Stop breathing... It's bad for the environment !!

Most things we do are bad for the environment and drinking beer is no exception or, to be more accurate, making beer is no exception!

All industry uses energy and produces waste and in all industries, some companies will be more efficient (from an energy/waste point of view) than others. But there's nothing like a bit of consumer awareness to make industry sit up and think about what they're doing.

'What if we could invest in efficiency, sell more product and save on energy and waste costs?'

The fact is, that some consumers will pay more for a product they believe to be environmentally responsible. Eco sells.

I recently read of some innovations Bavaria Browerij in The Netherlands have going on.


They claim:

That their waste water returns to the local system cleaner than it came out, due to their own treatment facility.

The methane produced in this facility is then used in their specialised efficient power system.

The one I think is particularly clever is;
The co2 given off during fermentation is recycled and used in the bottling.

They also claim to use considerably less water, use considerably less energy and produce less waste than the European average to produce a hectolitre of beer.

They also malt their own barley, which, presumably, reduces transport impact.


Surely, this must save them a heap of money too?

I realise that these kind of innovations may not be feasible for many smaller breweries and, in the scale of things, it's more important that the mainstream brewers become more efficient. But they need to hear the message from the consumer, not just the regulator.

Would I buy Bavaria over a similar beer because it is more environmentally responsible?
If I wanted a well made, unchallenging, mainstream lager.....Yes.

And while we're on the subject.

Why do we have to put our empty beer bottles in the recycling bin or, even worse, the waste bin. Why aren't our beer bottles returnable? I realise that we import much of our beer but at least our domestically bottled beer should all have a deposit/refund system. We had this system in the past and it works in other countries.

Drink beer - save the planet?

My last drink was; Popperings Hommel Bier, 50cl, 7.5%abv