Brewing beer inevitably involves generation of various byproducts. We are committed to finding creative ways to eliminate waste through reuse and recycling.
Depleted Brewhouse Ingredients
Spent grain, hop petals, and yeast are all left over after the brewing process. We generate over 10,000 lbs of spent grains, 4,000 lbs of yeast, and significant quantities of troub (depleted hop matter) each day. This represents a large potential resource, and we make sure it isn’t wasted. Currently we sell it to a local dairy farmer to be used as cattle feed. We’re also in the process of a research project funded by Vermont Clean Energy Development Fund, developing plans for construction of an onsite biomass generator that would burn our spent grains and some local woodchips and produce enough steam and electricity to supplant all outside diesel and electricity use.
Wastewater
Our brewery is equipped with an in-house treatment system that processes all wastewater before it is returned to the ecosystem. This eliminates burden on municipal treatment systems, and insures that all the water leaving our facility meets our standards for purity.
Cardboard and Glass
On the front end of the business, we package our beer in bottles made from recycled glass, six-pack carriers made from recycled cardboard, and unbleached case boxes. On the back end, the cardboard and glass waste we do generate also gets recycled locally. We also operate as a redemption center, where customers can redeem their empty bottles to be recycled.
