Waste not; want not!

It takes grain to make beer, and once it's served its main purpose, it's usually sent to farmers as feed for livestock, where a small profit can be made, and responsible recycling can be effected. But as it turns out, shipping that spent grain costs money, and if your brewery is in Alaska, that can get to be an expensive proposition. What to do?

Apparently, the folks at the Alaskan Brewing Company have solved the problem, using their spent grains to actually power their brewery. In effect they have what they claim is now "beer-powered beer." Check out the story here.

I can recall a visit to one of the first "green breweries," New Belgium Brewing in Ft. Collins, CO during a GABF; and I thought their operation was cutting edge, importing their power from wind turbines far away, and encouraging their employees to pedal to work on company-provided bicycles.  When Fat Tire is your flagship beer, that makes marketing sense, too. Their beer was excellent, and it was comforting to know that it was being produced responsibly.

But making your beer with spent grains is another step entirely, and just another reason to like Alaska Brewing, besides its incredible seasonal Alaskan Smoked Porter.

Cheers to the Alaskan Brewing Company!