Though making beer only requires four simple, natural ingredients (hops, yeast, grain, and water), it’s not necessarily an efficient process.  In fact, it takes up to eight gallons of water to make a single gallon of beer.  Brewing also leaves behind spent grain.  And it takes plenty of additional resources to get a cold one into your hands.

Fortunately, green beer isn’t just for St. Patrick’s Day anymore.  More and more breweries, from small local shops to internationally recognized brands, are taking strides towards more sustainable production and distribution.  

Just last week, MillerCoors recently released its Sustainable Development report highlighting accomplishments including a 4.1 to 1 water-to-beer ratio, reusing or recycling 98% of all brewery waste, and reducing the diameter of its aluminum can ends slightly, resulting in a reduction of 10.4 million pounds of aluminum.

Miller may be the best-known beer on the sustainability wagon, but many others– notably, New Belgium in Colorado – are also reducing water consumption, recycling waste products, and using new technology to produce energy for their plants.  Check out these articles on eco-friendly brewers and beers:
Top 5 Sustainable Suds, Five Greenest Beers, Sustainable Craft Brewing, Breweries Embrace Eco-Friendly Ethics, and Sustainability in Brewing Industry.

Organic breweries, like New England’s own Otter Creek in Middlebury, VT (maker of Wolaver’s organic beer), and Peak Organic in Portland, ME, are also raising a glass to sustainable brewing techniques .  They use hops and grain that have been grown without pesticides or other chemicals.  (You can find a partial map of organic breweries here.) 

Of course, locally brewed beer is another piece of the sustainability puzzle.  You can find a list of breweries in New England, here.  For breweries in MA, look here.

Here’s to good beer that’s also good for the planet.  Cheers!