Ale Street News Online

Brooklyn Brewing, New Belgium in Colorado, and most large Oregon craft brewers purchase wind energy. Others such as the Lucky Labrador brewpub in Portland, OR, and Anderson Valley in California have solar installations on site. Otter Creek in Vermont, and Grand Teton in Wyoming burn biodiesel to power their boilers.

New Belgium, in Fort Collins, CO, is often heralded as an alternative energy pioneer. The company has been purchasing 100 percent wind power since 1999. A co-generation plant makes up to 15 percent of the plant’s electricity from methane created by an anaerobic wastewater treatment-plant. The Solix Co. is growing algae for biofuels with CO2 from New Belgium’s wastewater plant.

In Vermont, Long Trail Brewing launched its "Cow Power" program on Earth Day, 2008. Brewery spokesman Seth Wyman calls Cow Power "the renewable energy piece" of Long Trail’s ECO-Brew (Environmentally Conscious Operations) program.

"It’s about putting the environment at the front of business and brewing decisions," says Wyman.

Long Trail purchases 25 percent of its electricity from Central Vermont Public Service’s Cow Power program. Methane-generators on several large Vermont dairy farms produce electricity from cow manure. Long Trail has also reduced cardboard packaging by 500,000 sq. ft. a year, and most impressively, though industry standard water use is about six gallons of water for every gallon of beer produced, Long Trail uses a mere two gallons of water per gallon of beer.

Klamath Basin Brewing in Klamath Falls, OR, has tapped into a rather unique energy source. Klamath Falls operates a municipal geothermal plant, and when owners Del Azevedo and Lonnie Clement were renovating the former creamery that houses the brewery in 2003, a grant from the city helped them connect to the pipeline. In winter 180-194°F water from geothermal wells flows through the system. (In summer the water is about 176° as the city taps into shallower, cooler wells). The geothermal water heats potable water to temperatures appropriate for brewing, tank cleaning and dishwashing in a heat exchanger. All heating in the building also comes from the geothermal system. Clement also hopes to use Klamath Basin grown organic malt by next year.

Northern California uses geothermal wells to produce electricity, so breweries such as Ukiah and Mammoth Lakes can claim to use some geothermal power. Mammoth Lakes owner Joy Turner is a member of the Geo Foundation, which is pushing city leaders to build a geothermal system like that in Klamath Falls.

Sierra Nevada, in Chico, CA, uses a combination of hydrogen fuel cells and solar panels to generate more than 100 percent of its electricity needs in summer, and an estimated 85 percent in winter. The four 300 kilowatt cells extract hydrogen from a mix of natural gas and biogas from the brewery’s waste-water treatment plant, producing steam that heats water for the brewing process. Excess electricity is sold back onto the grid. Sustainability coordinator Cheri Chastain says the brewery is now revamping lighting and other equipment to conserve energy.

At Vermont’s Otter Creek Brewery owner Morgan Wolaver says replacing light fixtures will pay for itself in three and a half years. During winter months, Otter Creek pulls outside air into its cooler, saving on electricity. The brewery is also studying burning spent-grain in the boiler. A spent-grain burner is being installed in a Finnish Scottish and Newcastle plant.

Organic Beer Bash in New York City

The Counter restaurant in New York hosts its second annual Organic Beer Bash Oct. 25, from 12-4 p.m. New York’s first organic vegetarian restaurant features all organic beer, wine, spirits. General Manager Frank Cisneros says while putting a full organic spirits program in place, he worked with New York liquor regulators to bring in more organic beers.

To celebrate this broader diversity of organic beer, the restaurant threw the first Organic Beer Bash last September. This year the Bash will feature 35-40 beers from organic breweries from the Northeast, Europe and several from the West Coast. Proceeds are donated to charity. Tickets are $30 can be obtained from the Counter 212-982-5870 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it