Missoula’s Sustainable Business Council kicked off their 10th Anniversary celebration Wednesday night with a gathering of local brewers, industry representatives and craft beer fans for a discussion with Cheri Chastain, Sustainability Coordinator for Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.  The fun continues tonight, Thursday, February 23 at 6:00 p.m. in room 106 of the Gallagher Business Building on the University of Montana campus with the SBC’s 10th Anniversary Lecture:  Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. – A sustainability Success Story.  The lecture is free and open to the public.

Last night, The Loft of Missoula played host to an entertaining exchange of ideas and questions focused on making brewing operations more sustainable.  Sierra Nevada has an impressive record of sustainability programs beginning right from the start.  Founder Ken Grossman cobbled together his initial brewing equipment from dairy tanks, a soft drink bottler and equipment salvaged from other breweries. Now, more than 31 years later, Sierra Nevada has one of the largest privately owned solar power installations, uses hydrogen fuel cell technology, composts food scraps and brewery waste for use on the brewery’s hop and barley fields and implements recycling and sustainability programs in all facets of its operation.

Most of the discussion last night focused on how to translate such efforts and programs from a national powerhouse down to the far more numerous local breweries. Sierra Nevada brewed 800,000 barrels of beer last year.  As Flathead Lake Brewing Co’s Blake Nicolazzo pointed out, Flathead presently brews 700 barrels, far less even than Bayern and Kettlehouse which are each approaching 10,000.  Kettlehouse owner Tim O’leary commented that “drinking local” may have an adverse effect on overall sustainability because the 1900+ current small craft breweries (and 800 more in the works) can’t achieve the energy efficiencies of, say, an Anheuser-Busch brewery.  (We all agreed that’s a trade we’ll take.)

Cheri Chastain (left) talks with brewers Thorsten Gueur of Bayern, Tim O’Leary of Kettlehouse and Craig Koontz of Tamarack (left to right).

Still, that doesn’t mean sustainability isn’t an important goal for smaller breweries.  Many of Montana’s breweries, including Kettlehouse, use methods to recapture energy, use spent grains for livestock feed, and seek out other means to reduce waste.  Bayern Brewing’s Thorsten Gueur explained how breweries in his native Germany often use excess heat generated during the brewing process to heat adjacent homes and businesses.  Bayern already buys back its 6-pack holders for reuse and recycles its own glass and bottle caps. This summer, Thorston announced, Bayern will begin buying back its glass bottles from consumers which will be cleaned and put back into the bottling rotation.  While small craft breweries may not be able to invest in large solar power installations and hydrogen fuel cells, it’s clear there is both the desire and opportunity to implement many other sustainable programs and ideas.

Guests at last night’s event were treated to Sierra Nevada’s Pale Ale, Torpedo Extra IPA and Kellerweis Hefeweizen courtesy of Summit Beverage. (Personally, I was hoping for a secret stash of Ovila Dubbel or Saison, but maybe next time.)  To learn more about Sierra Nevada’s sustainability efforts, head over to the Gallagher Business Building tonight at 6:00 p.m. to hear Cheri Chastain’s talk at the Sustainable Business Council’s 10th Anniversary Sustainability Lecture.