Green Beer to Save the World

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
This week, green dye and food coloring fly off the shelf to “vertify” everything from frosting to the Chicago River itself. Green beer is a popular St. Patrick’s Day libation, but some brewers are taking a different turn and working to be green all year long. This time we mean eco-friendly green.

Breweries are going green by recycling spent grains, reducing packaging, or boosting the energy efficiency of the brew house.

Adnams, a UK brewery, has gone so far with one beer that it has received the endorsement of The Carbon Trust and won its 2007 Innovation Award. Adnams’ East Green brew uses local, naturally aphid-resistant hops to reduce the use of pesticides and the gas for transportation. The brew house is energy efficient and the finished product is packaged in the lightest bottle on the market.

Shipping East Green all the way from Suffolk would undoubtedly undo some of the green good, but you can support local breweries who are also working hard to keep the world green long after St. Patty’s Day. Here are two we came across: Highland Brewing Company, Asheville, NC; Weeping Radish, Jarvisburg, NC

Do you know of any other local or regional breweries that are going green?