2017 Sustainability Benchmarking Report - Brewers Association
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Brewers Association 2017 Sustainability Benchmarking Report
table of contents
Executive Summary 2 Appendices 38
Acknowledgments 3 a - Participant Results 39
Introduction 4 b - 2016 Benchmarking Snapshots 43
Trends and Observations 6 c - GHG Estimations 57
Renewable Energy 7 d - Water Risk Assessment 59
CO2 Emissions 8 e - BA Sustainability Resources 63
Sustainability-Related Utility Costs 9 f - Reporting Breweries 65
Cost of Energy 11
Improving KPIs 12
Beer Loss as a Metric 12
The Sustainability Journey 13
Case Studies 14
Alaskan Brewing Co. 15
Bear Republic Brewing Co. 17
Elliott Bay Brewhouse & Pub 19
Horse & Dragon Brewing Co. 21
Jackie O’s Brewery 23
Kona Brewing Co. 25
North Coast Brewing Co. 27
Rising Tide Brewing Co. 29
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. 31
Ska Brewing Company 33
Upland Brewing Co. 35
Goal Setting 37
Cover photos provided by individual craft
breweries. Interior photos provided by breweries
unless otherwise noted.
2017 Sustainability Benchmarking Report | 1executive summary
The purpose of this benchmarking report The following graphics summarize data
is to present calendar year 2016 from the 117 participating breweries over
sustainability-related data submitted by the period 2014-2016.
participating craft breweries and to
highlight case studies that outline how
leading breweries are improving their
utility efficiencies, reducing operating
costs, and minimizing environmental
impacts.
This is the third benchmarking report
issued by the Brewers Association (BA).
Previous reports have focused on
calendar year 2014 and 2015 data. This
report also attempts to gain insights from
an initial trending analysis of 34 breweries
that have submitted complete monthly
data sets for all three years of
benchmarking (2014-2016). Overall, 117
breweries have participated, with 57
breweries submitting one year of
complete monthly data, while 26
breweries have submitted two years of
complete data.
Care should be exercised when
attempting to extrapolate these results to
the craft brewing sector as a whole.
Participation is on a voluntary basis and
the participating breweries represent a
relatively small sample size compared to
the total population of operating craft
breweries. However, this report provides
an informative view of the participating
breweries and is helpful to better
understand the value in pursuing a more
efficient operation. It also identifies and
shares brewery best practices that are
driving best-in-class performance metrics.
2 | BrewersAssociation.orgacknowledgments
This ongoing project would not have
been possible without the support of the
BREWERS ASSOCIATION
BA Sustainability Subcommittee and the
SUSTAINABILITY SUBCOMMITTEE:
117 craft breweries (Figure 1) that
submitted data and shared best Cheri Chastain* – Sierra Nevada
practices. Particular thanks go to the Brewing Co.
breweries that took the time to enter Carol Cochran – Horse & Dragon
three consecutive years of data to make Brewing Company
the year over year comparisons possible. Serena Dietrich – Deschutes Brewery
A list of all reporting breweries is available Christian Ettinger – Hopworks
in Appendix F. The BA recognizes that Urban Brewery
collecting and reporting data can take Zac Harris – Alamo Beer Company
considerable time and effort. Sharing Ian Hughes – Brewers Association
sustainability-related data and best Saul Kliorys – Great Lakes Brewing Co.
practices in the craft beer segment is an Peter Kruger – Bear Republic Brewing Co.
ongoing process, and the BA Walker Modic – Bell’s Brewery, Inc.
appreciates all member contributions. Damon Scott – Brewers Association
Chuck Skypeck – Brewers Association
We would also like to thank the
Kris Spaulding – Brewery Vivant
sustainability management consulting
John Stier – Brewers Association
team from Antea® Group who collected
Luke Truman – Allagash Brewing Co.
and analyzed the data and developed
Katie Wallace* – New Belgium
the benchmarking update.
Brewing Co.
The BA is excited to support the *Committee Co-Chair
continued use of the online
benchmarking tools and reports. This
helps to increase the sharing of best
practices and demonstrates the
industry’s focus on improving efficiency
and growing responsibly.
Figure 1:
Location of Participating
Breweries by Market
Segment:
Microbrewery
Brewpub
Regional Brewery
3 | BrewersAssociation.orgintroduction
Established in 2014, the annual BA resource consumption to continuously
Benchmarking Reports have been highly drive improvements in efficiency.
anticipated by multiple stakeholder
Similar to the 2016 Report, this 2017
groups including brewers, state guilds,
Sustainability Benchmarking Report
and policy makers. The reports seek to
represents a dynamic data set where
provide an important look into the craft
facilities were permitted to submit
brewing industry’s environmental
corrections to previous years’ data.
performance.
Breweries are also included in the
The BA Sustainability Subcommittee has benchmark even if they do not report
been tasked with helping current data for all three reporting years or for all
members and future generations to brew environmental attributes.
the highest quality beers in a manner
that strengthens business value, increases
Figure 2: BA Regional Map
the resiliency of the natural environment
and agricultural systems that provide
brewing ingredients, and enhances
workforce and community livelihood.
Now in the third year of the
benchmarking initiative, this report
summarizes the past three years of
brewery data.
The benchmarking study focuses on
comprehensive analysis of water, energy,
and emissions efficiency in the craft Pacific Northwest North Central
brewing industry. This quantitative study Pacific South
provides meaningful comparison by Mountain West Northeast
showcasing industry-wide and specific
trends for facilities by production size,
geographic region (Figure 2), and market Figure 3: BA Market Segments
segment (Figure 3) by documenting
water use, energy use, and total Brewpubs
emissions normalized to barrels (bbls) of
beer packaged.
