BREW:

Brewing to
Reduce Energy
and Waste
A Rating System for
Sustainable Brewing

Mat Landis, Zachary Hayes, and Brandon Eggleston

Introduction

Craft beer has become an ever growing interest to many young and old beer
enthusiasts.
Michigan has recently become a haven for local craft and microbreweries with
over 150 breweries and brewpubs.
There are many steps to create the nectar of the gods including farming,
transportation, malting, mashing, boiling, fermenting, conditioning, and
packaging.
 System Boundaries
Brewing beer is an energy intensive multi-step process
that has many components.

Fig. 1: Process Model

Green Rating System
BREW: Brewing to Reduce Energy and Waste
 Energy Sources
Percentage of Rating
energy from
renewable
sources

1-9% 0

10-19% 1

20-39% 2

40-59% 3

60-79% 4

80-100% 5

Sierra Nevada Brewery, Chico CA

 Water Use
Water: Beer Rating Ingredients/ Rating Brewing Rating
Ratio Farming Process Process
(Liters of water per 12 oz (Liters of water per
of beer consumed) 12 oz of beer
3:1 5 consumed)

Less than 10 L 5
4:1 4 Less than 0.5L 5
10 - 15 L 4
5:1 3
16 - 20 L 3 0.6 - 1.0 L 4
8:1 2
21-30 L 2 1.0L - 2.0 L 3
10:1 1
31-50 L 1 2L - 3L 2
Greater than 0
10:1 Over 50 L 0 Over 3L 0

Farm Source Location
(Not including special
ingredients)
Organic Ingredients
Within the State (if greater than
250 miles)
Within 250 miles
Farm Sourcing
Rating Breweries are going to score highly under our system if
they utilize local sources.This decreases miles traveled
by trucks and greenhouse gas emissions.
1
Working with local partners saves resources and also
1
keeps money in the state.
Responsible farming also includes limiting fertilizers and
2 avoiding pesticides (if pursuing organic certification)

Within 150 miles 3

Within 100 miles 4

Within 50 miles 5

WestTown Brew works

 Farming Practices

Farming Rating Breweries such as Sierra Nevada

Barley field (above) and hops (below)
maintain their own farms which
Onsite 1 localizes the growing of products
Production greatly.
Onsite 2
Composting Breweries with space constraints
such as Great Lakes Brewing can Sierra Nevada
Spent Grain 2 still work with local farmers.
Donation to
Farmers

Low Energy 2
Precision
Application
Irrigation

grit.com
 Waste and Other End of Life Decisions
Percentage of Rating Percentage of Rating Example of waste metrics
waste waste
composted recycled

80-100% 6 80-100% 6

60-79% 5 60-79% 5

40-59% 4 40-59% 4
20-39% 3
20-39% 3
10-19% 2
10-19% 2
1-10% 1
1-10% 1
None composted 0
None recycled 0
 Packaging
Nearly 500 craft beer brewers use aluminum
to can more than 1,700 different beers.
Protection from light and oxygen are two key
benefits in addition to the unparalleled
Materials Used Rating sustainability of aluminum packaging
(Aluminum.org).
Higher ratio of 2
aluminum to There are 4,269 craft breweries in the U.S.
glass(>50%) (Great Lakes Brewing Co., 2015)

Use of 30% - 60% 1

post-consumer material

Use of 60% - 100% 2

post-consumer material
 Total Values
The maximum amount of points available is 45

Award Point Range Percentage Value

Gold Brew 41-45 Points 90-100%

Silver Brew 36-41 Points 80-90%

Bronze Brew 31-36 Points 70-80%

 Factors to Consider
Its tough to find energy information on many breweries. Only the breweries
who are dedicated to limiting their consumption of resources have taken the
time to quantify and share this information.

Breweries come in all shapes and sizes, so comparing ones energy use to
another isnt simply apples to apples. Percentages and proportions have to be
taken into consideration to effectively assign points.
Questions?
Citations:

Aluminum Recycling | The Aluminum Association. (n.d.). Retrieved October 20, 2016, from
http://www.aluminum.org/sustainability/aluminum-recycling

Michigan Craft Breweries. (n.d.). Retrieved October 20, 2016, from http://www.michigan.org/mibeermap/

Lalonde, S., Nicholson A., Schenck R. (2013) Life Cycle Assessment of Beer in Support of an Environmental Product
Declaration. EarthSure.

Our Passions. (2016) Retrieved November 20, 2016 from http://www.arborbrewing.com/about/passions/

Process Model. (2000, January 01). United Nations Industrial Development Organization.

Sierra Nevada. (2016) Retrieved November 20, 2016 from http://www.sierranevada.com/brewery/about-us/sustainability