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Craft Beer Times | Brewing sustainability: Upcycling with Lagunitas

Brewing sustainability: Upcycling with Lagunitas

Brewing sustainability: Upcycling with Lagunitas

The Idea Behind Upcycled Beer

Have you ever heard of upcycling? It’s a fabulous idea that focuses on using waste as a raw material for new products. It’s like taking something that would’ve ended up in the trash and giving it another life. Upcycling is a beautiful way to reduce waste while also creating something unique and sustainable. But have you ever heard of upcycled beer?

That’s right! A group of innovative brewers has teamed up to create beer made from upcycled ingredients. The project is a collaboration between Lagunitas Brewing Company and two upcycling startups, The Family Jones Spirit House and Toast Ale.

The Family Jones Spirit House and Toast Ale: The Power Duo

The Family Jones Spirit House is a distillery that primarily works with grain. Toast Ale, on the other hand, is a brewery that upcycles discarded bread. Together, they’ve been on a mission to find new and creative ways to reuse ingredients that would otherwise end up as waste. And that’s how the idea for upcycled beer was born.

Brewing Beer from Grain and Bread

The process of brewing beer from upcycled grain and bread isn’t all that different from brewing conventional beer. First, the grain and bread are milled, which means they’re ground up into small pieces. Next, they’re combined with water and heated up.

When brewing with upcycled ingredients, the brewers have to pay extra attention to the flavors the grain and bread bring to the mix. Different variations of grain and bread can create unique tasting notes in the beer, so it’s essential to get the combinations just right.

A Beer That Tackles Food Waste

One of the most exciting things about upcycled beer is that it tackles food waste head-on. In America alone, over 30% of food is wasted, which is a staggering amount. By collaborating with upcycling companies like The Family Jones Spirit House and Toast Ale, Lagunitas Brewing Company is doing its part to reduce food waste in a unique and inventive way.

The Future of Upcycled Beer

Upcycled beer is a new and exciting concept, but it’s just the beginning of the upcycling movement. With so much waste in the world, there’s a lot of work to be done to make upcycling and sustainability a more significant part of our everyday lives. The future of upcycled beer is bright, and we’re excited to see how this innovative project continues to grow and evolve.

Now that you know about upcycled beer, remember to support your local brewers who are working tirelessly to make our world a better place, one beer at a time. Cheers to the brewers who turn waste into gold!

Dustin

Dustin is a writer about craft beer and a professional brewer in the city of Chicago. He has written for several magazines and has over a decade of experience in the beer industry. He is currently working on a book about the history of beer in Chicago.

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