Through detailed analysis and Microbreweries
benchmarking, the craft brewing sector
is defining its environmental footprint
and the characteristics that influence Regional
Breweries
2017 Sustainability Benchmarking Report | 4introduction
Key Terms data from 68 breweries, 15 of which are
new participants. In the past, efficiency
• Normalizing to Barrels Packaged or
charts have provided value by illustrating
Taxable Beer: Attribute usage and cost
the Bottom 25%, Middle 50%, and Top
were normalized on a per barrel scale
25% performance metrics. These are
for each participating brewery. The
again provided in Appendix B,
term “Barrels Packaged” is used
representing the data submitted for 2016.
throughout the report as the
normalization factor. For the purposes
of this report, “taxable beer” reported
to the Department of the Treasury Figure 4: Number of Brewery
Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Participants
Bureau is considered the same as
“Barrels Packaged.”
57 26 34
• Environmental Attributes: This report
primarily focuses on usage ratios for
water and energy. The water use ratios 0 25 50 75 100 125
are presented in bbls of water used per
bbl of beer packaged (bbl/bbl). The 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year
energy use ratios are presented in kWh
of energy used, combining electricity Internship Program
and natural gas, per barrel of beer Most craft breweries across the nation
packaged (kWh/bbl). Emissions ratios are highly entrepreneurial, with each co-
are also presented in the report in units worker filling several roles to meet the
of lbs of CO2 per barrel of beer daily demands of a small business.
packaged (lbs/bbl). The emissions Tracking down utility invoices and
estimates include Scope 1 (natural gas entering and analyzing sustainability
and purchased CO2) and Scope 2 data requires additional human
(electricity). resources they don’t often have. This is
one of the main reasons more breweries
have not yet participated in the
Data Set Description benchmarking project. Graduate level
At a minimum, breweries were asked to students are being recruited by the BA to
provide information on barrels of beer assist local craft breweries with
packaged, which is utilized to normalize collecting, entering, and analyzing
usage data for environmental attributes. sustainability-related data through the
In addition, breweries provided data on Sustainability Benchmarking Tools. More
usage and cost for electricity, natural information on the Sustainability
gas, purchased CO2, water, and Internship Program is available on the BA
wastewater. Figure 4 provides a count of website:
breweries who have submitted complete https://www.brewersassociation.org/best
sets of monthly data for one, two, or -practices/sustainability/sustainability-
three consecutive years. benchmarking-tools/
The 2016 data set includes complete
5 | BrewersAssociation.orgtrends and observations
The past three years of brewery-submitted data have been analyzed for potential
trends that could be helpful for the sector. At this point, the benchmarking sample
size is too small to make definitive statements or assumptions about the entire
population. The sample size percent of total population increases as the production
size range increases. For example, less than 0.03% of the total breweries between 1
to 1,000 bbls/yr are represented, but over 31% of the total breweries between
100,000 and 1,000,000 bbls/yr are included. Participation in the benchmarking is
voluntary, so those that participate may skew the results toward breweries that
consider sustainability an important element of their business success.
As of the date of this report, more than 280 craft breweries of all production sizes
and locations have signed up for access and are entering data into the
sustainability benchmarking online tool. There is a gap between the 68 breweries
identified in Table 1 and the total of more than 250 breweries currently participating
in data entry. Some breweries submitted incomplete or erroneous data for 2016 and
were omitted from the report. A good number of breweries just joined the program
in 2017 and 2018 and did not have the time or resources to gather historical data for
entry. Future benchmarking reports are expected to include larger numbers of
breweries, especially in the less than 1,000 and 1,000 to 10,000 barrels per year
ranges.
The 2016 benchmarking study participants and total BA membership numbers are
presented in Table 1. Additional ratios and average facility metrics are provided in
Appendix A and are broken down by production size, geographic region, and
market segment.
Table 1: 2016 Benchmarking Study Participants vs. Total BA Membership
Production Volume
Participants Membership
(bbls/yr)
1 to 1,000 7 breweries 3,175 breweries
1,000 to 10,000 23 breweries 1,254 breweries
10,000 to 100,000 28 breweries 218 breweries
100,000 to 1,000,000 10 breweries 32 breweries
2017 Sustainability Benchmarking Report | 6trends and observations:
environmental efficiency
Renewable Energy For an on-site renewable energy project
to be successful, there are several
Over the past three years of
challenges to overcome, such as the
benchmarking, the amount of
capital investment, roof or ground space
renewable energy usage reported by
availability, financial rebates available,
participating craft breweries has
and site-specific energy potential.
increased from 6 to 8 percent. Some is
produced from generation of on-site Getting Started with Renewable Energy
renewables, and some is electricity
Breweries should first work on improving
purchased through utility renewable or
efficiencies within operations; this will also
green energy sources (e.g. wind power).
bring additional cost savings. Once a
Figure 5 presents the percent renewable
brewery sees progress and reaches the
electricity utilized in the three year
top 25% of benchmarked performance
participant pool. Once again, these
within their production size for efficiency,
data are only representative of the
a renewable energy feasibility screening
benchmarking participants, not the
can be conducted. This can include the
entire craft brewery sector. On-site
evaluation of on-site renewable
renewable fuel generation (biogas from
installation vs. the option of purchasing
anaerobic wastewater pretreatment)
green energy. Conducting an initial
accounts for about 1% of participant
technical and economic feasibility
natural gas usage over the past three
screening can be a simple way to
years.
determine the basic potential of
renewables at your brewery.
Sixteen participating breweries utilized
renewable resources for electricity in
2016:
• Alamo Beer Company
• Alaskan Brewing Co.
• Bear Republic Brewing Co.
• Brewery Vivant
• Butcherknife Brewing Company
• Kona Brewing Co.
• Flying Fish Brewing Co.
• Jackie O’s Brewery
• Maine Beer Co.
• New Belgium Brewing Co. (CO)
• North Coast Brewing Co.
• Odell Brewing Co.
• Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. (CA & NC)
• The St. Louis Brewery, LLC
• Upslope Brewing Company.
7 | BrewersAssociation.orgtrends and observations:
environmental efficiency
CO2 Emissions
The craft beer industry utilizes natural gas, electricity, and purchased non-
fermentation CO2 to produce beer. All of these in turn contribute to a brewery’s
overall CO2 emissions. Figure 6 outlines the relative contribution of all three
components to total CO2 emissions. A description of how emissions are estimated is
outlined in Appendix C.
