Is it something in the water?  Or maybe the hops… I keep coming across more breweries really going the extra mile to produce their product in a sustainable manner.

The first one I knew of was New Belgium Brewery, makers of Fat Tire and other fine brews.  As the story goes, “In 1998, a unanimous vote by employee owners switched New Belgium to wind power. The first wind powered brewery in the United States, thank you very much.”  They’ve made other strides towards efficiency & sustainability, as documented in their sustainability blog.

The one that really caught my eye lately, though, is the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company.  Check out this aerial shot of the brewery:

That’s a lot of solar panels!  Bottom right is a parking lot, shaded by solar PV panels, and including EV charging stations, powered by solar.  Now how cool is that?  They’re doing other great things including running fuel cells (off methane from their wastewater treatment, I think), and turning beer dregs into ethanol.  All this is well documented on their site.  These guys are really serious!  And Torpedo is one of the best IPAs for the buck, IMHO.

Kinda makes Left Hand Brewery look lame with their little 4.8kW solar array, but hey, that’s a start too.

One thing brewers need is hot water, and lots of it; the folks at Lucky Labrador Brewing did a smart thing, and put solar hot water up on their breweries.

Dave’s Brew Farm, a recent entry into microbrewing in Wisconsin, has a 20kW wind turbine to power its operations.  One great beer from Dave, Matacabras, is from the Spanish word meaning “the wind that kills goats.”

Know of any other “green” beers?  Let me know!

Edit: Summit Brewing gets at least an honorable mention for doing some serious efficiency work in the brewery.