For many of us, beer is one of our five daily drinks when we travel. Whether you’re a fan of lager, pale ale or low-alcohol beers, it’s never been easier to find an eco-friendly alternative to the local beverage. There’s nothing quite like ending a day of exploring with a refreshing pint, or cracking open a cold beer with new friends. But it doesn’t have to be at the expense of the climate. Just as youth hostels are reducing their impact on the environment, these beer makers are helping to make the world a better place.
NEWBrew, Singapore
Singapore is brimming with innovation, but behind the scenes ,natural water sources are limited, which means that the city relies heavily on rainfall harvesting and water imported from Malaysia. If you didn‘t know, one of the main ingredients in beer is water, which makes brewing difficult. The craft brewery Brewerkz has created a solution sustainable low thirst-quenching solution: NEWBrew, a lager made from recycled sewage water. Jesus may have turned water into wine, but this brewery turns p*ss into pints. Don ‘t worry, it tastes just like beer, and knowing you’re helping to conserve the island ‘ s water while strolling through futuristic skyscrapers and bustling parks will keep you coming back for more will undoubtedly leave you with a sense of pride.
Hitachino Nest Red Rice Ale, Japan
Rice noodles, rice wine, sushi rice: rice is an essential part of every Japanese dish. It is such an important food group that Japan produces over 5 million tonnes of food waste a year, most of which comes from, you guessed it, uneaten rice. Kiuchi Brewery is working to combat this phenomenon by producing a beer whose main ingredient is local rice. But its sustainable initiatives don’t stop there: it’s also fighting beer waste. Having discovered that pubs and restaurants were discarding millions of liters of unsold stale beer, she now collects the old kegs and distills them into gin, which she sends back to establishments for reuse. If that’s not the spirit of sustainable development, we don’t know what is!
Chang, Thailand
If you have already visited Thailand, you’ll be pleased to see this familiar face on the list. Popular with travelers and Thais alike, Chang is green by brand and green by nature. It’s called the land of smiles, but travelers who sample Thai cuisine may get the impression that it’s the land of tears. This lager is made from local rice, which (allegedly) offers a refreshing break from the ever-spicy dishes. In addition, the brewery is powered by solar energy, waste water is recycled and bottles and labels have been modified to make them more environmentally friendly.
Saigon Green, Vietnam
The Vietnamese culture of food and drink is a communal experience. Even if you go out to eat alone, you’ll soon find yourself sharing a tiny plastic table with locals and visitors of all ages. After decades of European influence, the Vietnamese know one thing: good beer. On every street corner, you hear “Một – Hai – Ba – dzô” (Mot, Hai, Ba, YO!) as a welcome to the next beer. And rightly so, since it’s also sustainable. Saigon Green is a lager produced by the SABECO brewery, which puts social responsibility and the environment first. From its brewery in Ho Chi Minh, it improves the living conditions of the local population and its employees, by organizing community donation programs and providing quality work. It recycles all by-products from the brewing process and uses renewable biomass boilers to produce the heat needed to make its beer. Cans are made from recycled aluminum, and the company campaigns to encourage Vietnamese to support locally produced products.
Cerveza Patagonia, Argentina
Based in the magnificent foothills of Patagonia, it’s no surprise that this company puts the environment first. Cerveza Patagonia has created a circular economy in which bottles and packaging are returned and reused. The beer is produced using 100% renewable energy, thanks to wind farms that power all the company’s activities. Drinking this beer is not only the ideal way to quench your thirst after a day’s day’s hiking in the Andes, but also supports a company that works to promote sustainable development in the famous peaks. As part of its campaigns to end littering in the mountains, the company even collects garbage and turns it into recycled mountain souvenirs. Una mas cerveza por favor!
Nuestra Siembra, Ecuador
On a trip to Ecuador, you’ll meet many indigenous people, from women in Panama hats selling their wares on the street to guides who will help you discover the wonders of the Andes. Most indigenous people live in the mountains and on farmland, far from the cities, having honed their agricultural skills over tens of thousands of years by learning from Pachamama. Unfortunately, in recent years, the high cost of farming has plunged many of these groups into poverty
With a mission to boost Ecuador’s economy and agricultural industry, Cerveceria Nacional has launched a new beer brand, Nuestra Siembra, to create a positive social impact and support sustainability. This bottle of lager is made from 100% natural ingredients sourced exclusively from small Ecuadorian farms, transforming their lives, fighting poverty and generating over 60,000 jobs.
But that’s not the only way the beer company supports these communities. It is also dedicated to celebrating the roots of indigenous farmers and fighting discrimination, becoming the first company in history to launch an advertisement in the indigenous Quechua language. Each bottle also features a QR code that allows you to trace your beer back to its origins. Innovation and supporting a good cause? It doesn’t get much more bitter than that.
Magnifica, Nossa & Legitima, Brazil
Downstream from the Amazon River, the Brazilian government has teamed up with AmBev to produce its own environmentally-friendly beers. Magnifica, Nossa and Legitima are made from manioc grown by smallholders in rural areas of the country. Cassava – also known as Yuca – is a staple of the Brazilian diet, but most growers of this root vegetable live in poverty. By producing beer from the local crop, farmers have a more fruitful future growing what they know, instead of the old brewing model where companies asked farmers to grow new ingredients. From the cultivation itself to the new jobs involved in transportation, brewing these beers creates opportunities by the ton, while eliminating the carbon emissions associated with importing grain.