Benchmarking participants have utilized on-site renewable electric generation,
biofuels, and purchased green electricity to avoid at least 3% of total CO2 emissions
each year. Figure 7 illustrates the emissions avoided due to on-site renewables and
purchased green energy from the
participating facilities in 2014-2016. Key Takeaways:
These breweries avoided over 26 Craft breweries in the benchmarking
million lbs of CO2 emissions over the database are focused on improving
three-year period through renewable efficiencies as the primary means for
energy usage. reducing CO2 emissions and positioning
for long-term success.
In addition, there are also a few larger
breweries that have installed CO2 Some breweries have used rebates and
capture and reuse systems. These other incentives to justify investment in
systems further reduce overall CO2 their own renewable energy
emissions by limiting or altogether infrastructure. Other breweries are
eliminating the need for the brewery working with their local utilities to
to purchase non-fermentation CO2. purchase electricity from renewable
This is especially feasible for facilities sources.
that have a high cost associated with Larger breweries have invested in CO2
purchasing CO2. In addition, some capture and reuse systems. The
breweries have reported taste quality economic feasibility of installing these
benefits from reusing fermentation systems in breweries producing less than
CO2. 10,000 bbls/yr has not been favorable in
the past. This could change over the next
Figure 6: CO2 Emissions Contributions
few years given advances in technology.
10%
36% 54%
Natural Gas Combustion
Purchased Electricity
Purchased CO₂
8 | BrewersAssociation.orgtrends and observations:
economic efficiency
Sustainability-Related Utility Costs
The cost per barrel of sustainability-related utility KPIs has generally decreased over the
three-year period for the benchmarking participants. Energy remains a significant utility cost
for most breweries, with electricity comprising the majority of energy costs. Water costs have
remained relatively constant. Wastewater has continued to take up a larger proportion of
participants' utility costs each year at all production sizes. The benchmarking participants
have paid over $1 million for BOD (Biochemical Oxygen Demand) and TSS (Total
Suspended Solids) high strength surcharges over the past three years. This trend is expected
to continue.
Figure 8 illustrates the relative economy of scale of increasing annual production. As
illustrated in Figures 9 through 12, the cost mix changes for some KPIs as production
increases, and other KPIs stay relatively constant. Energy costs (electric plus natural gas)
comprise about 70% of utility costs for breweries at all size ranges. These percentages
continue to point toward a priority focus on energy efficiency improvement first, regardless
of production size. Increasing energy efficiency not only reduces operating costs, but also
has associated environmental benefits in terms of emissions reduction.
Some participating breweries have focused on water reduction as a priority given their
location in water-stressed areas of the country. This decision is often driven by image
protection and risk abatement versus pure cost reduction. Reducing water usage could put
a brewery in a more resilient position to combat current and possible future water risk. This is
further discussed in Appendix D.
Figure 8: Average Utility Costs for All Size Participants
60
50
40 Wastewater $/bbl
Water $/bbl
$/bbls
30 Natural Gas $/bbl
Electricit y $/bbl
20 CO2 $/bbl
10
0
0 - 1,000 1,000 -10,000 10,000 - 100,000 100,000+
bbls/year
2017 Sustainability Benchmarking Report | 9trends and observations:
economic efficiency
Wastewater treatment has traditionally Average Utility Costs
not been a significant cost for most Figure 9: 0-1,000 bbl/yr ($/bbl)
participating breweries. However, that is
14% 7%
slowly changing as the number of craft
breweries continues to grow and
municipal wastewater treatment plants
are faced with increasing costs for 12%
treatment of BOD and TSS from brewery
wastewater. 43%
Some participating breweries have found
centrifuges to be an effective tool in 24%
limiting BOD and TSS discharges to the
municipal treatment plant. Others are Figure 10: 1,000-10,000 bbl/yr ($/bbl)
looking to “side-stream” high-strength
low-volume sources of wastewater to 14% 10%
prevent discharge to the municipal
system. 8%
Key Takeaways:
Energy remains a significant utility cost for 23% 45%
breweries, and should be a primary focus
of conservation as it can lead to both
reduced emissions and cost savings. Figure 11: 10,000-100,000 bbl/yr ($/bbl)
Water reduction is typically not driven by
19% 17%
cost savings, but rather by image and
operational protection from potential
water shortages in water-stressed
communities.
11%
Wastewater is an increasing component
of the overall cost. Many breweries have
lowered their municipal wastewater 34%
charges by side-streaming high-strength 19%
sources of wastewater for beneficial
reuse as animal feed, energy feedstock, Figure 12: 100,000+ bbl/yr ($/bbl)
and soil nutrient.
8%
20%
Legend: 11%
38%
Electric Cost Natural Gas Cost
CO₂ Cost Water Cost
Wastewater Cost
23%
10 | BrewersAssociation.orgtrends and observations:
economic efficiency
Cost of Energy Figure 13: Participant 2014-2016 Energy
Prices
The purchased unit cost of energy 0.16
for the benchmarking participants
has generally decreased from 2014 0.14
to 2016. Figure 13 illustrates how
electricity and natural gas costs 0.12
have declined over the three-year
period for benchmarking 0.10
participants. The U.S. Energy
Information Administration has 0.08
reported similar reductions in
0.06
average unit prices as shown in
Figure 14. Future energy prices are 0.04
uncertain and could continue to
decrease, flatten, or begin to 0.02
increase. This energy price volatility
creates a necessity for breweries to 0.00
focus on efficiency improvement ELECTRICITY NATURAL GAS ENERGY ($/KWH)
regardless of pricing trends. ($/KWH) ($/KWH)
Lowering utility usage per barrel of
2014 2015 2016
production essentially creates a
future hedge against increasing
energy prices.
