A couple months ago in the Great Lakes Brewing News there were a couple great articles for Earth Day focusing on green brewing practices. I wasn't able to find the links on their website, so I emailed GLBN about getting in touch with the authors. I was able to get a copy of the article Green Brewing Practices from author Rick Seward. A very interesting article about some things breweries are doing to be more green and sustainable. Rick was nice enough to email me a copy of the article. Due to its size, I'm going to split this into two posts. Size Doesn’t Matter When It Comes To Being GreenHistorically, the process of making beer has been a green one. Without quality barley, hops, yeast, or water, the final product will be less than acceptable. For centuries, brewers have had to obtain the best of these ingredients if they wanted to survive. It made no sense to do anything which would jeopardize their procurement.
In addition to obtaining quality ingredients, today’s brewers have many other green considerations to make, from the materials and components used to construct the brewery, to the type of energy used to power the brewery, to the materials used in sanitization and cleaning, to the disposal of waste. Brewers have to weigh many questions when developing new facilities, remodeling old ones, adding new production equipment, or taking on distribution challenges.
Though it is impossible for most brewers to purchase locally grown barley and hops, the concept of “sourcing locally” has enabled many brewers, especially brewpub operators, to reduce their carbon footprint in terms of the amount of fossil fuels needed to obtain the other key items needed to run their operation and to supply the freshest ingredients possible. For instance, North Country Brewery in Slippery Rock, PA uses as much locally grown produce as possible. Bob McCafferty, the owner of this magnificent brewpub, raises much of the pub’s seasonal vegetables on his own organically-certified farm. He is even working on getting radish sprouting racks to place in the windows to supply sprouts for the salads. Chris Cochran of Stone’s (San Diego, CA) Brewing World Bistro & Gardens also uses “a huge amount of local farmers to supply produce” for their operation. Buying from local supplies also reduces transportation costs and supports those businesses and neighbors many breweries rely on to support them.
With the impending hops shortage become more critical daily, a few brewers have begun working with local farmers in hopes of establishing a local hop source. Scott Smith, of East End Brewing in Pittsburgh, PA, literally a one man operation in all aspects of brewing, has been working with the organic Silver Wheel Farm in nearby Harrisville to begin experimenting with the growing of hops. Realizing hops are a plant which requires from 2-5 years to truly become established, he is hoping that somewhere in the near future, there may be a local, organic source for at least a percentage of his hop demand.
Another key area of consideration in terms of green construction is that of building a brewery. Should the brewery utilize a new or existing building? Should new or used equipment be installed? In 1996, when Bill Covaleski and Ron Barchet of Victory Brewing of Downington, PA decided to go into business, they decided “to rejunenate existing land and buildings instead of building new”. They purchased what had been a old Pepperidge Farm factory and reused much of the existing structure and its components and opened both a brewery and restaurant. “Brown field” construction, i.e., reusing land which has previously been built upon is basic to Victory’s operating philosophy, according to company spokesperson Anne Shuniak.
Tiny Sprague Farm & Brew Works of Venango, PA built their brewery in their barn. Now that the farm acreage is contracted out (they are now growing perennial switchgrass, used in ethanol production, which minimizes retilling, replanting, and reducing the need of fossil fuels and fertilizers) it made sense to utilize the space available. They are even talking about growing hops, so hopefully they will have some to compliment those they must out-source.
When Bob MaCafferty and his wife Jodi purchased the building in 1998 now housing their brewpub, it was literally collapsing. Built originally in 1805 and one of the oldest buildings in the region, they found recycling materials was the proper way to bring this edifice back to life. Drift wood from Lake Erie covers an area of ceiling, slate from the original sidewalk has been used as a bartop in the outdoor patio, glacial till cobbles dug by hand were incorporated into the chimney, locally harvested and milled white oak was used to trim the entire restaurant, copper coated tin from the mid-1800’s roof went for the backsplash in the bar area, and on and on. Bob even used parts of “the first bed frame he ever bought (a futon) to trim or shim throughout the brewpub.”
When it comes to the actual brewery, the basic dilemma confronting the builders is whether or not to use new or previously-used brewing vessels and componentry. For many brewpubs where the equipment is viewable to the clientele, unless the equipment is in first-class condition, used may not an option. Many breweries don’t have this problem and can more easily incorporate used equipment.
That’s not to say all brewpubs purchase new, far from it. Typically, used equipment can be purchased for considerably less than new, and because the brewing environment is not severe, most brewing vessels tend to age well. Problems do arise with some of the critical piping, valving, and pumps used to transfer the liquid, and supplying production, cooling, and heating water during the brewing process. The desire to recycle and re-use comes into play and many brewers seem to demand used equipment rather than new, even though they may find in the long run it can be more expensive than they planned with having to replace pumps, valves, etc. Obviously, this approach conserves resources, from the metals required to construct the equipment to the energy used in their production.
I'll post the rest of the article tomorrow.
Salud!
Bearded Brewer
I was reading the Northern Brewer forum one day and came across an offer to try out an experimental hop product made by NB. If you sent your email address you could potentially be picked to receive this product. They were vague about what it was, simply saying that it was 50 IBUs and they wanted it to be used as a bittering agent. I signed up and got an email confirming that I would receive this product. It ended up being a 5ml vial with a golden liquid in it. I've been into IPAs lately and have never made one, so thought it would be a good use for 50 IBUs, so I set out to make an IPA. While picking up a kit for my dad at Midwest Supplies, I came across their Hopscare IPA kit, which contained 6lbs Gold extract, 2 lbs Light extract, 1 oz Yakima Magnum hops, 1 oz Amarillo hops, and 2 ounces of Cascade hops. Due to the hopshortage/increased prices, this ended up being a good deal. I decided to buy the kit, and make an extract version of an IPA since it would save me money on some hops and time, especially if for some reason the "Hopshot" turned out to not work. So what I did was take out the 
Yakmia Magnum and 1 ounce of the Cascade hops, opting to simply use all 50 IBUs of the "Hopshot" at 60 minutes, 1/2 of Amarillo at 30, rest of the Amarillo at 15 and Cascade at 5. I poured it on top of a slurry of Cali 2112 yeast I had from a Cali Common I made last week. Within hours the Hopshot IPA was bubbling away. I'm curious about how this turns out. I've never used Amarillo before, and I'm also excited to have an ounce of cascade and yakima magnum to put towards another beer, possibly La Libertad.
