Microbreweries following in giant's footsteps

Microbrewers exist in an industry dominated by huge corporations. They'll never be the biggest, but that doesn't stop them from thriving against what many used to consider long odds. When it comes to handling the by-products of their operations, they have been able to learn from their big brothers - the Coors, Anheuser-Busch and Millers of the world - and do it in a way that fits their scale. The giant breweries learned long ago that their by-products had value in the market place.

In a recent issue of American Brewer, Maka MacKenna detailed how several microbreweries have followed the lead of bigtime brewers and in many ways improved on their recovery efforts. One micro highlighted -- Santa Fe Brewing Co. in Galisteo, New Mexico - produces only 600 barrels per year of such brews as Santa Fe Pale Ale, a nut brown ale and a raspberry ale. Their spent grain is used by local farmers as soil amendments and as pig feed. Recently, employees have been collecting whatever stale beer is left around the plant and turning it over to a local baker, Zuby Atalayah, who has developed a special bread from the liquid.

To reduce operating expenses, a brewpub in Arlington, Virginia, Bardo Rodeo, purchased a truck to take the spent grain from its 2,100 barrel production to a Maryland farmer who uses it as cattle feed. Graham Stewart, Bardo's manager, figures that the operation will pay for itself inside six years.

Another devoted recycler is Mad River Brewing Co. in Blue Lake, California. Mad River has reduced its solid waste to two garbage cans per week. Farmers use the spent grains and barley malt as cattle feed. A local company utilizes the grains and hops to make compost. It also composts the food from the employees' lunch room and the cellulose pads from the filtering process. The company figures it saves nearly $30,000 every year through recycling residuals.