Tapping a Better Brew
Written by Luke Widtfeldt
Photography by Todd Linder & Elizabeth Olwin

Whether shotgunning a PBR or pouring a high gravity microbrew into a pint glass, few people realize the amount of work and resources that go into making their beer, let alone the impact both can have on the environment.

From grain, hops, water and yeast to boiling, fermenting, bottling, labeling, packaging and shipping, brewing uses an astounding amount of energy and natural resources to arrive at your local beer aisle. The U.S. brewing industry has grown from 44 breweries in the late 1970s to 1,449 in 2007, many breweries are taking steps to minimize the environmental impact of an industry heavily reliant on a healthy environment.

All beer, from a light American lager like Pabst to a midnight black Guinness Extra Stout, requires energy and four natural ingredients: water, grain, hops and yeast. Beer is nearly 90 percent water, and its flavor characteristics are in part defined by the brewery’s water source. Water is also used to clean brewing equipment, bottles and kegs. A typical U.S. brewery uses four to six barrels of wastewater per one barrel, or 31 gallons, of beer. The U.S. brewing industry produced 211,489,982 barrels of beer in 2007, according to the Brewers Association. That equals 1.2 billion gallons of wastewater or nearly 3 million large hot tubs.

Some breweries are taking steps to reduce the impact. New Belgium and Sierra Nevada Brewery have both installed water treatment plants to help clean brewing waste before it is dumped into their municipal treatment plant. Every day at each of their on-site treatment facilities, the breweries process 84,000 and 300,000 gallons respectively. Inside these anaerobic environments, organisms introduced into the wastewater break down organic waste materials. This anaerobic process creates methane, which is often used to run generators supplying breweries with electricity. Sierra Nevada has installed fuel cells and generator system that produces 100 percent of its energy during peak hours, part of which is supplied by bio-gas. Breweries have found that through wastewater treatment, they are able to remove a burden from their local facilities, help maintain the water quality of their region and meet their energy needs.

After water, grain, hops, and yeast are the next most important ingredients. Grains such as barley give beer its color, flavor and overall sweetness. Hops are a small, cone-shaped flower in the Cannabaceae family (related to marijuana), and they provide bitter and floral aromatics. Yeast converts the sugar from the grains into alcohol. After the ingredients are added and the beer is fermented, breweries are left with waste: spent yeast, hops and grain.

A typical 5-gallon batch of homebrew requires 10 pounds of grain, two to three ounces of hops and an ounce of brewers yeast, which becomes waste after fermentation. Fish Brewery of Olympia, Wash., is a typical small brewery producing 14,500 barrels of beer per year and 250,000 metric tons of spent material a year, or 30,000 pounds a week. Some breweries sell or give spent grain to local farmers to supplement animal feed for chickens, pigs and cows.

Boundary Bay Brewery in Bellingham recycles its spent grains through The Great Harvest Bread Company, who bakes spent grain into "beer bread" which is served at the brewery. Great Lakes Brewery in Cleveland, Ohio composts their spent material and uses it to grow organic shitake mushrooms and other food products eventually served in their restaurant.

After fermentation beer must be bottled, packaged and distributed. Glass, aluminum, cardboard and gas are all required. Breweries often get their bottles and cans from contractors who ship them to the brewery. The bottling process requires electricity and water to wash the bottles, fill them, label and cap them. Bottled beer must be packaged into cardboard carriers, and then refrigerated until it is shipped. Beer shipments are heavy and fuel intensive. Each bottle weighs over a pound and requires refrigeration.

Within the last decade, breweries have begun to address the material and energy intensity required to get their beer on the shelves. Sierra Nevada Brewery has switched to lighter glass bottles, which reduce the weight of their product and the materials required in their bottles. They have also begun utilizing railroads to transport larger quantities longer distances to reduce carbon emissions. Many breweries, including Sierra Nevada, Great Lakes and New Belgium, use recycled materials for their six-packs, cases and dividers.

Chris O’Brien, author of "Fermenting a Revolution: Drink Beer and Save the World," proposes some ways to reduce the impact of the shipping and packaging process of beer. O’Brien introduced the concept of "beer-o-regionalism," which is consuming beer in your local area to cut down on the waste created by packaging and shipping beer. By drinking locally, people support their local breweries and strengthen their local economy.

Breweries continue to reduce their craft’s environmental footprint. Studies are being conducted to reduce wastewater, recycle materials, explore the life cycle of bottles and improve shipping methods. Sierra Nevada sustainability coordinator Cheri Chastain said it is important to think of new ways to minimize breweries’ waste.

"Our industry relies so heavily on the natural world that we have to take steps to protect it," Chastain said.

So the next time you’re sipping a pint, take a moment to reflect on all the work and time it took to get in your hand, and don’t forget to recycle the bottle or can.

Luke Widtfeldt studies journalism and public relations. He has been published in The Western Front.