7 Sustainably-Minded Colorado Breweries to Visit This Fall

 

By Fen Fenton, Communications Intern, Slow Food Denver

 

 

Crisp autumn weather and great seasonal pickings call for a pint of local beer. Luckily, Colorado has a plethora of breweries choose from, but not all of them look out for the community and environment. Although having a cold one in the mountains or downtown in Denver can take the edge off, we have the responsibility to be conscious consumers, especially with one of our largest cash crops. However, Colorado has a few gem breweries that are making it a point to put sustainability on the front burner of their business.

 

  1. Great Divide- Denver

Both of Great Divide’s locations achieved becoming a Certifiably Green Business last year by the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment. The brewery was also awarded a $16,000 grant in 2017 to launch a Community Recycling Program in the RiNo neighborhood. Great Divide has an intensive recycling program, re-uses bottle rinse water, utilizes energy-saving motion sensor lights, and now has a 99% diversion rate of waste to the landfill. All of their progress and data in being a sustainable business is tracked and recorded by their “Green Team.” Great Divide also has a Taproom Giving Program, which helps raise money for local nonprofits.

 

  1. New Belgium- Fort Collins

New Belgium reduces GHG emissions with a large cluster of solar panels, generates electricity through processing their spent/wastewater, LEED certified. They co-found the glass recycling subcommittee to make recycling glass practical, and they are a part of BICEP (Business for Innovative Climate and Energy Policy), helping to look out for the environment and vouching for policies that directly impact climate change. They also support Conservation Colorado: an organization that wants to conserve Colorado’s environment. Great Divide has made it a point to work towards reducing and fine-tuning the amount of packaging they use on their beers, in order to become more sustainable. Check out their website; they have a lot of tips and information on how to be a conscious consumer and how New Belgium looks out for their impact on the environment.

 

  1. Odell- Fort Collins

Odell has worked over the past few years to reduce the water usage on an average gallon of beer (the national average is 7 gallons of water for 1 gallon of beer; they use 4). In 2012, the company revamped their vacuum pumping system so that the water in their system is used 3 times in the brewing process before it is discarded, which saved the company 2.5 million gallons of water in 2012. They have 11,000 square feet of solar panels and use wind power as well, which requires them to use just 5% total power. Try their IPA or one of their seasonals.

 

  1. Good River Brewing Co- Denver

Good River Brewing in Denver created 2% For Rivers. This nonprofit redirects 2% of a business’s gross profits to various organizations that help conserve and clean up our river systems.

 

  1. Denver Beer Co- Denver

Denver Beer Co has a bit of a different way of being sustainable. They are one of the only breweries around that is completely dedicated to making Colorado beer, from start to finish. 95% of the malt they use is sourced from the state of Colorado, while 100% of the water used is sourced from the Platte River. Denver Beer Co also. Taste their graham cracker porter; its toasted malt and browned butter flavors are a perfect treat around this time of year.

 

  1. Left Hand Brewing- Longmont

Left Hand Brewing has worked hard to minimize their water usage and conserve energy by using the efficient Baukon kettle. The business is conscious of its largest waste stream: spent grain, and redirects that waste to local farmers, where it can be repurposed as cattle feed. Left Hand pulls off four events for the Longmont community every year, and often donates to local organizations and projects. Their Sawtoothe Ale and Milk Stout are crowd favorites.

 

  1. Our Mutual Friend- Denver

Our Mutual Friend in Denver is committed to making 100% Colorado grown beer. They’ve grown accustomed to using the local land around them to gather local ingredients, and currently source most of their grains from Colorado. Our Mutual Friend also tries their best to incorporate local hops and specialty ingredients from our state as well. Try their Bier de Garde amber ale!

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Recent Posts

Announcing the Snail Trail!

Slow Food Denver is excited to announce the launch of the Snail Trail. It is a dining passport that will take you on an eating adventure with coupons from a dozen of Denver’s restaurants & food organizations that are aligned with our Chapter’s efforts for good,...

Learning with Lil’ Sprouts: Pasta Salad

Learning with Lil' Sprouts: Pasta Salad    How best to keep a dozen kids grades K-4 engaged in a cooking class? I ask myself this as I start my first semester teaching two classes with Lil’ Sprouts. The answer, it turns out, is not to plan a class around all the...

At Home Soil Conservation

At Home Soil Conservation  The use of fertile land for crops is essential for our society. However, a report on agriculture notes that US soil is seeing high soil degradation and a drop in soil fertility. To make up for this loss, farmers use fertilizers containing...

Learning with Lil’ Sprouts: Homemade Dressing and Salad

Learning with Lil' Sprouts: Homemade Dressing and Salad   I don’t like salad! is the first response of most students when I tell them we are making a dressing and salad for cooking class.  You don’t have to like it, but you may have fun making one I tell them....

Fall Recipe: Swedish Apple Cake

Fall Recipe: Swedish Apple Cake One of my favorite things about fall, without a doubt, is the food. The scents, tastes, and memories that surround autumn dishes always make me look forward to the cooler weather and falling leaves. One recipe that has been a staple...

Combatting College Food Waste

Combatting College Food Waste Since moving away for college, and having to buy ingredients and cook food on my own, I’ve become very aware of how fast my food sours, spoils or even sprouts. I’ve found that when purchasing produce to make meals for one person, I have a...