Sustainability case study An insight into Stroud

S USTAINABILIT Y IN BREWING

Community Spirit

Stroud Brewery had a very strong sustainability element to its business plan from the very start and has considered all areas of its business to ensure that as much as possible it is limiting its impact on the environment. SIBA’s Independent Brewer will be featuring regular case studies from now on which highlight some of the excellent work its members are doing to implement initiatives that improve sustainability, hopefully some of these will inspire other members to take the plunge. Here is what Stroud has been working on…

When the CEO Greg Pilley set up Stroud Brewery he started with the goal of “making outstanding beers without damaging the planet”. The Brewery continues to explore ways of being a sustainable local business and bringing the local community together. Stroud Brewery produces a full range of organic cask and unfiltered keg beers to delight customers in the Brewery Tap and to supply the trade and many Cotswolds pubs. When the pandemic limited draught sales, Stroud invested in a canning line and now offers many of its brands in 440ml cans available from the Brewery Tap and stocked in a variety of craft beer shops and wholesalers. Like the cask and keg beers, the canned product is natural, made from organic materials and is not filtered or pasteurised to retain the true fresh character of the beer.

In addition to the core beers, Stroud produces seasonal beers and collaborates with other ethically aligned producers to add something different to the range. Recently the brewery has produced two new seasonal beers which not only add to the portfolio but support their business vision of being a good steward for the environment and involving the local community. Brewers Garden is a community project whereby locally grown hops and their growers congregate at the brewery to hand pick the hop cones and enjoy a few ales. The hops are added directly to the wort, late in the boil, to produce a fresh hopped beer with all the aromas of the main English hop varieties Fuggles and Goldings. In a good year, around 3,000 pints of ‘Brewer’s Garden’ are brewed, barrels of which are eagerly awaited by local pubs. Their efforts are rewarded two weeks later with the finished beer!

Buen Vivir is a collaboration with 26 other brewers set up by Toast Ale to celebrate the hosting of COP 26. The beer used organic waste bread from a local bakery to add to organic wheat and barley malt to brew a traditional Munich style Hefeweizen, which was christened Buen Vivir by Stroud’s CEO – a phrase which comes from an indiginous philosophy that one’s well being is intimately connected to that of the environment and community. The beers are available in a limited-edition companion box of bottled and canned beers to highlight how food waste can be reduced by including surplus bread, reducing the total malt bill and to draw attention to our climate emergency. Sales are expected to raise an amazing £65,000 for conservation and regenerative agriculture organisations which is enough to protect 3.25 million trees.

Stroud is one of the few craft breweries to be B-Corp certified - B-Corp companies are expected to follow an environmental programme. Stroud uses renewably sourced energy (gas and electricity) from Ecotricity and like most brewers supplies the spent grains for animal feed. The spent whole hops are also much sought after by local allotment holders for mulch and compost. Stroud also recovers rainwater for flushing toilets. As an organic brewery it uses organically grown cereals which have been shown to have a significantly smaller carbon footprint (CO2e) than conventionally grown cereals. Fewer processing aids and additives are used which is saving the health of our precious soils and in turn the environment.

However, Stroud wants to be more ambitious in following a green agenda and is looking at process improvements to reduce waste, improvements in recovery of hot water streams and possibly solar panels on the roof of the taproom. It is also a lead partner in developing a Carbon Footprint calculator in partnership with Net Zero Now and will use this as a platform to follow an aggressive improvement programme towards sustainability, reducing the need for carbon offset and hopefully becoming carbon neutral or carbon negative before 2030. It is now up to all of us to squeeze the supply chain to encourage the growers, maltsters and packaging manufacturers to reduce their CO2e and provide our customers with a truly sustainable experience.