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<\/p>\nCraft breweries (breweries producing 15000 barrels of beer or fewer per year) are on the rise. [1] \u00a0In the United States the craft segment grew by 12.8% in 2015 despite a 0.2% decline in the industry overall. [2] \u00a0Beer is made from water, barley, hops, and yeast, but despite is simplistic recipe it is remarkably resource- and energy-intensive to produce: a liter of beer can require 7-10 liters of water to produce [3], and the brewing process alone can consume 7% of a brewery facility\u2019s electricity and 45% of its natural gas [4].\u00a0 Rising energy costs and resource pressures brought by global climate change are beginning to plague the beer industry at large, however.\u00a0 Brewery Vivant, a brewpub in Grand Rapids MI, has embraced sustainability since its inception.\u00a0 Its LEED certificate, granted in 2012, made it the first LEED-certified brewery in the country, and it publishes an annual sustainability report detailing green improvements in its facility.\u00a0 While increased demand drove increased usage of electricity (up 14.7%) and natural gas (up 2%) in 2015, Vivant\u2019s involvement with carbon offsets decreased its overall carbon footprint by a net 27.1% [5].\u00a0 As climate change threatens to make these resources more scarce, however, what can Vivant learn from other brewers?<\/p>\n
California is a brewing capital \u2013 San Diego county alone boasts 130 active brewing operations [6].\u00a0 However, California also finds itself the epicenter of a prolonged drought: over 60% of the state is in a state of at least Severe drought as of November 2016 [7].\u00a0 This places a premium on water usage in the state.\u00a0 Northern California-based Sierra Nevada Brewing also publishes a report detailing green efforts.\u00a0 Since 2007, Sierra Nevada has reduced water required to produce one barrel of beer by 25%, and it set a goal in 2014 to achieve a process requiring only 4 liters of water per liter of product [8].\u00a0 Sierra Nevada\u2019s water reduction efforts range from straightforward (the use of desert-friendly landscaping) to more innovative (the phasing out of water-based lubricants on machinery).\u00a0 The need to conserve water is not lost on \u201cbig beer\u201d either: multinational giant AB InBev recently achieved an industry-leading ratio of 3.2 liters of water per liter of beer produced [9].\u00a0 While ratios this low would be extremely difficult for smaller players to achieve, they show that massive improvement on the status quo for beer production is possible.<\/p>\n
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Figure 1: June 2015 Temparature Records<\/strong><\/p>\n The Yakima Valley in Washington state is a major source of hops used in American craft beer, and Washington state accounted for 73% of the American hop crop in 2015-2016 (10).\u00a0 In 2015 Washington was also one of the states affected by record-high temperatures (Figure 1), and while the temperatures only minimally affected the hop crop overall, certain commonly used varietals did yield more poorly [11][12].\u00a0 Growers compensated by leaving land unplanted and concentrating irrigation resources on high-value hop crops, and by employing groundwater irrigation work-arounds.\u00a0 While the 2015-2016 yield was on the whole successful, hop shortage is ever-present in the minds of brewers, especially with so much of the crop concentrated in one geographic area.\u00a0 A hop crop can yield as much as $10,000 per acre, making smaller and more environmentally conscious organic operations an attractive financial prospect.\u00a0 Some breweries, like Sierra Nevada, have started small organic operations themselves, but one operation can yield enough hops for only one limited release of a single type of beer [13].\u00a0 It remains to be seen how the agricultural industry will respond \u2013 hops are notoriously difficult to grow but extremely lucrative and significant additional scale is needed.<\/p>\n As for barley, the world\u2019s largest brewers are pursuing more scientific means.\u00a0 AB InBev is pouring resources into its SmartBarley platform, which provides a suite of analysis and benchmarking tools to help its grower platform more effectively supply barley for brewing.\u00a0 The platform analyzes not only water usage, but also soil profiles, climate, and topography data to help farmers maximize yields per unit land [14].\u00a0 The platform results in more productive agricultural practices that may filter into the industry as a whole, allowing barley for brewing to be provided for less resources.