Figure 14: U.S. 2014-2016 Energy Prices
Key Takeaways:
(Source: Energy Information Administration)
While breweries may not be able
to control the pricing of 0.16
electricity, fuel, and other
0.14
purchased resources, proactively
reducing consumption and 0.12
investing in conservation
measures can position a brewery 0.10
to be more resilient in times of
price volatility. Lower average 0.08
energy prices over the past few 0.06
years have been an advantage
to the craft brewing industry, but 0.04
it is critical to look to the future
and minimize the risks associated 0.02
with these volatile markets.
0.00
ELECTRICITY NATURAL GAS ENERGY ($/KWH)
($/KWH) ($/KWH)
2014 2015 2016
2017 Sustainability Benchmarking Report | 11trends and observations:
production efficiency
Improving KPIs: Size Makes a Difference Beer Loss as a Metric
Certain costs and resources, such as There are significant costs in raw
lighting, heating, and cooling, are materials, labor, and utilities to produce a
necessary to operate any brewery barrel of high quality craft beer.
regardless of production size. For Reducing beer loss helps put more beer
breweries with production of less than in the hands of the consumer and more
10,000 bbls/yr, these baseload operating dollars in the hands of the business. Beer
costs represent a significant portion of loss consists of any liquid that could have
the brewery’s overall utility expenses as made it into the final product for
discussed in the Cost Per Barrel section. consumption, but instead was lost to
sewer, trucked to waste, or evaporated
When production increases, these
to air. This lost or wasted beer has a direct
baseload costs become a smaller portion
effect on production-related KPIs and
of total expenses, and the variable costs
related costs.
fluctuate depending on how much beer
is produced. The sustainability-related Every drop of beer lost represents wasted
utility usage metrics of breweries resources and money. Investing in
producing more than 10,000 bbls/yr do improvements that minimize loss saves
not exhibit the same volatility when resources like natural gas, water, CO2,
related to changes in the production electricity, raw materials, and even time.
volume; instead, these 10,000+ bbls/yr Many of the participating breweries that
breweries exhibit more stable KPIs. Their saw efficiency improvements have made
production is high enough that monthly addressing beer loss a primary focus.
variations in barrels produced do not Breweries have implemented additional
significantly impact overall usage ratios. flow meters, valve controls, centrifuges,
and equipment-tuning procedures as a
For breweries where baseload-related
means to reduce losses. Several case
resource consumption comprises the
studies presented later in this report
largest portion of overall resource use,
highlight specific initiatives that have
focusing on improving efficiency in the
been taken to address beer loss.
fixed electricity costs (LED upgrades,
occupancy sensors, heating/cooling Although a beer loss metric has not been
efficiency, etc.) is very effective. collected as part of this benchmarking
report, it is a critical element of efficiency
Key Takeaways:
and should be a priority for efficiency
There are many opportunities to reduce improvement. Future development of a
baseload operating costs and resource beer loss KPI and collection of
consumption by simply focusing on benchmarking data is under
tracking and managing utility usage. This consideration.
is a critical time to engage your
employees. You are encouraging a new
culture of efficient and sustainable
operations, which is not possible without
employee engagement.
12 | BrewersAssociation.orgtrends and observations:
production efficiency
Benefits of Managing Beer Loss First approach to preventive maintenance.
The following are some examples of how
Making investments in a brewery’s
breweries have embarked on the
culture, procedures, and equipment in
sustainability journey and increased
order to minimize beer loss can have
efficiency without large capital
positive impacts on efficiency
investments:
improvement and profitability. When
evaluating process improvements to • Steam – Preventive boiler
justify capital expense and return on maintenance; frequent steam leak
investment, consider the compounding detection surveys and repair;
effects that these investments will have. monitoring condensate return;
They will increase the amount of beer insulating pipes; and routine steam
produced and packaged per batch, trap inspections.
leading to more revenue. They will also
• Compressed Air – Reducing system
reduce environmental impacts in
pressure as low as practical; adding
multiple areas like reduced water usage
accumulator tanks if additional
and CO2 emissions.
storage is needed; and frequent
leak detection surveys and repair.
The Sustainability Journey • Water – Observe and control leaks
(especially hot water); optimize
As a company matures, there are certain
cleaning procedures; and eliminate
aspects of the business that become
once through cooling systems.
more efficient. This learning period can
be a particularly vulnerable time for a • Chilled Water – Perform regular
new brewery. The faster an organization preventive maintenance on chillers
can master the learning curves and coolers; maintain design
associated with their products, the faster refrigerant charge; and check for
they can become an efficient and fouling and corrosion.
profitable business. For example, one
Use the BA Resources on Your Journey
brewery contacted for case studies
identified multiple challenges with Taking the time to understand your
unanticipated waste streams upon operation and optimization of existing
opening. However, after adopting systems is critical to improving production
disposal solutions, they reduced their efficiency. Buying and installing a
pounds of solid waste per barrel by more technological fix is not usually the path to
than 50% in three years. becoming more sustainable. Creating a
culture of employee engagement is key.
Information sharing and reviewing
industry publications, such as the BA There are multiple resources available
Sustainability Manuals (Appendix E), can from the BA to master learning curves
quickly aid breweries in taking early quickly and see immediate benefits
actions with immediate payback. without large investments. Start your
Optimizing operational performance journey by reviewing the BA Sustainability
should be first on the to-do list and can Manuals in Appendix E.
be attained through a disciplined
2017 Sustainability Benchmarking Report | 13case studies
The case studies in this 2017 Sustainability Stakeholder Insights
Benchmarking Report illustrate the
creativity and sustainability initiatives in Brewers: See what other breweries are
the craft brewing sector. The case study doing to achieve top 25% performance in
interviews highlight multiple trends their production size range.
including:
• Emphasizing the importance of The efficiency improvement journey
preventive maintenance procedures typically starts with tracking utilities for
and properly caring for equipment. cost purposes. Think about beginning to
The benefits of these operating track utility cost, and tracking usage will
procedures can save breweries easily follow.
thousands of dollars a year by
reducing production down-time and
limiting malfunctioning equipment.
Community Leaders: Look for partnership
• Creating an employee culture with a opportunities as local breweries continue
core focus on sustainability and to put emphasis on making a positive
recognizing the importance of environmental and social impact in the
operating with environmental community.
stewardship in mind.
