Sustainable Brewpub Crawl: Great Lakes Region

Photo courtesy of Prairie Street Brewhouse, Rockford, Ill.

Photo courtesy of Bell’s Brewery, Kalamazoo, Mich.

You’re now well on your way on an eco-pub crawl, trekking across the country (map) visiting sustainable brewpubs and craft breweries that are making better beer, saving money, and saving the planet by brewing the sudsy, golden juice sustainably.

Now that you’ve rested up after touring the Eastern Seaboard, you’re ready for the Great Lakes region leg of your trip. You and your brewbros and suds sisters continue your wayward journey from one remarkable green brewery to another, sampling their unique, tasty beer while savoring their sustainable practices.

Still traveling by green transportation only and avoiding drinking and driving, you’ve taken mass transit or air to Cleveland to sample the what the nation’s breadbasket has in its cornucopia of sustainable brews.

Day 3

6. Great Lakes Brewing Co.

   2516 Market Ave, Cleveland, OH 44113
   (sustainable and local sourcing)

Photos courtesy of Great Lakes Brewing Co., Cleveland.

Great Lakes Brewing Co. is the epitome of sustainable and local sourcing, where its motto is “fresh beer, fresh food, local flavor.”

When you take a pint of its beer into your hands, you can feel good that the owners, Patrick and Daniel Conway, have taken the locavore concept into their own hands. They established nearby organic Pint Size Farm to produce most of the brewpub’s beer and restaurant grains and other ingredients, in collaboration with Hale Farm and Village.

Then, full circle, the spent grain, or mash returns to the earth as a soil amendment on its farms, feed for livestock, and in its cracked barley beer bread and pretzels. Used French fry oil becomes biofuel for its Fatty Wagon, a biofueled shuttle that delivers brewpub guests to downtown sporting events.

Be sure to sit at a booth under the barrel wall and warm your fingers on the Burning River Pale Ale, especially popular during the brewery’s Great Lakes Burning River Fest at the end of August. It’s intended to be a toast to the Cuyahoga River Fire “for sparking both a new era of environmentalism and this brazenly hoppy Pale Ale.” The 10-time World Champion award winner is crisp and bright, with refreshing flickers of citrus and pine that ignite the senses, but not local waterways, the Conways say.

The infamous Cuyahoga River Fire in 1969 was caused by industrial pollution and prompted the Clean Water Act. The river feeds Lake Erie–the source water for the brewery. Great Lakes Brewery’s owners state in their published corporate sustainability responsibility report that they’re committed to protecting this valuable resource.

“We do our best to reduce and reuse within our bottling and cleaning processes. Our focus is on reducing our ratio of barrels of water drawn to barrels of beer sold. That ratio in 2014 was 6.3 to 1, which represents a 3 percent improvement year over year, and 5 percent improvement every year for the last five years.”

Considering that brewing is water-intensive—the product is more than 90 percent water—it’s no surprise that the owners are attuned to water problems. Drawing from Lake Erie where fresh water is plentiful, the brewery is not as concerned about water quantity as water quality. In August 2014, half a million residents around Toledo, Ohio were without access to public water due to the presence of microcystin, a toxic byproduct of harmful algal blooms (HAB).

Dumping of phosphates, which are an ingredient in some cleaners and fertilizers, are cited as contributing factors. Although most home cleaners such as laundry and dishwasher detergents have been reformulated without phosphates, most industrial cleaners still contain them.

Little has been done to curtail the HABs, Great Lakes Brewery’s owners contend. “Our own water resources and our ability to produce beer could be at risk.”

Buy a round for your friends so you can raise a toast to the brewery for also having solar thermal panels, zero waste initiatives, an energy-efficient boiler, and a radiant-heat floor.

Charter a boat across Lake Erie to Detroit (roughly 6 hours), catch a few zzzzzs there, then get to the Detroit Amtrak Station. Catch the 5:43 a.m. train to Kalamazoo (3 hours, 7 minutes). By now, you’ve had your fill of trains, buses, and planes and are ready to stretch out. While you’re waiting for the next brewpub to open, rent a bike for your next trip. You can rent a bike lock from the bartender at …

Day 4.

7. Bell’s Brewery 

   355 E. Kalamazoo Ave., Kalamazoo, Mich.
   (green roof, daylighting, thermal recovery)

Photo courtesy of Bell’s Brewery, Kalamazoo, Mich.

