Interview- Odell Brewing Company

It's been quite awhile since I have interviewed a brewery. On my recent trip to Colorado I had a great red ale from Odell Brewing Company and decided to check out their website when I got back. What I found out was that this Fort Collins,Colorado brewery not only brews very good beer, but they also do a number of excellent "socially responsible" things, like giving a lot of money to charities (as a lot of breweries do) and a number of other cool things. After contacting the brewery, I found out that they also are also very environmentally conscience as well. My previous interviews have all centered around breweries who are either organic, or socially responsible, and I am always happy to be able to "spread the word" about breweries doing great things.

1. How long has Odell Brewery been in operation?

Odell Brewing Company was founded in 1989 by Doug Odell, his wife Wynne and sister Corkie, they are still our operating owners.

2. What kinds of sustainable practices do you have at your brewery?

We have a number of sustainable practices that help to minimize our impact on the environment. We send all of our spent grain to a local dairy farmer for feed, collect our used yeast for another farmer that adds it to his cattle’s feed (it is extremely high in vitamin B12 and has lots of other benefits). These 2 practices aid us in recycling/reusing 98% of our solid waste, we have an extensive recycling program that allows us to recycle all of the obscure packaging materials we get on a daily basis like shrink wrap and plastic ties (and of course all glass and paper are recycled!). We have changed brewing, cellaring and packaging habits to reduce our water use from 4.8 gallons of water per gallon of beer down to 3.85 (it is an industry standard to use between 4 and 7 gallons!). We participate in Fort Collins’ program “Climate Wise” allowing us to purchase wind power. It also helps us to regulate our energy use by installing “hot shot boxes” on our chillers to cut them at peak hours of the day. We package off peak hours (to minimize our stress on the grid) and run our local delivery trucks on Blue Sun Biodiesel. We also use Zero Hero to lower our waste impact on large events like our Small Batch Festival. Those are just some surface things I can think of… let me know if you’d like more!

3. Do you brew organically or have plans to do so?

We are brewing a beer this fall that will be lightly bottle distributed that will be made with organic hops grown on the Western Slope near Palisade (as local as you can get!) We are thrilled to be able to use “local” organic product in our beer and hope to use more in the future!

4. Could you explain a little about the charitable and socially responsible aspects of your brewery?

The Odells have always had a strong sense of responsibility in their community and it is reflected through their mission statement and practiced through their unique charitable program. When you visit us in our tap room and purchase a taster tray, the proceeds benefit our charities of the month. We typically have two represented; one locally and one from a further reaching area within our distribution. The monies are split and the charities get to showcase themselves on our charitable board for the month. Because of our size and desire to make an impact, we have limited our parameters for donation to include Human Services, Sustainability and Education. Our budget for this year is projected to be right around $110,000! We also donate lots of beer and goodies to fundraisers and events outside the brewery.

5. Where do you think "green brewing" practices are headed and why should breweries move in the direction?

It honestly seems to me that it has become an industry standard which is a great source of pride for all of us involved, particularly for those of us that work for companies that have been doing their best from the beginning. I think with large breweries like New Belgium and Sierra Nevada setting wonderful examples of ways to limit their impact alongside their immensity, it gives those of us with slower growth the opportunity to take advantage of practices that will sustain us. Our friends and patrons are better educating themselves about the products that they purchase and voting with their dollars, it is important to offer them a quality product made with creative passion that fulfills our need to be gentle to the Earth and good to our communities.

For more info, check out their website, including this cool video about their operation:

Salud!
Bearded Brewer