• Tracking metrics to gather a baseline
of performance and then working State Brewers Guilds: See what
toward understanding where and how sustainability initiatives are occurring at
to set goals for efficiency breweries and the impact on local
improvement. communities in your state. Encourage
• Utilizing grants from government others to join the effort!
agencies or utility providers to help
fund sustainable initiatives.
Legislators: Small businesses have a key
These breweries have demonstrated role in the community. These stories show
significant improvement over the past that local craft breweries are making an
three years in efficiency for one or more economic and environmental
sustainability-related metrics or are
operating in the top 25% performers. Their improvement in the local communities
insights provide valuable knowledge and that you represenzt.
guidance to others in the craft brewing
sector. Those that have shared their
stories encourage others to contact Regulators: Craft breweries are voluntarily
them directly to discuss sustainability practicing pollution prevention and
strategies and to share improvement making environmental improvements
ideas. without the need for specific regulatory
action.
See Appendix E for more information on
how you can apply some of these best
practices at your brewery.
14 | BrewersAssociation.orgcase studies
Alaskan Brewing Co.
Alaskan Brewing Co. has continued to • Determining efficient use of diesel
showcase the achievements of its fuel – natural gas is not a large-scale
inventive, problem-solving team of fuel option in Juneau.
employees. Based in Juneau, the group
But when people say something can’t be
sometimes confronts tough issues that
done, Alaskan Brewing Co. finds a
other breweries may not ever face. These
solution. Below are some of the distinctive
difficulties, along with the founders’
solutions the brewery has found to
original passion for innovation, have
address its challenges.
fostered a pioneering culture, and
challenges are viewed as opportunities • They were the first craft brewery to
to create solutions rather than as install CO2 reclamation. The system
obstacles. They take great pride in had a return-on-investment of less
demonstrating that Alaska, and than three years.
specifically Juneau, is a great place to
establish a business that can be a
successful manufacturing operation.
Some of the difficulties the brewery has
had to address include access to
resources where other breweries might
have well-established infrastructure in
their local city or nearby surrounding Location:
area. Many times, the cost to transport Juneau, AK
materials helps the brewery justify
efficiency investments. Some of the
unique situations the brewery has faced
include:
• Addressing the lack of cost-effective
CO2 suppliers – all purchased CO2
needs to be shipped to the facility,
thereby increasing costs
substantially.
• Finding options for spent grain Market Segment:
disposal – Juneau does not have any Regional
livestock farms.
2017 Sustainability Benchmarking Report | 15case studies:
Alaskan Brewing Co.
Alaskan Brewing Co. Team in Front of Their Variety Pack Assembly Line
• The brewery has been drying its spent • They have developed a more efficient
grain for years because it needs to ship water heating system that consumes
it to farms in Washington State. Out of less instantaneous steam, helping to
this practice, innovative thinkers have reduce swings in boiler loading. It is
established “Beer Powered Beer.” In similar to an “on-demand” heating
2010, they implemented a system to system. This equipment goes hand-in-
burn the dried, spent grain for heat. hand with preventive maintenance
They had some difficulties at first and procedures for their steam systems,
had to implement a fuel introduction including regular trap checks,
system to get the grain to efficiently insulation replacement, and leak
burn; however, after figuring out repair.
maintenance issues early on, they now
The Alaskan Brewing Co. founders are
have the process dialed in. The brewers
well connected to the outdoors, and
use a mash filter press, which allows for
committed to being good stewards to
the use of very fine grain. The grain is
the environment and community. All
then dried in a rotary drier and blown
brewery employees have those same
into the furnace. The heat from the
values too, so everyone remains on the
furnace is then used to dry the next
same page to make sure their brewery
batch of spent grain.
operations better the environment and
support the area in which they all live.
16 | BrewersAssociation.orgcase studies
Bear Republic Brewing Co.
Bear Republic Brewing Co., located in loading to the drain by 6,000 gallons
Northern California, has had to adapt its of yeast per week and has reduced
operations to account for natural their beer loss during transfer from 6%
resource shortages and natural disasters. to 3% in the cellar. As an added
Their experiences emphasize the benefit, they are also able to offer
importance of addressing environmental their non-GMO yeast to dairy farms
impacts in daily life. During the recent as organic feed for cows.
droughts, strong opportunities existed for
• By utilizing low-strength wort left in
connections to be forged between
the mash tun as strike water for the
peoples’ livelihoods and natural
next brew, they have reduced about
resources. The drought conditions pushed
5,000 gallons of effluent per week
the brewery and its employees to
with an approximate BOD of 30,000
change behavior and make resource
mg/L. This reuse of “scrap,” which
conservation part of their culture, such as
contains extract, has reduced the
when coworkers turn off a rinse-down
amount of barley the brewery needs
hose if it has been running too long
to purchase.
during a cleaning process. Because of
this engrained awareness of a strong Bear Republic has also installed a
association between water usage at the wastewater pretreatment system with
brewery and continued impact in both anaerobic and aerobic
operational areas, it’s now easier to components. The new 30kW micro-
transfer that mindset to other resources. turbine that runs on the biogas
Wastewater in particular has been the generated from the anaerobic digester
logical next step for efficiency operates in tandem with a 65 kW micro-
improvement initiatives. turbine that runs on mixed natural gas
and any extra biogas from the digester
The brewery’s overall wastewater flow
that is not used in the 30kW unit.
has been reduced over the past few
years through multiple initiatives:
Location: Market
• The focus on improving their water Healdsburg, CA Segment:
use ratio has led to a natural Regional
reduction in wastewater.
• The facility has added a new
centrifuge, which allows for side-
streaming their yeast from the
fermenters. This has reduced
biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)
2017 Sustainability Benchmarking Report | 17case studies:
Bear Republic Brewing Co.
