Great Post from The Guardian, Things Even Craft Beer Should Think About

For the food and drink industry, water security is no small beer

How is the industry rising to the challenge of dry times?

Sustainability = Awesome Beerness

A new report from a leading sustainability consulting firm, A Clean Future,  gives beer and its most excellent stewards all the love when it comes to getting its green on, noting it as THE leading industry when it comes to sustainability. Awesome and much deserved.

From the report: "Leadership in sustainability includes practices that extend beyond companies’ own emission sources, taking strides throughout the value chain, extending a positive influence to suppliers, retailers, employees, and the community at large. Beer companies that develop leading strategies focus on understanding their environmental score, maximizing efficiency, minimizing resource usage, and contributing back to the communities they serve, and as a result will benefit from attracting  climate-conscious customers."

You can catch a glimpse and buy the full report here: A Clean Future

Hopworks. A Grand Champion of Sustainability

Oregon Secretary of State Kate Brown and the Oregon Sustainability Board honored Oregon's own Hopworks Urban Brewery as a "Grand Champion" for its commitment to sustainable business practices at the NEBC/AOI Northwest Environmental Conference & Tradeshow on December 4.

Known for its amazing organic beer and gluten free options, yet it doesn't stop there. Hopworks is well known for its deep sustainability efforts, especially when it prefaces its processes and practices with the header: "Going Green: No Green Washing. Just the Facts, G". Awesome, as this is the driving point - it's their culture, their credo, and there's no apology or artifice. 

The brewery opened in 2007, and their killer brewpub (bike pub!) opened in 2008. Hopworks rocks a 20 barrel system, distributes in Oregon Washington and BC, and offers 10 draught and 2 cask beers at all times! Beautiful, sustainable operation going - go get it!

From there website (Hopworks - Going Green), here's the laudable and honorable stuff their doing!

Brewery

• Biodiesel fired brew kettle using HUB fryer oil

• Organic barley malt

• Zero VOC epoxy floor coating with walnut shell broadcast for texture

• Cool-Fit pre-insulated glycol pipe-most energy efficient pipe available

• T8 fluorescent lights-cool running and energy efficient

• Flow meter on brewing water to minimize waste

• Organic spent grain used by local cattle rancher

• Biodiesel fired delivery truck

• Wort heat exchanger hot water recovered for subsequent brew

• Walk in cooler compressor remote operated on cool roof

• Tasting room bar base constructed from recycled material

Building

• Building professionally deconstructed- all useable material recovered and sorted

• 1/3 all framing material used recovered from deconstruction

• Ceiling blasted with corn cob instead of sand-eliminates risk of silicosis for blasters

• Booths constructed entirely from ceiling joists

•  Finish trim constructed from recovered trim

• Vault finished with recovered ship-lap sheathing

• Bar base constructed from recovered framing, office paneling, and ceiling joists

• Bar foot rail made of old boiler pipe

• Tables recovered from restaurant remodel

• Low and zero VOC finishes

• Reflective membrane roof w/3″ rigid insulation-74% UV radiation reflected, no heat island, significantly lower operating environment temp for mech equipment on roof

• Air conditioner economizers

• 93% efficient gas furnaces, 4 residential furnaces provide zone heating more efficiently than commercial gas packs

• Insulated, low-E window and door upgrade

• Skylights provide natural light to mezzanine

• Hot water recirculation provides hot water on demand-no wasted line purge

• Low flow toilets- 1.28 GPF

• Hand dryers eliminate paper waste- fastest, most energy efficient dryers available

• Plentiful covered and uncovered bike parking

• Bike repair stand at front door

Parking and Landscape

• 6000 sqft Eco-paver west parking lot- rain water remains on-site

• Native species used exclusively for landscaping

• South Parking lot features 5000 gallon retention/settling pond

• Rain barrel captures _ roof run off- used for irrigation, general wash down, and future green house

• South retaining wall constructed of recycled basement slab

Kitchen

• Organic Made from scratch Roma Tomato Sauce

• Use of Shepphards Grain “Food Alliance Certified” flour for our pizza dough & other bread items (pretzels, foccacia bread)

• Organic Milk

• Organic field greens, romaine & various seasonal vegetables

• Dressings made from scratch, less packaging

• 100 % post consumer waste

• 100% recycled dinner napkins

• Waste recycling programs that strive for zero waste

• Recycling food waste for animal feed & composting.

• Organic coffee from Stumptown “Holler Mtn”

• All to go material 100% post consumer 100% recycled material.

• Compost able plastic to go cups (corn based)