Chiber: The Mushroom Extract That Could Revolutionize Vegan Beer and Wine
Chinova Bioworks is a food tech company known for developing ‘Chiber’, a natural, vegan food preservative made out of mushroom extract. This unique ingredient is colorless, odorless, tasteless, and certified vegan, Halal, and Kosher. It’s currently available for use in vegan products like beverages, sauces, plant-based dairy, and plant-based meat.
However, the company has recently set their sights on the beer and wine brewing industry — specifically, on their infamous refining/clarifying process.
These beverages are usually made with all-vegan ingredients, but it’s sometimes processed using less enticing fining agents, like synthetic PVPP, isinglass (fish bladder), gelatin (animal skin, bones, and connective tissue), animal-derived enzymes, or others. Although not all beers and wines are refined using animal-based agents (big brands like Guinness, Budweiser, Heineken, and others have ditched them altogether), this process renders the brew unsuitable for vegans, who may not even be aware that their drink underwent this process at all.
This is where Chiber, extracted from white button mushrooms, comes in. Not only does this natural and cruelty-free alternative get the job done, early research shows it’s around eight times faster at settling yeast than traditional methods. Plus, as it is already used as a natural preservative, the company believes it could provide residual antimicrobial benefits, extending the drinks’ shelf-life.
“Alcoholic beverages, particularly beer, are plagued with the use of animal-derived and synthetic ingredients, and we believe we can make a big impact here with Chiber.”
The company is currently market testing the new natural fining agent with early adopters, and is hoping to launch Chiber for use in alcoholic beverages within the first quarter of the new year! Would you try beer or wine refined with mushroom extract? Leave your thoughts below!
