In-depth Look: Environmentally Friendly Brewing
We here at Beer Table / Pantry are curious about all aspects of beer and brewing. At a recent staff tasting, the topic of environmentally friendly and sustainable brewing was brought up for discussion. None of us was too familiar with what breweries were really striving to become more eco-conscious, so we put our very own Alaskan, Hannah W., on the case:
As someone who is interested in good beer and sustainable living, I started the long dive into what the craft beer industry is doing to reduce their carbon footprint. As a new(er) industry, the really exciting thing is that craft breweries are pushing themselves to be on the forefront of eco-friendly industry.
So what does environmentally friendly brewing even mean?
Basically it comes down to lowering your energy and water consumption and minimizing environmental impact on all levels. Through this lens, the brewing process is broken down into 3 categories: Â
Upstream transportation - the manufacturing and transportation of raw goods to the brewery and drying and roasting the malts.
Operations- the actual making of the beer. Here, water consumption (4 ½ barrels of water makes 1 barrel of beer) and heat exchange are the biggest carbon factors.
Downstream transportation- getting the beer to us! Transportation with trucks and retail refrigeration are the largest part of this category. Making the beer cold for us accounts for 25% of the breweries carbon footprint, even though the brewery has no control over the energy used. Â
During the life cycle of a beer, there are many different ways that the brewer can reduce their carbon footprint. Itâs a given that breweries are recycling their glass and cardboard, but the American breweries below are leaders in the field and are available at Beer Table Pantry.
Brooklyn Brewery - The first company in NYC to use only wind power to generate ALL of their electricity.
Sierra Nevada - Reuses and recycles about 99% of their waste. They produce their own methane to heat the boilers and have a small farm where they grown hops and barley for special releases.
Anderson Valley Brewing Company - Operates their own waste water treatment plant and gives all spent grains to local farmers for mulch and feed.
Oskar Blues Brewery - The first craft brewery to offer beer in a can (though itâs debatable if thatâs more environmentally friendly than bottles) they operate their own hops farm and raise their own cattle for their restaurant.
Alaska Brewing Company (unfortunately, not available at Beer Table Pantry but worth mentioning) - Created the first CO² collection system in the US and now use their spent grain to power the brewery with steam energy.
What about organic brewing?
Beer uses ânaturalâ ingredients and many of the ingredients can be made in the USDA certified organic way, but to get the organic certification involves huge expense and many hoops that smaller breweries arenât in a position to try and get. Organic beer falls under the same regulation as all other organic food, so pesticides canât be used to grow the grains or hops (taken off the exempt list in Jan of 2013). Hops and cereal are very susceptible to disease, so using certified organic ingredients can sometimes lead to beers with a limited range of flavors. Itâs great to know where the ingredients in your beer come from, but in the case of craft breweries, the organic label isnât the end all be all. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
Drink green beer! There are many things that we as beer aficionados can do to support eco-friendly brewing, but at the end of the day, drinking craft beer from these breweries sends the best message, that we support sustainable brewing practices! Beyond that, you can also:
Drink local products to minimize transportation emissions.Â
Recycle, Recycle, RECYCLE!Â
Only chill the beer that you are going to drink immediately.Â
Get a growler fill! Not only does this mean less waste and packaging, but you also get major cool points. Â
As craft brewing continues to grow, new and exciting ways to take care of the environment are always on the horizon. Iâm keeping a tabs on the innovation in this arena and will always be more than happy to point you towards a sustainable craft brew at Beer Table Pantry. Â
p.s. do you have a Eco-friendly brewery story you'd like to share? Please leave a comment or drop us a note in our Ask, we'd love to hear about it!