I didn’t set out on my week-long Maine vacation intending to come back with a bunch of content for my blog. I thought I would take some photos and videos of the food and the views and throw those together into a quick post and maybe a fun vlog. That is until I set off on what I thought would be a quiet beer tasting tour and what I am now retroactively calling THE GREEN BEER ADVENTURE-- Maine Edition. I was so inspired and impressed by the brewing and sustainability culture I found that I’m sharing what I’ve learned right here!

My father has always been into craft brewing; well at least as long as I can remember. So it seemed quite natural that during our vacation he would want to try some of the breweries that had been springing up over the past few years in the Southern Maine and Greater Portland area. To me, it seemed like a good idea, especially if we got to try some wheat beers (my favorites) and not too many hoppy beers (not my cup-of-tea). We started our adventure right down the street from our beach house at Southern Maine (SOME) Brewing Company, where I picked up the “Maine Beer Trail” A Guide to Maine’s Best Breweries-- basically a super-long check list of breweries all around the state. And let me tell you there is nothing I enjoy more than a challenge to visit different places on a list. Yeah, I was sold on getting to as many as I could. Over the next couple of days we continued our journey and visited Allagash Brewing Co., Maine Beer Co., Sebago Brewing Co., Oxbow Brewing Co., and Tributary Brewing Co. I enjoyed sampling the wide-range of tasty and sometimes odd brews and was sometimes even more excited and rather surprised to find out how many of these breweries were highly committed to promote positive environmental and social impact in their communities. (I'll only be talking about a couple of those breweries in this post. Check out my BREWERIES OF MAINE post to find out more about my tastings at all of the breweries I visited.)

Bottling area at Allagash Brewing Company.

Craft brewing is part science and part art and from what I’ve seen requires a lot of time, energy, and passion to master. It’s that commitment to quality, attention to detail and the “hands-on” nature of this industry that, in my opinion, have made it a great incubator for sustainability ideas. Besides their forward-thinking nature and pursuit of quality, the craft beer industry is the perfect microcosm for testing sustainability ideas. The smaller size of the breweries can make adopting new practices and installing new technology more manageable. Breweries can have a wide-ranging impact from energy to water to agriculture to waste management to transportation to building use and probably even more that I haven’t even thought of. With these sustainability challenges there are also great opportunities to make a big difference.

The Alma Mater-- University of Michigan School of Natural Resources and Environment

I first came across greening trends in breweries several years back in Michigan (another great state for craft brewing) when I started my Masters program at the School of Natural Resources and Environment (SNRE) at the University of Michigan. As part of the degree, students are required to complete a Group Thesis Project that developed practical solutions for a real-world challenge. Curious about previous projects, I perused the past and soon-to-be completed projects and there I discovered that a team was working with Arbor Brewing Company/Corner Brewery to green their operations. They focused on the energy use of the facility and discovered many opportunities for reducing consumption cost-effectively. Their work gave me just a small taste of all the interesting and innovative ideas percolating in the industry. Now, after the first leg of my GREEN BREWERY ADVENTURE, I know even more and want to share what a couple of breweries I visited are doing.

Allagash Brewing Co.

Allagash gets top marks for their devotion to odd yeasty brews and also environmentally-conscious business decisions.

Favorite Beer: All their beers are pretty great as they tend focus on the yeasty-aspects of brewing. I’m biased because those are my favorite types of brews. My favorite out of the ones I tastes was the Curieux - a Tripel Ale aged in Jim Beam Bourbon barrels.

Social and Sustainability Initiatives: While on the brewery tour, the guide highlighted several sustainability initiatives.

They use heat reclaimer technology to improve the energy efficiency of their processes.
Leftover grain and yeast used during brewing are recycled going to feed cattle and fertilize crops for local farmers.
Allagash ships their beer across the country. Instead of incurring transportation costs (financial and CO2) shipping their empty kegs all the way back to the brewery, they participate in a pooled-keg program called MicroStar. Empty kegs are redistributed to participating breweries nearby instead.
They also claim that they have reduced the amount of water needed for their processes far below the industry average. Definitely great to hear, but I’d love to learn more about what went into that and if those best practices can be used at other breweries.
More about their Eco-gash program here.

Maine Beer Co.

Maine Beer Co., it sounds like an unassuming place. Simple. Straight-forward. Focused on making good Maine beer. Their motto of “Do What’s Right” and front-and-center solar installation, however, betray their deep commitment to environmental and social sustainability.

Favorite Beer: They are definitely focused on making hoppy beers. In spite of that I really enjoyed the Weez - a Black Ale that was deep, dark and had notes of coffee and chocolate. A nice alternative to a Porter in this hot weather.

Social and Sustainability Initiatives: Visiting their Freeport facility, I knew that they definitely considered sustainability in their operations. After visiting their website, I was surprised to find how rooted the company is in doing social and environmental good.

They have signed the Clean Water Pledge as a member of Brewers for Clean Water, a group that is working with the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) to protect clean water and the Clean Water Act
They offset 100% of their electricity consumption through certified wind credits and the installation of solar panels at their Freeport location.
Spent grains and organic liquid waste goes to local farmers.
Philanthropy places a big part in their business. Maine Beer Company participates in 1% for the Planet, donating 1% of their gross sales to environmental causes. They also highlight the work
They also tout the phrases “Be Committed. Be Generous. Be Respectful.” Respect referring to the way they treat their employees paying they what they are worth, covering 100% of their health benefit costs and offering a fully funded retirement pension, among other things. This way of doing business is refreshing, though perhaps shouldn’t be as unusual as it.
Check out their site for more information about how they support people and the planet.

Solar Installation at Maine Beer Company Facility

I chose to talk about these breweries because I loved their beer and I loved their sustainability work. As I mentioned before I did visit a few other places.They weren’t overtly displaying their environmental and social responsibility to the average customer, so I’m not putting them in this post. Do check out my next post where I’m sharing my photos and thoughts about those places that their beers.

Of course, this is just a very small sample of breweries in Maine and even smaller compared to what’s happening nationally and globally. I’m sure this is just a small taste of what’s happening in the industry on a whole and I’m making it one my sustainability missions to learn more. Hopefully I’ll be visiting more breweries and connecting with brewers and sharing it all with you fine folks soon! If you have thoughts and suggestions about where I should visits make sure to let me know in the comments or via email. I’d also love to hear from you if you have questions about making your own business more sustainable. This is what I do for a living and want to help.