Read more: Kosher Beer (Orthodox Jews)

The following beers from Samuel Adams, The Boston Beer Company, are Star-K kosher/pareve, even without the Star-K on the label.

  1. Black Lager
  2. Boston Ale
  3. Boston Lager
  4. Brown Ale
  5. Cherry Wheat
  6. Cranberry Lambic
  7. Cream Stout
  8. Double Bock
  9. Hefeweizen
  10. Holiday Porter
  11. Light October fest
  12. Old Fezziwig
  13. Pale Ale
  14. Spring Ale
  15. Summer Ale
  16. White Ale
  17. Winter Lage
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As another answer indicates, many beers are considered Kosher without being certified as such. The primary brewer that I'm aware of that makes Kosher beers that are certified is He'Brew ("The Chosen Beer" - cute).

They make a variety of beers and I believe that all of them are certified Kosher by the KSA.

http://www.shmaltzbrewing.com/HEBREW/home.html

EDIT: After some more research, it's a little hard to confirm whether all their beers are truly kosher. The wikipedia article says that they are, and there are a couple different news articles about them claiming that they are, but the KSA page has no products listed for the company.

It does seem like some of the promotional materials for the beers have the KSA label, like the one for Chanukah beer. But many of them are harder to tell. I have been under the impression that all their beers were Kosher, but it might be worth asking the company for more information.

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I know that it has been a while since the question was posted, but . . .

If you look on the Chicago Rabbinical Council's website, they have a 25-page "liquor list", which contains about 10 pages of kosher beers.

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RateBeer has recently instituted tags for beers to note particular characteristics about the beer, so that may be a place to start. They currently have 13 beers listed under the "kosher" tag.

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All beer is considered Kosher if there are not any special additives. If it's made from water, barely, hops and yeast it generally considered Kosher.

Based on the kashrut, most beers produced by typical methods don’t violate dietary law. In other words, beer is generically kosher; none of the raw ingredients and additives used to brew regular beer present kashrut concerns.

The rules change, however, when atypical ingredients, additives, and flavorings — fruit, fruit syrups, spices, and so on — are added. In these cases, the beer requires certification. Likewise, if beers with higher alcohol content require fermentation with yeasts other than typical beer yeast, the beers require certification.

Choosing a Kosher Beer

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Beer manufacturing and ingredients are free from 'trefa' suspect and do not require special examination. All beers are kosher.

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  • Not all beers are kosher. Beers that have additives or that are aged in wine barrels have additional considerations -- they can be, but you can't assume it.
    – Monica Cellio
    Feb 19, 2017 at 17:41

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