Recycling Equipment In The Name Of Beer!
It all starts in a microbrewery in Pembrokeshire, south-west Wales…
The characters and James Beavan and Rob Faulkner, two men who have spent the majority of their working lives working in the alcohol industry. The name of their microbrewery is Tenby Brewing Company, and it has recently been featured in the 2016 version of the Campaign for Real Ale’s ‘Good Beer Guide’’.
The yearly publication walks its readers through a selection of breweries and microbreweries that have made a considerable contribution to the environment through their practices. James and Rob have been recycling equipment since they opened, repurposing machinery for different stages of the process. Their mission is to create the best beer possible, with the best ingredients, without leaving a negative environment impact in the process.
Recycling equipment is only half of the story, as the pair collect leftover grains and send them to a local farm to be recycled into organic chicken and pig feed, where their leftover hops are also used as fertilizer.
“The main reasons we do this is because we care about the environment and because it marks us for being different to other breweries… The brewing industry is quite a labour intensive industry which can be bad for the environment. A lot of carbon emissions are associated with the brewing process, with a lot of hops coming from places like New Zealand and Australia.”
“Rob and I have been in the business a long time and felt something was missing in Pembrokeshire. It has great resources with all the water here and has some amazing independent pubs but something was missing with the beer offering and we just wanted to make something great.”
To go even further with their mission, the pair have even created another green beer using hops they’ve grown themselves. This carbon footprint reduction is outstanding, especially when you consider that this commercial hop crop is the first to be grown in Wales in over 150 years! Carbon footprint reduction is also aided by the small amount of delivery miles, with many customers living very locally.
Brewed our green hop #firstgold Pilsner hybrid last night, 2 miles and 2 hours from farm to beer @BubbletonShop pic.twitter.com/TtHU1B8rfh
— Tenby Brewing Co. (@tenbybrewingco) September 9, 2015
So, recycling equipment, recycling ingredients, carbon footprint reducing hop growth, local customers and a sustainable methods; the future is bright and green for Tenby Brewing Company!