Guinness to become vegan-friendly as fish bladder isinglass filtration process ditched after 256 years

Announcement follows a longstanding campaign and several online petitions from beer-loving vegans

Guinness is set to become vegan friendly for the first time in its 256-year history, as the company announced its plan to stop using fish bladders in its filters.

A spokesman for Guinness told The Times that the firm would now look at using a new filtration plant that would be vegan-friendly, having previously used isinglass - a by-product of the fishing industry used to help the yeast settle faster.

The new system is due to be installed sometime in 2016.

“Whilst isinglass is a very effective means of clarification, and has been used for many years, we expect to stop using it as the new filtration asset is introduced,” the spokesman told The Times.

The use of isinglass has been used since the 19th Century, and while large quantities of the agent are filtered out during the brewing process, there are still traces of fish bladders in the finished product.

The news follows a longstanding campaign and several online petitions from beer-loving vegans, with many highlighting the fact Guinness and other breweries are not required to state the use of isinglass on the bottle.