Now you can relax with your friends, drink delicious beer, and enjoy the colorful surroundings of this ecofriendly family-owned brewhouse. The kettle’s on the boil …

Like its brewery brethren, Bell’s Brewery engages in many waste and water management practices, but its energy efficiency and energy recovery systems that reduce electricity, heating and refrigeration consumption are especially noteworthy.

Heat recovery systems abound. A kettle stack condenser reclaims heat at the rate of 10.6 million BTUs a day. A wort heat exchanger not only cools its wort enough so yeast can thrive to ferment healthy beer, it also pre-heats carbon-filtered water that goes into subsequent batches. This process reclaims 17 million BTUs a day. A new energy storage system stores 3.3 million BTUs. The water heater is 94 percent overall efficient. A 400-HP process boiler with 84-percent overall efficiency conserves and recycles energy for steam production used in all process heating, mashing, boiling, keg cleaning, and sterilization.

Cold is not allowed to escape unscathed either. Cold outside air is used to condition the cold storage warehouse during colder months. An ammonia-based refrigeration system installed in 2014 will save over a million kilowatt-hours per year.

The usual din may be a subdued a bit; the brewhouse is insulated by an extensive drought-resistant, sedum green roof, punctuated by Solatube Intl. tubular daylighting devices with occupancy sensors throughout its building. The daylighting devices are designed to magnify the daylight, flooding it with free, emissions-free light. They are integrated with sensors connected to high-efficiency lighting.

Clink your glasses for the last time, wipe the foam from your lips and staches, and get ready to ride your bike the 52 miles north via 10^th St. for 4 hours, 19 min. to …

8. Brewery Vivant

   925 Cherry St SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49506
   (repurposed building, LEED Silver, B Corp).

Photo courtesy of Brewery Vivant, Grand Rapids, Mich.

The ride is worth the sweat, if for no other reason than to see the 1894 funeral home chapel repurposed as a LEED Silver-certified brewhouse in the East Hills neighborhood and sample its Undertaker Beer, pre-Halloween.

At sunset, sip the Undertaker Beer, a Belgian-style dark ale and see if you can detect its notes of roasted malt, Belgian yeast, dark chocolate and dark cherries. The lingering finish hints of molasses and roastiness, the brewery says. While you’re libating, try the Belgian frites, artisanal cheese, and liege waffle.

Much of the inspiration for the brewery and its beer originated with trip to the French-speaking Belgian countryside visiting small farmhouse breweries. In amusing contrast with its former funeral chapel housing, the word “vivant” translates as “to be alive” or “to be lively” –the type of brewery it says it strives to be.

The brewhouse, the motto of which is “Beer the Change,” is a B Corp and a Climate Declaration signateur. To earn its LEED certification, the mcrobrewery has taken a number of measures:

The brewery is equipped with high efficiency heating and cooling units with CO2 sensors that resulted in an energy savings of 7 percent over ASHRAE 90.1-2007.

All of its rain water runoff is recaptured in a giant cistern and used for landscape irrigation eliminating the need to use potable water. Its bathroom fixtures are low-flow, waterless, and sensored to minimize water use.

It offsets 100 percent of its electricity with renewable energy.

It’s late, you’ve shared your stories and filled your belly. You’ll have a chance to burn off some calories with a night ride (don’t forget your bike light) up to Muskegon via the Musketawa Trail (3 hours, 34 minutes. Rack your bike and lodge for the night, ready to take the ferry across Lake Michigan to Milwaukee for Day 5.

Day 5. Eat a light breakfast–or none at all—and swallow some Dramamine® with your juice or coffee, then head to the Lake Express Ferry that will take you across Lake Michigan from Muskegon to Milwaukee. This time of year, the lake is pretty choppy, so keep your Dramamine close at hand. In the fall, the morning boat leaves at 10:15 a.m. ET and arrives in Milwaukee at the marina at 11:30 a.m. CT. (2-1/2-hours). From the marina, head just a few blocks west. You’ll arrive in time for lunch at…

9.     Lakefront Brewery

1872 N Commerce St, Milwaukee, WI 53212
(organic beer)

Photo courtesy of Lakefront Brewery, Milwaukee.

No brew tour would be complete without a stop in ‘Brew City.” Milwaukee’s Lakefront Brewery became the first certified organic brewery in the country In 1996 with the Organic ESB (Extra Special Bitter), made with 100 percent organic malt and hops. You can drink waterside, listen to polka, and devour the fish fry. This time of year, you and your brew buddies can raise mugs of pumpkin and cherry lagers.

