Budweiser is Going Green

We routinely rail on Anheuser-Bush InBev (ABIB) for anything negative that might come out of their shop. Sometimes, you have to recognize that the big boys can go a long way to setting positive precedent in the industry. So, today we give a slight tip of our hat to ABIB for announcing its green initiative.

Sure, many micro brewers went green on day 1 and there are many leaders at the micro level when it comes to environmentally friendly operations. ABIB brings scale to the game. A promise to cut water consumption by 30 percent* means a lot when you have 130,000 employees in 30 countries. ABIB boasts that they will save enough water to fill 25,000 Olympic size swimming pools. The ABIB press release states other goals including achieving a 99 percent recycle/reuse rate and a 10 percent reduction in carbon dioxide output.

Of course, there are two sides to every story so ABIB may still be the Evil Empire. The New York Times reports that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires companies to disclose their environmental risks, including water supply issues. "Water conflicts and risks are already coming to a head in expanding beer and beverage markets in the developing world, regions where 1.1 billion people still lack clean drinking water access and the agriculture sector demands its fare share." For example, China and Brazil are two large growth markets for ABIB and the two countries also have water quality and supply issues.





*30 percent reduction of 2007 water consumption levels.

Scent of a Woman

Blue Marble Energy, based in Seattle, Washington, is creating perhaps the world's first beer perfume. Actually, they're not even using beer. BME is using the waste product that comes from making beer. EOS is being created by BME in conjunction with Seattle's Sweet Anthem. The EOS line is available for Her and Unisex. "Both are petrochemical-free, containing only bioderived and organic materials", and carbon neutral.

As the story goes, "James Stephens of Blue Marble Energy says the product is a viscous sludge - a mixture of about 50,000 different kinds of bacteria." This sounds a lot like the type of "perfume" any woman can get free of charge at a college pub crowded with underage men spilling beer while shamelessly trying to "hit that". Surely the average college student has 50,000 kinds of bacteria, particularly fraternity brothers. You know, the scent that makes women shower when they get home from the bars at 3am.

If you're a chump you can buy it here or you can simply send us $30 (cash only please) and we'll send you a 12 ounce bottle of skunked beer.

For giggles we bring you this not un-related homage to perfume:

It Ain't Easy Being Green

5 Seasons Brewing of Georgia is focused on handcrafted brews available on demand (like Comcast?). They are also focused on being green and they do so by harvesting rain water for brewing. According to one report, "The brewery was already making green efforts in their production methods by reusing cooking oil from the kitchen to fire their kettles." However, this was not enough and 5 Seasons recently decided to brew only with rain water - harvested and filtered using RainHarvest Systems. The real question being is it safe to drink?

The University of Georgia Soil and Water Laboratory certified the water (we assume certification is a good thing). The local, state, and federal governments decided otherwise. Although the water goes through 6 stages of filtering, "followed by a dual-beam ultraviolet sterilization that results in water of superior quality to tap water, " the government still has questions.

Creative Loafing's Jeff Holland believes it's all about educating the bureaucrats. "The EPA wants to weigh in on (the situation)...It's a touchstone case for the future of commercially-used water, because you know this thing is going to become more and more popular. It's all about education at this point: Showing them how it works, and how it's maintained, and how it's good for the state." To which, we say - good luck buddy.

We Hate Organic, but Love this Brew

What we really despise about this whole "green" movement is that it's pretentious and wrought with guilt. Latte liberals driving around in their Toyota Prius and looking down their nose at our H3 - making us feel like our very existence is killing the the polar bears. We're born and raised Catholic so we don't need help feeling guilt.

So, frankly we did our best to avoid the Peak Organic Brewing Company. Sitting on the top shelf, looking down on the other brews with their preservatives and non-organic labels. Sure, it's not the same as being green but it's in the same family. Let's be honest - brewing beer is really quite organic. It's malt, yeast, water, and hops mashed together until it turns into beer. Maybe there are some preservatives, maybe not but it's only a step or two away from being a naturally organic process - regardless of who is brewing.

We do love coffee. Obviously we love beer. Peak's Espresso Amber Ale just called out to us - every damn time we walked through a beer aisle. So, we picked up a 4-pack. And we like it, we really begrudgingly like it. Like Sarah Palin, you want to hate it but you can't. It pours too beautifully to hate. In fact, it's not a clear brew (probably because it's so natural) at all. It has a copper color with a strong fogged look. This is probably what causes a much lighter red-brown head that's full but breaks down in short order. If you can't smell the coffee you bit off your nose to spite your face. The flavor is full and the coffee is present through out. It's definitely an ale and even a bit sweet with a roasty, chocolate undertone.

If you're truly interested in the fair trade, and righteousness, you can check out the Peak Organic Web site. If you want a good beer, skip the Interweb and go straight to your local brew store and pick up this fine brew. Have it in the evening after dinner or have it for breakfast. What the hell, it has coffee in it.

Sierra Nevada Wins Green Award

This week, Food Engineering Magazine held its inaugural Sustainable Plant of the Year Awards and Sierra Nevada took home top honors.

Here is why they won (according to the FEM article):

"To reduce energy, heat recovery equipment has been installed to capture excess heat from boilers, fuel cells and kettles. Energy-efficient controlled lighting is used throughout, and electronics and equipment were chosen to minimize the use of energy. Monitoring equipment keeps track of the process and facility energy expenditures, and employees were trained to save energy.

The facility has its own co-generation fuel cells, which generate up to 1.2 MW, and they can be powered by either natural gas or biogas byproducts captured from the brewing process. Waste heat is converted to steam for maintaining brewing temperatures. Food-grade carbon dioxide, recovered from the brewing process, is used for carbonation in bottling, keg pressurization and counter-pressure in holding tanks and provides all of the CO2 the plant requires.

Measures to conserve water—critical in California—include automated CIP systems, efficient cleaning and rinsing systems, scheduling, internal flow meters, hose bib retrofits and education. All these efforts and more keep water usage to about 290,000 gallons per day.

An on-site wastewater treatment plant processes all brewery water, has a two-stage aerobic and anaerobic capability and produces biogas for heating and electricity generation. The brewery is a firm believer of intermodal transport, with rail doing the long trips. In 2008, SNBC diverted 68,000 tons from landfill and avoided $4.5 million in waste hauler charges. Just about everything imaginable at the plant is recycled—from spent grains and yeast to cans, bottles, packaging material, batteries, compost and construction debris."

Whew, that's a lot of reading. You may also recall that Sierra Nevada has a contract with the folks at E-Fuel Micro Fueler. EFMC is the company that makes fuel from beer and is partially owned by Shaq. It's safe to say that Sierra Nevada is one of the greenest brewers out there and other brewers should take notice and follow suit.