Bear Republic Brewing Co. Team
The facility has also installed a 125 kW PV improvements have decreased
solar system, which is complementary to electricity usage and overall energy
its micro-turbine system. The costs. For their brewery, this change in
cogeneration units are constantly consumption makes sense economically
producing electricity and waste heat, because, due to their location, electricity
offsetting 95% of the steam from the costs roughly 20 times more than natural
boiler needed to produce process water. gas on a per-joule basis. In addition,
A new pre-heat tank captures the utilizing more natural gas is a cleaner
process water and also serves as a source of energy as well, and the new
water-saving “buffer” by capturing all of co-generation equipment reduces the
the water used to chill the wort. This has boiler load and NOx emissions.
prevented about 7,500 gallons of
They are looking forward to a continued
potable water from going down the
decrease in overall energy usage as they
drain as wastewater per week, and has
further utilize their co-generation system.
improved their water balance.
Although Bear Republic Brewing Co. has
seen a slight increase in their overall
natural gas usage, these new equipment
18 | BrewersAssociation.orgcase studies
Elliott Bay Brewhouse & Pub
Elliott Bay Brewhouse & Pub, located in room contributed to a facility air balance
Burien, WA, has been an active issue. The old boilers were not getting the
participant in the BA Benchmarking proper flow of combustion air, which
initiative for the past three years. further reduced their efficiency. Air
However, their journey to implement compressors are especially sensitive to
sustainable practices began even before inlet air temperature, and efficiency
the first benchmarking report was drops as air temperature increases. To
published and breweries had dashboard remedy this situation and increase
access. efficiency, the brewery replaced their 20-
year-old boiler around 1.5 years ago and
As one of their first steps along their
installed a thermostat-controlled exhaust
sustainability journey, an external team
fan to move heat out of the small space.
conducted a site visit to identify areas
After installing the exhaust fan to remove
where the brewery could make possible
the built-up waste heat, the brewery
efficiency improvements. One outcome
noticed substantial improvement in
of this meeting was an opportunity to
metrics and operational efficiency.
utilize their extra glycol chiller as a way to
contain excess water that was spilling Elliott Bay Brewhouse & Pub has also
onto the floor. Since that original facility experienced efficiency losses resulting
review, the extra glycol chiller has been from steam trap failures. The traps had
connected into the facility plumbing and issues with corrosion and would not open
runs diverted city water to the glycol- and close properly.
chilled heat exchanger before it hits the
beer heat exchanger. This trims a few
degrees off the city water, in turn
Market
allowing more heat exchange capacity
Segment:
which helps compensate for the
Brewpub
brewery’s lack of a cold liquor tank. This
system is utilized during the warmer
months to prevent the chiller from using
more energy to work harder during the
colder months when it is not as necessary
to cool the city water.
The brewery also made some Location:
improvements to its basement Burien, WA
mechanical room, which houses their
boilers, air compressor, and glycol chiller.
A lack of air inflow and waste heat in the
2017 Sustainability Benchmarking Report | 19case studies:
Elliott Bay Brewhouse & Pub
Elliott Bay Brewhouse & Pub Team
Not all of the steam was making it to the and cold rooms to help save electricity.
kettle, so the brewery decided to Another new initiative they have recently
replace these steam traps. Now the implemented in their cold rooms includes
brewery has steam traps on a scheduled evaporator relays. When the evaporators
annual maintenance plan, which is an are operating, the relay fans will run until
easy common practice for any brewery they achieve a set point, such as 40
to adopt. Because of this preventive degrees. At that point, the evaporators
maintenance, the brewery typically only shut off and only some of the fans stay on
needs to replace the gasket material as circulators. The relays allow the
instead of replacing the entire trap, brewery to run half of their fans during
which saves significant cost in the long the circulation phase, which saves a
run. considerable amount of energy.
The brewery has also moved to act on As their journey progresses, the brewery is
energy savings by replacing overhead excited to continue to invest in other
fluorescent lights in addition to sustainability initiatives such as lab space
evaluating incentives available through improvements and additional quality
their utility provider. They also utilize control equipment.
motion detectors in their working spaces
20 | BrewersAssociation.orgcase studies
Horse & Dragon Brewing Company
Sustainability is engrained in the discussion among customers and
operations at Horse & Dragon Brewing employees and sparks the
Co., particularly in their approach to conversation about waste.
waste management. Their journey
• Spent grain recycling – Horse &
started shortly after the brewery
Dragon’s location affords them easy
became operational. As is sometimes
access to agricultural land where
observed at many startup breweries,
they can send spent grain. Local
there was not a clear understanding of
farmers (5 miles away) come to the
the variety of waste streams that a
brewery to retrieve material such as
brewery produces, as well as the city’s
spent grain, hops, and coffee
infrastructure and where the waste
grounds to supplement feed and
could go. Shortly after realizing what
use on the soil that needs nitrogen
their waste streams entailed, they were
and acid.
able to reduce their waste and increase
recycling and composting. Despite • Clear Intentions – A Denver-based
increasing production, their solid waste glass recycling company has
production per barrel has decreased by installed recycling bins on-site.
50% over the past three years. Employees and community
members can bring their own glass
Horse & Dragon Brewing Co. has had
to the brewery for recycling with
unrelenting support from employees, the
Clear Intentions.
community, local businesses, and city
government. Some of the initiatives at • Local recycling – Horse & Dragon
the brewery regarding waste reduction makes twice-a-month trips to
include: recycle all non-food waste, except
Styrofoam.
• Hand dryers – On average, 80% of
the waste in their residential-sized
garbage bin was used paper towels,
so the brewery installed electric
hand dryers in the restrooms to
reduce paper towel waste.
• Small trash can – Horse & Dragon
Brewing Co. has one small trash can
in the brewery to help remind Market
customers and staff that they should Segment:
not be wasteful. This small can has Microbrewery Location:
often become a central point of Fort Collins, Co
2017 Sustainability Benchmarking Report | 21case studies:
Horse & Dragon Brewing Co.
