Did you know that sustainability is one of the values we hold as a business? Out of respect for our planet and it’s limited natural resources, we try to do our part to be good humans and keep our footprint as small as possible. Here are a few of the things we do to brew our beer sustainably:
Electricity
Our house yeast strain requires no temperature regulation during fermentation which gives our glycol chiller a huge break, especially during the summer months!
If we’re not going to brew for an extended period of time, we drop our Hot Liquor Tank (HLT) temps or empty it altogether.
Our glycol chiller creates quite a bit of heat. That heat is pumped into The Cascade’s underground parking garage which helps reduce heating costs in the winter.
I brew in my underwear to save on air conditioning. (Kidding, no one wants to see that.)
Water conservation
That same yeast strain allows us to use less water when chilling the boiling wort down to pitching temperatures.
We capture that chill water in our HLT which allows us to use it for future brews or cleaning processes. This allows us to save over 13,000 gallons of water a year!
We also use on-demand water heaters for supplemental hot water so that we only heat the water we use.
Repurposed Grain
Not much goes to waste on brew day. We give our spent grain to a local farmer near Hartford to help feed about 250 head of cattle. Occasionally spent grain will also go to local bakeries for spent grain bread and dog biscuits!
Repurposed Hops
Three cheers for hop sustainability! Our “Re-Gifted” series of beers are brewed with re-used (re-gifted) hops from our Love Notes Hazy IPA to squeeze as much flavor and aroma as we possibly can out of the hop plants.
Taproom Recycling
Recycle bins are placed in the taproom to encourage recycling any plastic, paper and glass materials.
Spent grain gets pulled from the mash tun on brew days. It is then donated to local farmers to feed their cattle or local bakers for breads, desserts and dog biscuits.