Solar-Powered Beer at Anderson Valley Brewing Company
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 03. 2.06
The Anderson Valley Brewing Company, a craft brewery in Boonville, California, recently started brewing beer with the help of solar energy it collects. The $860,000 photovoltaic project includes two arrays that generate 125 kWh; they claim this makes it the largest privately-owned PV system north of the San Francisco Bay area (we assume that's limited to the US). The system is expected to generate about 40 percent of the brewers annual energy needs. About the project, a longtime Anderson Valley employee said, "We've got solar powered beer going on here. You can drink it and feel good that you're helping to preserve the environment." We don't need another reason to feel good while drinking beer, but we approve of this project nonetheless. Anderson Valley is available on both coasts, with some limited distribution to Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. ::Anderson Valley Brewing Company via ::Unplugged Living
Ah, are they organic too?
Pretty good beer, and it's nice to see brewers moving towards other ways of lessening environmental impact besides organic brewing, which can affect the taste of the final product. Doesn't beat my favorite Oregon brews, but I'm glad to see people are changing for the better! I was skeptical that their solar array beat out Kettle Foods (makers of Kettle chips) in Salem, OR, but it looks like Kettle's 120,000 kWh array is just beaten by Anderson's 125,000 kWh (not 125 kWh, as your article and the two source articles claim) array. Keep up the good work, Anderson.
If only all Frisbee Golf courses had a brewery.
Lang Brewery in Montana has not only a frisbee golf course , but a light aircraft landing strip. The Campbell's John and Sandy are great people and he makes Really Good Beer.
Their IPA is fabulous. For more fun tidbits like this, check out:
beeractivist.wordpress.com/