\u00a0 Danish brewing giant Carlsberg is employing a team of scientists to analyze barley genetically; they have already developed a strain that results in a beer that stays fresher longer, cutting down on spoiled beer waste [15].<\/p>\n As climate change puts a premium on resources, it is incumbent on brewers like Vivant to adapt with the changes.\u00a0 Smaller breweries will need to learn from the wealth of analysis provided by industry leaders to secure their ingredient supplies and to operate more sustainably.\u00a0 I hope sincerely that process innovations like the ones mentioned will allow craft brewing to weather the changes brought by climate change.<\/p>\n (Word Count 781)<\/p>\n Sources<\/strong><\/p>\n [1]\u00a0“Craft Beer Industry Market Segments.” Brewers Assocation<\/i>. Brewers Association, n.d. Web. 3 Nov. 2016. <https:\/\/www.brewersassociation.org\/statistics\/market-segments\/>.<\/p>\n [2]\u00a0“National Beer Sales and Production Data.” Brewers Assocation<\/i>. Brewers Association, n.d. Web. 3 Nov. 2016. <https:\/\/www.brewersassociation.org\/statistics\/national-beer-sales-production-data\/>.<\/p>\n [3]\u00a0Terry-Cobo, Sarah. “New Rankings Help You Drink Green Beer Year Round.” GreenBiz<\/i>. GreenBiz, 12 Aug. 2009. Web. 3 Nov. 2016. <https:\/\/www.greenbiz.com\/blog\/2009\/08\/12\/new-rankings-help-you-drink-green-beer-year-round>.<\/p>\n [4]\u00a0Energy Usage, GHG Reduction, Efficiency and Load Management Manual<\/i>. Rep. Brewers Association, n.d. Web. 3 Nov. 2016. <https:\/\/www.brewersassociation.org\/attachments\/0001\/1530\/Sustainability_Energy_Manual.pdf>.<\/p>\n [5]\u00a0Beer the Change: Brewery Vivant’s 2015 Sustainability Report<\/i>. Rep. Brewery Vivant, n.d. Web. 3 Nov. 2016. <http:\/\/media.wix.com\/ugd\/cb5d17_fa29806a424544b288f5530d335a4816.pdf>.<\/p>\n [6]\u00a0“San Diego Brewery Watch.” West Coaster SD<\/i>. West Coaster, 12 Oct. 2016. Web. 3 Nov. 2016. <http:\/\/www.westcoastersd.com\/sd-brewing-industry-watch\/>.<\/p>\n [7]\u00a0U.S. Drought Monitor: California<\/i>. United States Drought Monitor, 1 Nov. 2016. Web. 3 Nov. 2016. <http:\/\/droughtmonitor.unl.edu\/Home\/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?CA>.<\/p>\n [8]\u00a0Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. Biennial Sustainability Report 2015<\/i>. Rep. Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., n.d. Web. 3 Nov. 2016. <http:\/\/www.cdn.sierranevada.com\/sites\/www.sierranevada.com\/files\/content\/sustainability\/reports\/SustainabilityReport2015.pdf>.<\/p>\n [9]\u00a0Anheuser Busch InBev 2014 Global Citizenship Report<\/i>. Rep. Anheuser Busch InBev, n.d. Web. 3 Nov. 2016. <http:\/\/www.ab-inbev.com\/content\/dam\/universaltemplate\/abinbev\/pdf\/sr\/global-citizenship-report\/AB_InBev_GCR_2014.pdf>.<\/p>\n [10]\u00a0Hop Acreage In Northwestern Region Up 17 Percent for 2016<\/i>. Rep. National Agricultural Statistics Service, 10 June 2016. Web. 3 Nov. 2016. <https:\/\/www.nass.usda.gov\/Statistics_by_State\/Regional_Office\/Northwest\/includes\/Publications\/Hops\/HOP06_1.pdf>.<\/p>\n [11]\u00a0National Hop Report 2015<\/i>. Rep. USDA, 17 Dec. 2015. Web. 3 Nov. 2016. <https:\/\/www.nass.usda.gov\/Statistics_by_State\/Regional_Office\/Northwest\/includes\/Publications\/Hops\/Nat%20Hop%20Rept%202015.pdf>.<\/p>\n [12]\u00a0Kennedy, Caitlyn. “Climate & Beer.” NOAA Climate.gov<\/i>. NOAA, 12 Jan. 2016. Web. 3 Nov. 2016. <https:\/\/www.climate.gov\/news-features\/climate-and\/climate-beer>.<\/p>\n [13]\u00a0Greenaway, Twilight. “Your Organic Beer Just Got More Organic.” Takepart<\/i>. Takepart, 11 June 2013. Web. 3 Nov. 2016. <http:\/\/www.takepart.com\/article\/2013\/06\/11\/organic-beer-organic>.<\/p>\n [14]\u00a0“SmartBarley FAQ.” SmartBarley, n.d. Web. 3 Nov. 2016. <http:\/\/www.smartbarley.com\/en\/faq.html>.<\/p>\n [15]\u00a0Nurin, Tara. “In Race Against Climate Change, Innovations To This Ingredient Could Determine The Future of Brewing.” Forbes.com<\/i>. Forbes, 31 Aug. 2016. Web. 3 Nov. 2016. <http:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/taranurin\/2016\/08\/31\/in-race-against-climate-change-innovations-to-this-ingredient-could-determine-the-future-of-brewing\/2\/#19e666652eb5>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As beer ingredients are threatened by climate change and energy prices rise, can small breweries learn something from the bigger players?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1993,"featured_media":9320,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[],"class_list":["post-9307","hck-submission","type-hck-submission","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"connected_submission_link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/assignment\/climate-change-challenge-2016\/","yoast_head":"\n