Estrella, Spain
Known as Mediterranean beer, Estrella is not only a refreshing respite from the heat of the region, it’s also a company that cares about the climate. Using 100% natural, locally sourced ingredients, it reuses all by-products from the brewing process to feed the farm’s animals. Since 2014, they have been using 100% renewable energy and have removed all plastic from their packaging, opting instead for biodegradable cardboard from sustainable forests. Their efforts on behalf of the environment don’t stop at their doorstep: they have also installed 349 recycling points along the Mediterranean coast, and regularly launch campaigns to highlight climate issues.
Weihenstephan, Germany
Whether Oktoberfest is on your travel itinerary or you want to get into the Berghain, a taste of German beer is a matter of course. Germans love beer so much that Pilsner is their national drink, and it’s always been considered safer than drinking water, even for children.
Although Weihenstephan is the oldest (working) brewery in the world, having opened its doors in 1040, it has been at the forefront of sustainable Pilsner brewing for over 30 years. Both the beer and the brand are born and bred in Bavaria, and use only local materials, the surplus of which is donated to farmers for animal feed. A sip of this stein will make you feel like you’re drinking a good beer, as the company encourages and donates to community projects with a social and climate impact. Prost!
Toast Ale, United Kingdom
As Brits, if there’s one thing we love, it’s a sarnie. Turns out we don’t just buy bread in loaves, we waste it en masse: 20 million slices of bread EVERY DAY to be exact! Of the 15 million tonnes of food waste in the UK, it’s bread that’s thrown away the most. But this brewery has decided to do something about it. Instead of making beer from barley, Toast uses surplus bread. Not only does this reduce its carbon impact on the water, energy and land it doesn’t use to make malt, but it’s also campaigning to fix the whole food system
Food production is one of the main causes of carbon footprint, and a third of this production is wasted! Toast is campaigning to reduce food waste and restore our soils, removing carbon from our environment, enabling us to grow more nutritious food and food poverty. All – yes, you read that right – profits are donated to charities fighting this cause, and the charity is lobbying MPs to include the UK’s food system in plans to tackle climate change. If you want to support a company you can really support, choose Toast.
Stone and Wood, Australia
As the first Australian brewery to become a B-Corp, Stone & Wood is not only making its contribution to Oz’s torrid climate through 100% solar power, organic composting and recycled waste, but is on a mission to revolutionize sustainability across the industry. Its Green Feet program focuses on global land degradation and how it affects food and beverage production, the environment and public health. The brewery has also set up its own non-profit organization, the ‘inGrained Foundation, to support environmental and social charities that are making a difference in their communities. In addition, it donates $1 for every 100 liters of beer sold, so a few drops of this Bottle-o beer can be considered your good deed for the day.
Coopers, Australia
If there’s one thing Australians know, it’s their beer, and Coopers tops their list of favorites year after year. While most of its competitors are run by foreign multinationals, Coopers remains Australia’s largest brewery, employing over 100,000 people. When it comes to the environment, the brewery is also very efficient, recycling and reusing most of its waste. From the natural gas-powered plant that runs the brewery to a clean underground system where excess water is returned to the ocean as salt water to give back to the environment.
Sawmill, New Zealand
When you think of New Zealand you might think of kiwis, the Haka, Hobbiton or sheep – did you know that there are ten sheep for every person? But you may not know that it was the first country in the world to grant women the right to vote. And this beer company is following in those footsteps, piloting initiatives to decarbonize the entire brewing industry. Sawmill, New Zealand’s first B-Corp brewery, uses carbon capture systems to recover CO2 from beer fermentation, and runs its brewery on solar power. It also collects rainwater from its roof and reuses it for brewing and irrigation, saving millions of liters of water every year. Sawmill works and volunteers for Everybody Eats, a charity that transforms food that would otherwise go to waste into meals for Auckland’s homeless community.
Sierra Nevada, United States
Sierra Nevada is not only known for its green cans of pale ale, it’s also one of the greenest breweries, with the largest solar installation in the entire alcohol industry (10,750 solar panels!). With a zero-waste philosophy, the family business is creative in reducing and reusing materials, from composting to the new technology that powers its on-site farm. Like Sawmill, it captures emissions from fermentation and reuses wastewater for irrigation and toilet flushing. Their environmental efforts aren’t limited to beer production: they’ve replaced delivery trucks with trains to reduce carbon impact, and raise their own pastured chickens to sell organic eggs in their tasting rooms. Not surprisingly, employee bonuses are linked to their sustainability goals, encouraging them to think outside the box.
Fat Tire Ale, United States
This bottle of bitter from New Belgium Brewing Company was the world’s first certified carbon-neutral beer! New Belgium is the leader in eco-friendly beers, the first wind-powered beer manufacturer in the U.S. and a self-proclaimed human-energy company. The B-Corp brewery strives to make real change, campaigning for policy change on inclusion, racial rights, climate action and environmental stewardship, and being the first brewery to achieve a perfect score on the Human Rights Campaign Equality Index. We raise a glass to that! And with a clear conscience, since for every barrel sold, they donate $1 to charity, with over $30 million donated to date. How about a road trip to the USA?
Helios Helles Lager, Canada
Heading to the far north, to the land of Niagara Falls and the Rocky Mountains, Karbon is on a mission to become the first carbon-neutral brewery by 2024, meaning that the production of this lager will save more carbon than it emits. Brewing beer for the good of the environment, it works with social impact projects to create drinking water solutions and restore biodiversity to British Columbia’s oceans. For every keg, can and two-four sold, they plant trees and kelp in North America and use Blockchain technology to show you where and how they grow. What better way to wash your Timmies than with this brewski, eh?
The world tour of eco-friendly beers is over, but where will you go first? With sustainable beers like these, making eco-friendly ecological choices doesn’t have to be so difficult. Whether you’re exploring hidden hiking trails in New Zealand or lounging on the beach in Spain, we’re sure the hangover isn’t as painful when you know you’re protecting the planet.
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