Homebrewing is a fun and rewarding hobby, but I often find myself thinking about the environmental impact it can have. From water usage to energy consumption, there are plenty of ways homebrewing can unintentionally contribute to waste and pollution. The good news is, there are also plenty of practical, achievable ways to make your brewing more sustainable.<\/p>\n
In this article, I\u2019m sharing my tips for making your homebrewing more eco-friendly\u2014ideas that are realistic <\/em>for the average homebrewer. I don\u2019t have a big house, a solar-powered setup, or a nearby farm with pigs to feed my spent grain to. And let\u2019s be honest, there\u2019s only so much bread or dog treats you can make before it gets old. Sustainability, to me, is about creating repeatable habits that make a difference over time\u2014not just one-off changes that are hard to maintain.<\/p>\n What surprised me most while writing this is that many of these environmentally friendly practices don\u2019t just help the planet\u2014they can also save you money. Win-win.<\/p>\n An easy change that you can make as a homebrewer is to use locally-sourced ingredients. For example, here in the U.K. we have some amazing maltsters and often the malted grains don’t have to travel far to get to us homebrewers. <\/p>\n The best part about this is that it not only supports local businesses, but it also reduces the environmental impact of shipping ingredients long distances or even overseas. Look for local farms and breweries that offer ingredients and brewing supplies. It also lessens our carbon footprint since the ingredients have far fewer miles to travel to reach us.<\/p>\n I realise this isn’t always practical – sometimes you just want to brew a Hazy IPA with banging US and New Zealand hops, and that’s totally okay! That said, many other beer recipes can substitute and use local ingredients – think of Saison’s, lagers, etc. Many of these styles can be brewed with ingredients that reflect the terroir <\/em>of your country instead of the exact ingredients that need to be flown in from Europe.<\/p>\n Rather than buying new yeast for each batch of beer, consider reusing yeast from previous batches. This not only reduces waste, but it can also save you money.<\/p>\n I’ve been doing this for a few years now and it is a game changer. If you aren’t familiar with how to do this, there are some amazing videos online that will walk you through the process.<\/p>\nUse Locally-Sourced Ingredients<\/h2>\n
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Reuse Yeast<\/h2>\n