Article- Green Brewing Practices Part 2

Here's the rest of the great article about green brewing practices from Rick Seward:
Another key aspect of operating in a green fashion involves energy usage and conservation. Phin DeMink of Southern Tier Brewing in Jamestown, NY pays a premium to support wind energy to power his facility. Likewise, Great Divide Brewing of Denver, CO is paying more for its electricity to do the same. Custom BrewCrafters of Honeoye Falls, NY currently utilizes hydroelectric power, but is researching switching to wind power. Stone Brewing is beginning to” install a massive solar project on our roof” according to Chris Cochran to provide a significant percentage of their electrical demand. Victory Brewing spent a good deal of money on a costly but highly efficient natural gas system in the brewery which salvages roughly a third of the heat generated in heating and boiling the beer for heating the building.

Simply things such as energy-efficiency light bulbs are used at many breweries, such as Great Divide Brewing. Many breweries and brewpubs incorporate skylights to enhance natural lighting as well.

Cold water used to cool the wort prior to the introduction of yeast was traditionally flushed down the sewer. Many brewers (East End Brewery, The BrewKettle of Strongsville, OH, and Sprague Farm Brewery among others) use what is now hot water after heat transfer occurs for other purposes, such as for use in the next mashing or for cleaning purposes.

Speaking of cleaning, its been said brewing is 90% cleaning and 10% fun. Cleaning involves using lots of hot water and occasionally caustic cleaning products. Hot water can be wasted by literally overcleaning brewing vessels, so some breweries have actually time-limited the cleaning process, such as Great Divide Brewing. They have placed time limits on tank rinsing and cleaning the screens of the mash tuns. This in turn saves electricity by minimizing the time pumps are run, as well. Great Divide has also purchased a stationary CIP (Cleaning In Place) system to allow for the cleaning of fermenters and serving vessels (brite tanks). This CIP system reuses the chlorinated alkaline cleaner many times over and requires just an occasional addition of a small amount of powdered cleaner, rather than make up an entirely new batch each and every time.

Recycling of cardboard, paper, and glass is a common green practice among breweries.

This seems to be the norm and not the exception. Scott Smith at East End Brewery claims he generates so little waste, he has one kitchen-size bag of waste to place on the curb “every 3 or 4 weeks”. There is no dumpster at East End!

Perhaps the biggest disposal item facing breweries is the spent grain from the mashing. Typically this is not a problem. It seems every brewery in the country disposes of it in the same fashion by either donating it or selling it to local farmers as animal feed. High in protein, it’s a great supplement to the normal diet of cattle or pigs. In most cases farmers are so happy to receive this, they will pick it up at the brewery.

Food wastes at brewpubs present a problem. At North Country Brewing, every scrap of food waste, except for the meat and bone, is composted at the owner’s farm. They also use all the fryer oil from the kitchen to produce biodiesel for running equipment at the farm. Great Lakes Brewery of Cleveland, OH does the same thing on a much larger scale, allowing it to run all its delivery trucks on biodiesel. Stone Brewing operates in a similar fashion.

Wasterwater is another problem facing breweries wanting to act in a green fashion. The organic solids in the waste water generated can easily overload community treatment systems, so minimizing this is a consideration. Custom BrewCrafters and Stone Brewing are among the breweries which have built wastewater treatment plant on their premises to treat this effluent.

Why do brewers practice green methods? What is their motivation? Is it stewardship or based upon financial cost savings? Without exception, among those brewers I interviewed or corresponded with to put this column together, their rational was stewardship. In other words, it is simply the proper thing to do to conserve our natural, limited resources. Conservation seems to be inherent in the brewing psyche. The rest of us could take a lesson from this group.

Great article, a special thanks to Rick for sending me a copy. I always enjoy learning more about the great sustainable efforts many breweries practice. I think the last paragraph really emphasizes what is right in the craft brewing industry and one of the reasons I am happy to spend the extra money on their products.
Salud!
Bearded Brewer