Horse & Dragon Brewing Company Team
• Waste from events – The brewery Another area of interest at the brewery is
requires any groups using the water recycling. Employees currently
brewery space to be responsible for collect all water that is left in glasses
their waste, meaning guests pack throughout the day and use it to water
out their trash after their event ends. outdoor plants. This saves approximately
This is not because Horse & Dragon is 2 gallons per day.
unable to dispose of the trash, but
Being based in Fort Collins has given
instead it serves to remind people of
Horse & Dragon access to the city’s
the volume of waste they are
Climatewise program, which constantly
capable of producing. Customers
suggests (and supports) new
have embraced this practice, and
environmental sustainability initiatives.
Horse & Dragon has received
positive feedback. The brewery is thrilled that its employees
are eager to participate in waste
Because of their waste practices and
reduction and other sustainability
focus on recycling, one of the brewery’s
initiatives. Horse & Dragon Brewing Co.
largest waste streams is currently trub.
wants to use this excitement to improve
They are already reusing yeast for up to
their own sustainability story-telling to
nine generations, but wastewater quality
their employees and the community.
is an area of focus for improvement in
the years to come.
22 | BrewersAssociation.orgcase studies
Jackie O’s Brewery
Jackie O’s Brewery is strategically example of their choice to invest in
thinking about operations at its locations American-made equipment relates to
for the long-haul. They don’t want to their variable frequency drives (VFDs).
save money on the front end only to pay AC motors are abundant in a brewery,
for it later. The brewery invests in good and Jackie O’s Brewery has made a
equipment and operational procedures choice to source the most efficient
to optimize brewery functionality and equipment. Their employees are
ultimately put their beer on the shelf for equipment savvy and will fine-tune the
consumers. Part of this thinking has led VFDs to work at their most efficient level.
them to invest in sustainability measures The brewery could not operate at its
that sometimes have longer payback current level without VFDs. The brewery
periods. They take a “slowly but surely” hasn’t specifically measured the return
approach as there are some occasions on investment, but process-wise, they
where economics play a part and may aren’t shredding valves, tripping
delay sustainability efforts; however, breakers, or slowing down operations like
they try to push forward to be both they were with their old 3-phase motors.
sustainability and community leaders.
Additionally, Jackie O’s Brewery was
One example of their long-term thinking able to utilize grants and install solar
includes their investment in a 20-acre panels, which will see a longer-term
farm as a place to divert their organic payback. When their electricity demand
waste, revamp the soil over the next is higher than their solar production, they
decade, and reduce their load to the purchase renewable energy certificates
municipal WWTP. This investment and (RECs) to ensure 100% of their facilities’
long-term strategy was supplemented energy usage is green. On top of this
with the installation of a centrifuge in effort, they have also retrofitted all of
early 2018. They’ll be making their beer their lighting to LEDs.
bright and the dirt dark at the same
time.
They also invest in American-made
equipment. Although it might not be as
cost-effective as imported equipment,
the brewery believes this is an important
community investment. They’ve found
Market
that American-made equipment is
Segment:
extremely high quality, has an
Location: Microbrewery
unparalleled longevity, and provides a
Athens, OH
great return on investment. One
2017 Sustainability Benchmarking Report | 23case studies:
Jackie O’s Brewery
Jackie O’s Brewery Team
In 2015, the brewery expanded to 17,000 recycle, people will recycle. They have
square feet, and part of this expansion not had pushback, but sometimes do
included adding radiant floor heating. not see follow-through, so they continue
According to the brewery, the facility is to work on changing behavior –
almost getting too hot because the sustainability has to be a community
radiant floor heating is so efficient. They effort. Jackie O’s Brewery is located in
are currently testing out the plant glycol Athens, OH, a busy college town, which
chilling system to see if they can offset is a key factor in their focus on
the radiant heat. Within the last few sustainability and their determination to
years, Jackie O’s Brewery has seen save the planet one day at a time. This
increased fuel efficiency, it attributes has always been a backbone of their
these efficiencies to building sustainable operations, and as they’ve grown, the
processes into the recent expansion and team has always looked to sustainability
investing in new efficient technology, to improve operations, not only for utility
with plans to benefit from future returns. costs and usage, but also for
employees’ lives. Jackie O’s Brewery
Relating to a change in infrastructure,
strives to source locally, make locally,
but also including a behavioral change,
and serve locally. Their local influence
Jackie O’s Brewery has changed its
puts Jackie O’s Brewery in a great place
waste management process by
to be active members, and they are
switching to rolling garbage bins and
proud to support many of the events in
two large recycling dumpsters, as
their community.
opposed to their previous system of
garbage dumpsters and rolling recycling
bins. The brewery notes that when the
company culture makes it easy to
24 | BrewersAssociation.orgcase studies
Kona Brewing Co.
Kona Brewing Co. is committed to being overhauls. They continuously improve
a leader in safety, quality, continuous systems that impact multiple metrics,
improvement, and efficiency, and further such as reducing hot water usage to
emphasizes sustainability within the save both water and fuel. One example
company culture. It especially helps that of this is a simple retune of their hot water
Hawaiians are naturally connected to boiler, which significantly improved
the environment, so Kona Brewing’s efficiency for both water and propane.
company culture builds on that local This mechanical improvement was also
foundation. Because of their location on supplemented by a new boiler in 2016,
a remote Hawaiian island, it is critical for which further improved thermal
their brewery to be conscious of resource efficiency KPI. In addition to these heat
consumption. Kona Brewing Co. has savings, they’ve also been reducing
implemented a number of operational water usage since replacing their
procedures as well as equipment kegging line in mid-2015. Instead of
upgrades over the past several years to running the keg system by filling until
drive resource management and overflow, they now measure by weight.
efficiency improvements. This change in operation was a little
challenging at first since they have many
An important practice the brewery has
different sized kegs, but they are focused
implemented is tracking KPIs, or Key
on reducing water usage for cleaning,
Performance Indicators, from utilities to
reducing beer loss, and ultimately putting
beer loss and brewhouse efficiency. The
a consistent product out the door.
