Carbon Neutral Beer

[admin]

Adnams releases a ‘carbon neutral’ beer in UK

Adnams has launched what it calls the first carbon neutral beer brewed in the UK.

According to Adnams managing director Andy Wood, East Green is 25% less carbon intensive to produce than other beers. It has 1p-worth of carbon emissions per bottle, which the brewer has pledged to offset.

“If this beer sold in comparative volumes to Broadside it would be the equivalent of taking six cars off the road a year,” he said. “It is a great-tasting light golden beer and it is greener than any other beer on the market.”

Supermarket giant Tesco, which has begun a massive campaign to inform consumers of the carbon footprint of all products it sells, has struck an exclusive six month distribution deal for the beer. It will be available on draft sometimes after that.

[einhorn]

If it's on draught, then the "CO2 footprint" will surely get ugly.

"Greener than any beer on the market" - what a bunch of baloney (take 2 cars off the road by writing it "bologna").

[gitchegumee]

I agree this is just silly. How could a beverage consisting of an aqueous solution of ethanol, sugars, and dissolved CO2 gas; with a production process heavy in heating, cooling, and transportation be carbon neutral? I guess the key word would be "offset". Is that where they buy the right to pollute from someone who could, but doesn't? Hardly neutral.

[brewbong]

Non-fat butter, decaffeinated coffee, jumbo shrimp, military intelligence, carbon neutral beer, wow what a great time to be alive. When technology buys politicians rationality for their stupidity. Maybe they make the beer from that super-green ethanol we are turning our food into.

[mic_mac]

did anyone read the back-story to this? - while we might debate the exact claims put forward, IMO Adnam's moves towards environmental improvements seem not be be simple lip-service -

* Their new distribution centre in Reydon on the outskirts of Southwold has been built to the highest environmental standards . . . likely to be one of the first industrial buildings to attain a BREEAM ‘excellent’ rating, - the highest standard of environmental performance in building design.

*the building is made of lime hemp and chalk blocks. A filtration system passes rainwater through reed-beds and a septic tank before it is allowed to run into nearby ponds. Solar panels provide 80% of the building's hot water. To ensure the building blends in with its environment, it has a sedum roof with a garden of thick, fleshy plants that are designed to insulate and filter rain water. The building uses 50% less energy per square metre than the old Adnams distribution facility in Southwold

* Adnam's now has one of Europe's most energy-efficient brewing operations (heat recovery, innovative Huppman wort boiling, etc) - Adnams' new kit recovers 90% of the energy from the boiling process in an "energy heat-sink", which, in itself, accounts for 45% of the total energy consumed in the brewing process.

* The company was at pains to work with its supplier last year to produce a new 500ml bottle that uses 30% less glass than the previous version.

Obviously investing in energy efficiency is wise for eco & economic reasons, but they've invested heavily in all of this & fair play to them IMO. The stuff above was all c&p'd from various websites, but for the detail behind the carbon footprint claims, see here - http://about.adnams.co.uk/post/News/2008/04/East-Green.aspx

cheers
MikeMcG
www.betwixt.co.uk

[mic_mac]

If it's on draught, then the "CO2 footprint" will surely get ugly.

"Greener than any beer on the market" - what a bunch of baloney (take 2 cars off the road by writing it "bologna").

most of Adnam's beer is still sold as cask = no extraneous CO2.

Though they did launch a new keg beer a while back -

http://www.thepublican.com/story.asp?sectioncode=7&storycode=53324&c=1
MikeMcG
www.betwixt.co.uk

[gitchegumee]

Mic_mac, thanks for the counterpoint. Love to hear the opposing viewpoint--and you have a valid one. Granted: they are doing a better job of making beer in "harmony with nature". We should all strive to limit our impact on earth. But to say that it is "carbon neutral" implies that the beer is made without ANY carbon footprint--like there's absolutely no environmental consequence to making this beer. I don't buy it--it's "offset" pollution and the websites state as much. A "reduced need for pesticides" and "energy efficient brewhouse" is not the same as NO PESTICIDES and ZERO ENERGY BREWHOUSE. The term "carbon neutral" is inconsistent with the very definition of beer manufacturing. What we as brewers do DOES impact the earth. And always will. This "carbon neutral" slogan is just a way for us to feel better about trashing the environment--albeit slower, kinder & gentler. Not to be a buzzkill, but at the same time let's not delude ourselves. Cheers!

[Jephro]

Wow gitchegumee, i thought i was cynical. If you want to go down that road, we as humans, just breathing, eating, pooping are as you said "trashing the environment". And yes, IMO if you can minimize your footprint and one up the other guys, i think you should have bragging rights. So what if their marketing is not 100% infallible, marketing is based on exploiting fallacies. Do you really believe Budweiser is the King of Beers?

Maybe their marketing is a bit of a farce, but i applaud them for making the effort to make our planet a bit more inhabitable. It's way more than most of us can say we have done.

Cheers Adnams!!

[gitchegumee]

Cynic? Ha! I deserve that! I guess I do subscribe to a few pages of the ancient philosophy Cynicism. But yes Jephro, I agree with you that Adnams is doing a better job of brewing beer with less impact than most others and deserve a hearty cheers. And I agree that we should strive to do more with less--who doesn't?. I just don't think that they can say "what it calls the first carbon neutral beer" with a straight face. Any more than my light beer could be "calorie neutral" just by feeding some of what could have gone into my beer (ie: spent malt solids) to pigs. It's like claiming to have invented a perpetual-motion machine. Still, the very fact that they're using this slogan is encouraging. Perhaps one day we'll have breweries that are certified "greener" along the same lines as Organically grown foods. Cheers!