Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
Instead of a race to higher ABV or higher IBUs, how about a race to sustainability? Dogfish Head has put down a big marker with Re-Gen-Ale by tracing all the ingredients of this beer to make sure it was done with the climate in mind. Plus I like that it is a farmhouse ale, that ties the concept together with a neat bow.
One of the powers of collaboration is that a small idea can grow. One hotel in the Netherlands (Hyatt Regency Amsterdam) teamed up with a brewery whose beer they served (Lowlander) and turned out of work Christmas trees into a special beer to serve.
Per news reports, “Lowlander collected as many trees as they could, stripped the spruce, and brewed them with juniper into a sustainable 5% white-style IPA.” The idea grew so fast that commercials were made for it and around 1,000 trees were upcycled into beer. Then the idea leaped forward again to include money donated from the beer sales and efforts to re-plant the trees. You can read more in this article on Fortune.
If you locked a Republican, a Democrat and a voter in a room, within minutes the voter might strangle the politicians just to escape.
But in the world of recycling and craft beer, though the discourse may not be as civil as in other brewing aspects, it still does push and prod people forward instead of just punting problems down the field. And three yard gains and a lot of work shouldn’t be derided because you were hoping for a punt return for a touchdown.
In a recent New Republic article, you get to see the why of how to package cans together and the different avenues that craft breweries take. No matter your stand on this issue, the fact that each camp is going forward in an attempt to make things better is the key take-away. The ubiquitous clear rings that grace sodas, ABSABINBEVMILL and some craft beers were once seen as dangerous because the rings could get caught on wildlife or float out on the ocean never to disappear. But to read that they are trying to make these rings photodegradeable is heartening. The manufacturers could just keep selling the old ones and not apologize (like politicians) but they are choosing to make things at least a little better. And those who pooh-pooh it as not enough are missing the point. We should encourage them to make them better, however incrementally. You shouldn’t stop 10 tiny steps in the right direction because you want 1 larger step.
As with foods that one day are great for you and the next day are killing you, the recycling news lately has been pretty negative. And it seems that those who want to save the earth are the ones making people feel bad because the recycling isn’t as green as thought to be. A goal that can be reached toward is what needs to be enouraged. Not just a drumbeat of low numbers and lack of progress.
So let’s recycle whatever is thrown at us be it rings, covers or boxes. What we throw into our bins may not all get to recycle Valhalla, but it is better than nothing. And if your city (and mine) aren’t doing their part, then come voting time, get someone in office who can fix it. Or improve it, piece by piece.
Here is what has happened in the first half of the year. It may not seem like much, but considering that I am brand new at this and I can’t devote loads of time to it, the progress ain’t half bad.
-started an electronic petition
-got a Facebook page up and running
-created a letter to your representative template
-raised awareness
Now it is time to try to get some bigger guns in the fray. So here is where YOU come in (yet again). If you know anybody in the following areas: recycling, California tourism, beverage container manufacturers or a politician, start telling them about the “Brewed in California” growler idea. Ask for their feedback. See if the idea has a fatal flaw or needs to be tweaked. AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, sign them up and get them involved. If we can get a coalition of people and groups and businesses, we stand a better chance of succeeding.
I am going to start by reaching out to the Container Recycling Institute and see what she thinks of the California growler.
And to make the conversation clear, here is what I perceive as the need.
To change current law so that any participating brewery can sell a “Brewed in California” growler alongside their own branded growler. This growler could be legally filled by any participating brewery in the State of California as long as the beer information is attached to the growler via a sticker or other means.
and the why?
Two reasons. To create craft beer tourism options for the State of California while also creating an incentive to re-use one container repeatedly thus helping the recycling cause.
And if you haven’t written your state representatives, then do so! It can be done online! Let them know you care.