KPIs help create a path forward to
improvements. The more information at
hand, the better the chances that
operations run smoother and more
efficiently. The brewery cites its practice
of tracking KPIs as being key in driving Location: Market
success, and they have monthly Kailua-Kona, HI Segment:
meetings to discuss KPIs, which bolsters Regional
the whole team’s awareness of resource
efficiency. The brewery can then
develop specific projects related to the
metrics, including initiatives focused on
continuous improvement. One of the
ways that Kona Brewing Co. drives
progress is by making many incremental
changes instead of large operational
2017 Sustainability Benchmarking Report | 25case studies:
Kona Brewing Co.
Kona Brewing Co. Team
Kona Brewing Co. also addresses to the ocean. Salt water has impacted
maintenance issues as soon as they arise. their equipment to the point where some
Pipes that contain liquid flowing at a hot of the equipment and linkages become
or cool temperature are insulated, and rusty. However, with a good
employees focus on keeping all pipes maintenance program and visual
tightly wrapped to reduce energy loss. checks, they are able to keep things
Reducing heat waste improves the running efficiently and address issues
efficiency of processes, for example, hot prior to emergency setbacks. The
water reaching the mash tun at the standard procedures to include
correct temperature vs. adjusting. There preventive maintenance were
are always ongoing insulation checks, implemented in early 2015, and since
and if there is a break, it immediately then, employees have noticed things
becomes a focus to fix. This practice also running more efficiently, reducing the
helps the brewery’s cooling system run as need for reactive maintenance and
efficiently as possible. Colder glycol improving KPI efficiency metrics. The
means less waste when filtering, brewery does not look for a silver bullet in
carbonating, and filling kegs. Cooling is terms of what can make their system
an especially important factor at the better, but they make incremental
Hawaii brewery since average daily improvements to existing systems and
temperatures rarely fall below 70 degrees evaluate their operations holistically.
Fahrenheit. Based on the success of this preventive
maintenance, Kona Brewing Co. plans to
Kona Brewing Co. also conducts
build off the success of its preventive
preventive maintenance processes to
maintenance program by implementing
address concerns before they become
more predictive maintenance measures
efficiency issues. Part of the focus on
in the future.
maintenance stems from their proximity
26 | BrewersAssociation.orgcase studies
North Coast Brewing Co.
North Coast Brewing Co. has created a steam boiler with two modern, tubeless
corporate culture with sustainability at its steam boilers resulted in a 23% reduction
foundation. To showcase their in fuel consumption per barrel of beer
commitment, the brewery achieved produced. Replacing an outgrown lauter
Certified B Corp status and changed tun with a mash filter press provided
their articles of incorporation to become enormous improvement. Malt usage
a benefit corporation, which is unique in decreased by 6% on beers of average
the industry. The primary tenet of the B strength (for which the lauter tun was
Corp movement is to use business as a sized) to greater than 10% for big beers
force for good in the world. To this end, where the lauter tun was too small to be
North Coast Brewing Co. has partnered efficient. The mash filter press has also
with Fortunate Farm in nearby Caspar, reduced fuel gas usage by an additional
CA, by investing in the acreage, 9.4%. Water usage/bbl of beer produced
equipment, and infrastructure. The has also decreased by 10% (down to 4
brewery has made it possible for a young bbls water/bbl of beer) due to the
farmer to establish her business with efficiency of the mash filter press.
sustainability at the core of her practices.
Adding processes to reclaim energy and
Not only does this farm grow vegetables,
CO2 have also yielded gains. Brewhouse
it is part of a long-term agricultural study
upgrades in 2010 included a vapor-
of the effects of carbon sequestration on
condensing system on the brew kettle
soil health. Referred to as “carbon
that reclaims the energy in the vapor
farming,” composted spent grain is
created by boiling the wort. A regional
applied regularly to the fields. The soil’s
shortage of liquid carbon dioxide in 2013
carbon and microbial content is
forced the brewery to look for innovative
continuously monitored. The results
ways to reduce CO2 usage or cut
indicate improved soil health with
production.
increasing carbon levels. Carbon farming
is seen by many as a way to help reverse
Location: Market
the impacts of climate change, and it
Fort Bragg, CA Segment:
provides North Coast Brewing Co. the
Regional
opportunity to repurpose their spent grain
in a manner that is beneficial to the
planet.
In brewery operations, greater
efficiencies have been realized by
upgrading older, less efficient
equipment. Replacing a 1970s vintage
2017 Sustainability Benchmarking Report | 27case studies:
North Coast Brewing Co.
North Coast Brewing Co. Team on a Coastal Clean-up Day
The cellarmen began cleaning bright efficiency and safety. These discussions
beer tanks with an acid cleaner instead have resulted in employee action, such
of caustic, allowing them to clean the as sweeping up hop debris instead of
tank under pressure to preserve the CO2 washing it into the drain with a hose. This
environment in the vessel. To ensure there measure saves water as well as reducing
was no buildup occurring, the brite tanks the brewery’s effluent load on the
would be opened every third cleaning, municipal waste water facility.
which necessitated a CO2 purge after Employees also utilize large, reusable
sanitizing. With large fermenters in high elastic bands to secure empty kegs
krausen adjacent to the bright beer instead of wrapping the palletized kegs
tanks, the idea of piping CO2 from the with plastic stretch film. There are scores
fermenter’s blowoff through a sanitized more examples of these little changes
tank of sterile water (to remove vapor that seem trivial on their own, but when
and reduce volatiles) was implemented, added up, produce a meaningful
and a process that required a significant cumulative result. The brewery has
amount of bulk CO2 was replaced by empowered employees to be part of
one that recycled gas generated during innovation by providing a mechanism for
fermentation. offering new ideas and celebrating
viable solutions with employee
Increased training and education has led
recognition and reward. This strategy has
to greater awareness among employees
led to strong buy-in with staff and has
on the importance of using resources
undoubtedly contributed to the brewery
efficiently. Managers hold weekly
receiving Platinum Level Certification in
meetings to discuss operations and
their first attempt to achieve Zero Waste
procedures and seek input from
Facility status.
employees to further improve both
28 | BrewersAssociation.orgYou can also read
