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Craft Brewery
a third of them making a substantial part of their “Many brewers talk about using only locally grown
profit through foodservice,” said Skypeck. “Their ingredients,” said Skypeck. “That sounds good, but
outlook on the meaning of sustainability and what many times it’s hard to pull off in the long run.
they want to focus on is different from others that Ingredients like barley have optimal conditions to
don’t revolve around food service. Regionality also thrive and are best grown where the climate con-
influences a brewpub’s focus, with Western based ditions match that. Ninety-five percent of hops
brewers looking more towards water conservation are grown in the Pacific Northwest because of the
and Eastern-based counterparts more concerned preferred climate conditions. That type of grow-
over energy conservation.” ing infrastructure is important but expensive to
develop and perfect. Other non-optimal areas will
But where do you start? What type of benchmark- naturally have trouble competing not only in qual-
ing tools do you need? “That depends on what cat- ity but the price, and some local level producers
egory you want to focus on,” said Skypeck. “When can’t produce enough high-quality yield over time
you break it down to basics, brewing is no different consistently. We’re trying to help with that. While
from any manufacturing business. It’s okay to start the pandemic put a hold on our annual conference,
small and make incremental changes when possible we were still able to move forward with funded
and practical. For example, smaller brewers will research to encourage and facilitate economic,
not look at solar energy due to the length of time agricultural practices. These included developing
they’d have to wait for the payback. Still, they can barley with longer root masses to use less water for
certainly make smaller changes such as LED lighting both irrigation purposes and in drought conditions,
and newer, energy-efficient equipment. And let’s as well as ways to minimize the need for fertilizer.”
face it, sustainability is truly a journey without an
end. Still, any size brewer can be a good commu- Skypeck told Beverage Master Magazine that he
nity partner and interactive participant in commu- has seen a trend in the idea of CO2 capture within
nity programs such as clean water campaigns. Of the brewing industry. The CO2 produced by craft
course, even the largest craft brewers are small breweries is roughly between 10-20% of the brew-
compared to the big, mainstream national brew- ery’s carbon footprint. That seems like a small
eries. However, as demonstrated by the Sierra amount, but it’s an economical and sensible way to
Nevada and New Belgium breweries, possibilities build sustainability with notable returns on invest-
exist for craft brewers, both currently operating ment when efficiently captured. In addition, smaller
using facilities based on sustainability practices, capturing units are now more feasible for micro-
including landscaping and wastewater applica- breweries because of the rising purchase cost due
tions.” to the ongoing supply shortage.
The Brewers Association offers manuals to help Carbon Capture Is Within Reach
guide producers through various focus areas, For Craft Brewers
including energy, solid waste, sustainable build and
design strategies, water and wastewater manage- Earthly Labs is the leader in small-scale carbon
ment. capture, with more small-scale systems deployed
than anyone globally. Their plug-and-play units are
Climate change affects everything brewing-relat- specifically designed for brewery environments and
ed, building the need for sustainability within the handle variable gas flow rates, allowing capture
industry. Barley has been drought-impacted, with from different sized vessels and brite tanks.
warmer temperatures and irregular, late-season
rains, causing early sprouting and more crops to be Amy George, Founder and CEO of Earthly Labs,
unusable for brewing, rendering them fit only as operates under the assumption that people will
livestock feed. Hops have fallen victim to wildfires help protect our climate and planet given the right
(smoke taint) and drought, leading to decreased useful and affordable tools.
resistance to pests. Then there’s water supply
issues, hurricane devastation to specialty citrus “We are constantly innovating on our platform
ingredients, and CO2 shortages, exacerbated by to increase the benefits to the brewer,” said
extreme cold that affects compressors and natural George. “CO2 capture has long been a benefit for
gas supplies. large-scale brewers and industrial players, but our
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