A Practical Environmental Solution

Environmental solutions. Buy organic? Turn down your thermostat? Set up a car pool program?  No, not that sort of solution. This week’s blog isn’t about finding solutions, as in answers to complex environmental problems.  That would involve research and critical thinking on my part.  Rather, this blog takes a look at a solution, as in a homogeneous liquid mixture of two or more substances.  Preferably one that can be consumed. Yep, clear as a pint of Guinness stout, this environmental blog is about beer.  

I was inspired to write about the environmental impacts of beer while recently brewing a batch of Oktoberfest style lager at the Brewer’s Apprentice in Freehold.  Here I was with friends, measuring grains, hops, and liquid malts and adding them to boiling filtered water to make wort, the stock for beer soup. As the wort steeped, and while idle, we got to chatting about beer’s place in the environmental landscape (okay, fine, we also drank beer and talked about sports - it can’t be entirely academic).    

From a historic perspective, beer has been around in some form for at least 10,000 years. Indications are that our evolution from hunter-gatherer to farmer was partially influenced by our ancient affection for ale.  Beer was discovered accidentally, we liked it, so instead of hunting and gathering, we settled down to grow grains like barley.  In this regard, not only did beer lessen inhibitions allowing for early versions of the Chicken Dance, but it also influenced land development patterns.  The Fertile Crescent was where we became a civilization, and maybe not coincidentally, where the first brewery was located.

In modern times, brewing is probably a mixed bag from an environmental perspective.  Granted, it can be water intensive (especially Coors Light production - that stuff is practically 100% water).  Farming of ingredients has its own issues and greenhouse gases are produced from energy consumption and transportation.  However, brewing can be done sustainably.  Long Trail of Vermont perfected Eco Brewing, which folds the environmental triumvirate of reduce, reuse, recycle directly into the brewing process.  For example, they offer the spent mash from the brewing process to local dairy farmers as cow feed. So, the dairy cows get free food from what would otherwise be waste, and the dairy farmer gets to enjoy a locally produced ale - happy cows, equally happy farmers.     

Probably the best way to examine the environmental friendliness of ale is to think of the vehicle miles travelled to get those suds into your gullet.  In this sense, a local brewery using local water and ingredients is best.  Some quality brews are shipped from distant parts, and trade is vital and ultimately raises the standard of living for the world as a whole, but did I have to swig a Singha imported from Bangkok while I ate my red curry dish at our local Thai restaurant?  What exactly was the carbon footprint of shipping that bottle around the globe? Negligible?  Or, should I have instead paired the dish with a Double India Pale Ale from the River Horse brewery in Lambertville, New Jersey?  

Well, like any good debate, this one is best solved over a pint of brew in your local pub.  See you at the Dublin House.