Brewery President Russ Klisch says he believes in doing the right thing for the environment. He uses local ingredients, which reduces emissions. Like nearly all of green breweries, the Travel Green Wisconsin-award-winner donates its spent mash, which is converted into fertilizer.

You may want to hang around for the frequent brewery tours, which includes the free samples, a souvenir pint glass, and beer coupon. During its environmental tour, led by Klisch every Friday, highlights how the company reduces its waste and energy consumption.

After you’ve tossed back a few, danced your last polka and sang your last ballad, unlock your bike and head west by 1 p.m. on the Glacial-Drumlin bike trail through bike-friendly, beautiful, and lively Madison on commuter trails 108 miles to Mount Horeb, Wisc. Officially, Google-maps time, it takes 9 hours, 20 min. to get there, so you’ll have to peddle a little faster. By now, you’ve become a proficient rider, so If you ride at 15 mph, you’ll easily arrive before the 10 p.m. closing time …

10. The Grumpy Troll Brew Pub

105 S 2nd St, Mt Horeb, WI 53572
(solar roof)

Photos by Michael Scott.

The light-filled tavern and pizzeria with handcrafted ales and lagers is not the largest pub you’ll visit nor the greenest, but it does brag a 7.8 kilowatt solar PV system on its roof, proving that even a small company can be sustainable and a grumpy pub can be hoppy. The Grumpy Troll said its next goal is to add a solar hot water system and then a heat and energy recapture system.

After your 108-mile ride, you’ll have no reason to feel guilty about eating the fried cheese curds. Drink it with the deep golden amber Trollfest lager, made with the finest Bavarian Pils and Munich and Vienna malts.

Find lodging in Mt. Horeb, do your brewpals a favor and shower thoroughly, and rest up; for tomorrow we ride again.

Day 6.

Time to hop back on your bike. Take the Sugar River State Recreation Trail south and the Rock River Recreation Path for 78.6 miles to Rockford, Ill. Better get an early start, because you’ll want to arrive by its 11 a.m. open (6 hours, 30 minutes).

11. Prairie Street Brewhouse

200 Prairie Street, Rockford, IL 61107
(geothermal, building restoration, energy-efficient lighting)

Photo of Prairie Street Brewhouse’s Chris Manuel by Max Gersh, courtesy of Rockford Register Star

Seldom does a building start out for one purpose, undergo major changes, and then get a chance to be restored to its original use more than 150 years later. The Prairie Street Brewery, built in 1857 as Peacock Brewery in downtown Rockford, is such a building. The historic building, which began as a brewery, went dry during the Prohibition, then was a warehouse and underwent many other iterations, has been restored and has been transformed … into a brewery.  The Prairie Street Brewhouse is now one of the most popular dining, recreational, and social sites in the city.

The new owners and management took advantage of their proximity to the Rock River to install a geothermal system economically, according to Prairie Street Brewhouse Vice President Chris Manuel. They had two wells dug 80 feet on the north side of the building that access 55-degree temperatures in the aquifer under the river. The geothermal system’s water circulates over a cooling coil, air is blown over that, and 55-degree air comes out of the building vents. So they either heat the air up 15 degrees in cooler weather or enjoy the cool air in the warmer months.

What is especially unique about the geothermal system is that not only does it help to heat and cool the building’s ambient air, it cools the glycol used to chill the fermenting tanks, walk-in beer cooler, and one of the beer chillers–all emissions-free.

The heating and cooling units in the building are comparable in costs to a standard HVAC system. The only extra costs were digging two wells, so putting in the system made financial sense, Manuel said.

Additional energy savings are realized via an energy-efficient LED lighting system.

Enjoy all the coolness the geothermal system emparts with a chill, Screw City Light American lager or the Nikolob, a light crisp lager originally brewed in the Peacock Brewery. Sit on a comfy chair in the unique, limestone and curved-brick-ceiling bar while looking out onto the river or take the beer out with you onto the riverside deck and marina. Slide it past your tongue with a plate of warm, soft pretzels with cheese or any number of the brewhouse’s fantastic entrees.

Then take a taxi to the Chicago-Rockford Airport (RFD) to Fort Collins, Co. for the third leg of your tour in the West. Visit www.sustainablemfr.com next week to read about the refreshing finish of your eco-brewpub trek.

Missed “Sustainable Brewpub Crawl Part I?”