September 27, 2009
Green Rankings or Rank Greening?
Newsweek published it’s inaugural list of the 5oo greenest “big” companies. Molson Coors appears at number 86, and no other brewery makes the list.
But the list is baffling. I make my living by being able to separate green from greenwash. The only way to do that is by comparing solid data. One must ask how well a company is doing in absolute terms and how well are they doing compared to their peers. The data used by Newsweek to rank the top 500 big green companies seems to come from reputable sources: KLD, a well known socially responsible investment firm; Corporate Register, an aggregator of corporate responsibility reports; and Truost, of whom I was unaware until now but they look legitimate.
Yet Newsweek’s ranking methodology is opaque. Molson Coors is listed at 86 even though their Environmental Impact Score is a measly 12.8 out of 100, which places them at 12th in the Industry Ranking, i.e. 11 other large brewing companies have better environmental impact scores. Their “Reputation Survey” score is also pathetic: 18.34 (again out of 100), which puts them in 25th place against their peers.
The only score that seems decent is their “Green Policies” which comes in at 72.51, a respectable second place among the Industrial Rankings of their peers. So, in other words, their intentions are good? Policy is a vital tool in prompting real environmental progress, but I’m baffled by a scoring system that places Molson Coors ahead of all its peers when the data seems to show that they lag far behind in terms of their actual environmental impact.
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Corporate greening | Tagged: Corporate greening | 
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Posted by beeractivist
September 22, 2009
Washington Post Beer Columnist Greg Kitsock (L) chats with Pike brewmaster Drew Clulely (R) at the Brickskeller a couple years ago.
As a result of the first-ever Seattle Carrot Mob (now called “Agent Green”) event held at the Pike Pub, and sponsored by Green Drinks Seattle on Earth Day, April 22, 2009, Pike committed 25% of that day’s sales to energy efficient retrofits.
So they partnered with Seattle City Light to upgrade their lights to LEDs. The upgrade saved 51,584 kWh per year, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by over 30 tons. And they implemented a new composting program with Cedar Grove Compost which they estimate will reduce their waste to landfill by 95%.
The brewery has other sustainability advantages too. Like many traditional breweries, it uses the natural force of gravity (the Pub is built into a hill) rather than electric pumps to transfer beer during the brewing process. They use steam for brewing, that comes from Seattle Steam, a public utility located one block away. Fortunately for Pike, Seattle Steam is introducing a new biomass burner (using urban waste wood), which will lower their carbon footprint (and that of the nearly 200 buildings, including Pike Brewery, they serve) by fifty percent.
Sustainability Is Delicious
Part of Pike’s commitment to sustainability comes in the form of deliciousness. Much of their food comes from local and sustainable producers. Burgers come from Heritage Meats in Olympia, wild salmon is fresh from Kodiak Alaska, and cheeses are all from local artisan cheesemakers: Quillisascut in Rice Washington; Mt. Townsend from Pt. Townsend; River Valley Cheese from Fall City, who also use Pike’s spent grain to feed their herd; and Estrella Family Creamery in Montesano who rind wash their Pike Brewleggio with Pike’s Tandem Double Ale. They buy tuna from Joe Malley’s Fishing Vessel, St. Jude, and their smoked salmon comes from Solly at Pure Food Fish, only steps away from the brewpub in the Pike Place Market. Uli’s Sausage makes bratwurst with Pike Kilt Lifter Scotch Ale and Salami comes from Salumi Salami just a few blocks away. Prosciutto travels from Iowa but is from the country’s first organic prosciutto maker, La Quercia. For dessert, Pike XXXXX Gelato is made by Gelatiamo Gelateria a block away using Pike XXXXX Extra Stout in the recipe. Pike also offers an Ale and Choclate Pairing with Carter’s Chocolates from Port Orchard where Matt makes four truffles with Pike ales. And the Pike bar also features local, northwest spirits.
Whew! I’m full!
Green Drinks Thank You Event
Not all of this was a result of the Agent Green carrot mob, but Pike wants to thank them for pushing them to go greener with the LEDs and composting. With breweries, thanks usually comes in the form of beer. So if you’re in Seattle, stop down at the Pike on Wednesday, October 7th for a Green Drinks gathering from 4-6pm with specials on food and beer.
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Cooking with Beer, Energy, Global warming, Sustainability | 
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Posted by beeractivist
September 15, 2009
Clime8 beer is brewed by the Harboe brewing company in Denmark. The package looks kind of like an energy drink, but that’s not the only unusual thing about it. This beer is brewed with unmalted barley.
It is the product of two and a half years of research that yielded a new enzyme called Ondea Pro created by the biotechnology firm Novozyme.
The enzyme breaks down the starch in barley into fermentable sugar – the same thing malting does. Except malting costs a lot of money, uses a lot of energy, and adds an extra chunk of time and transport into the brewing supply chain.
Clim8 is the first beer brewed with barley processed by this new enzyme. According to Novozyme, Ondea Pro reduced Harboe’s greenhouse gas emissions by eight percent for this beer, hence the name.
I’m eager to try this beer. The package makes it look like some kind of energy drink, and google turns up no reviews of this beer. If it tastes good, this could prove to be a major breakthrough that changes brewing. Otherwise, it’ll just be an interesting idea.
- Beer brewed entirely with unmalted barley.
4 Comments | 
Energy, Global warming, Sustainability | 
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Posted by beeractivist
September 15, 2009
Jason Sahler is expanding the beer activism in New York City with his new SustainaBrew blog: The Sustainable Side of Beer.” Hey! I like the sounds of that.
Jason graduated from NYU with a B.A in Sustainable Development in 2007 and has been a fan of craft beer ever since going to Scotland where he first tasted what he calls “real” beer. He is a devout follower of small businesses and anything “slow.”
In evidence of the obvious overlapping interests between Beer Activist and Sustainabrew, Jason appears to have published a post (right as I am writing this) on the same exact topic I was just about to publish myself – about Novozyme, an enzyme claims to allow brewers to use whole barley grain rather than malt!
More on that here in a few minutes. Meanwhile, take a look at this post on Sustainabrew in which brewer Maggie Fuller recounts some of her less-than-appreciated encounters as a woman in the brewing industry.
Leave a Comment » | Sustainability, beer publications | Permalink
Posted by beeractivist
September 12, 2009
Looks like rain. Raining beer, that is, at GonzoFest in Frederick, MD at Flying Dog’s annual party.
In past year’s the music stage was in a decent-sized tent, so don’t let that little rain keep you away. In fact, you know the number one ingredient in beer, right? Water. So thank Ninkasi for the rain and come on out and drink some beer.
Cake fans will be pleased to know that Duff, of Charm City Cakes in Baltimore — you know, the people featured in that Food Network show Ace of Cakes — will be playing bass in his band “soihadto” at 7:30. No idea how these guys sound. I can definitely picture a guy like Duff drinking beer (I mean with a name like that, right?). Playing in a band, though? Well, maybe on bass. We’ll see.
Tickets are $30 at the door and include the cost of beer. Details about the beer, the venue, the bands, the chili, and more are online here.
Duff, of Charm City Cakes, will play in his band soihadto at the GonzoFest today.
Leave a Comment » | Beer events, beer and food pairing, beer festivals, music | Permalink
Posted by beeractivist
