Episode 06 - Beer

Beer is the fifth most consumed beverage in the world behind tea, carbonates, milk and coffee. Average global consumption is 23 litres/person per year.

Beer – what is in it and how is it made?

There are four main ingredients in beer: malt barley, hops, yeast, and water. Beer is derived from malted gains. Barley is the most usual grain, but wheat, rye, oats, and sorghum can also be used. Even in wheat beer the proportion of barley is generally over 50%. Malt provides the spectrum of colour to beer. Hops are made from the flower of the humulus lupulus plant, which is a species of flowering plant in the hemp family native to Europe, western Asia, and North America. They offset the sweetness of the malt barley. Yeast is the engine which creates beer through fermentation. Then, of course, you need water to brew beer.

To learn more, check out the steps of making beer here.

Major beer producers

The beer industry is an oligopoly with AB InBev and Heineken as the two top companies. AB InBev (Anheuser-Busch InBev) is the largest multinational beer company, with $55 billion USD in sales. It controls about 30% of the global beer market. AB InBev makes brands like Beck’s, Budweiser, Corona, Leffe, Stella Artois. Other major multinational beer companies include Heineken, Asahi Group, Kirin, Molson Coors, Carlsberg Group, and Thai Beverage.

You can find out whether your beer brand of choice is from one of these companies by going to https://isitbigbeer.com/ (although it is not comprehensive).

Beer and the Environment

Water usage

The brewing industry is one of the largest industrial users of water. 60-180 litres of water can be used to produce a litre of beer. This includes the entire life cycle of beer. One estimate suggests that the virtual water footprint of beer could be as high as 240L of water for 1L of beer. Within the brewery itself, a 5-to-1 ratio is common.

The main sources of water usage in beer production: upstream (producing and transporting raw materials, especially barley farming), operations (brewing and bottling), downstream (transporting and refrigerating the beer). More than three-quarters of the upstream environmental impact of beer is from (1) glass manufacturing, (2) barley production, and (3) malting. Big breweries are typically more water efficient than small brewers, generally speaking. However, some craft breweries are very water efficient.

Emissions

Emissions come from different stages of beer production. Brewery operations themselves are typically about 20% of overall emissions, but can be as little as 5% for environmentally-conscious breweries (according to Oxford Companion to Beer, Environmental Issues). The production of raw materials accounts for 47-63% of emissions. And packaging is 19-46%. The largest single impact in the beer supply chain is refrigeration at retail (25%).

Barley has a heavy environmental footprint. Using unmalted barley can reduce environmental footprint, as can using local organic barley.

Waste

The main sources of food waste from beer production are barley straw, malt waste, and spent grain.

Big or small: which is best?

Around half (46%) of the greenhouse gas (GHG) impact of brewing beer comes from indirect sources (barley agriculture, malted barley transportation, and bottle production). Generally speaking, large breweries are more efficient than small ones. The carbon footprint per litre of beer was more than double for craft breweries versus industrial production (in Italy).

Cans or bottles?

Bauxite is used to make aluminum, and it is often sourced from developing countries. Malaysia is now the top bauxite producer. Bauxite is typically strip-mined. And smelting aluminum is very energy-intensive. It is true that aluminum cans can be made of up to 70% recycled material (up to 40% according to the David Suzuki Foundation). Cans made with recycled materials can be more emissions efficient, as recycled aluminum uses only 3% of the energy required to produce virgin aluminum.

Glass bottles are made with silica (industrial sand and gravel), which is less energy intensive than making virgin aluminum. Glass bottles can contain approximately 30% recycled content. Manufacturing a 12-oz aluminum can is twice as energy-intensive as making a similarly-sized glass bottle.

However, aluminum cans are lighter, so they are less carbon-intensive to ship. Transporting a glass bottle emits up to 20% more GHG than a can if shipped cross-country. For this reason, the David Suzuki Foundation recommends that you use cans only if you are buying beer from far away.

Aluminum cans with plastic sleeves become an issue for recycling. These sleeves are often non-recyclable. It is also difficult to separate from the can, rendering it non-recyclable. So, the sleeves become a contaminant in the recycling stream, and can even lead to the can itself going to landfill. Craft breweries tend to use plastic sleeves because the minimum order for printing is usually pretty high.

Recycling glass is less efficient than recycling aluminum. However, glass bottles in Canada are often reused. Recovery rates are higher for glass bottles (97%, compared with 80%). In the US, this is different – cans are recycled more often than glass bottles.

In Canada, breweries can use “industry standard bottles” (IS-B). When they do, these bottled are cleaned and refilled an average of 15 times. The industry standard bottle program started by an agreement between Labatt and Molson in 1992. There were some early problems, but in 2001 the Standard Mould Bottle Agreement was struck. Signatories agreed to use only the IS-B for malt-based beverages sold/distributed in Canada in non-metal containers of less than 600ml. Around 50 Canadian breweries participating (including Molson Coors). Companies that sign on don’t have to pay provincial levies for non-refillables. The US has similar programs, but it is more prevalent in Canada. The emissions savings on washing/reusing a glass bottle versus melting and remoulding it is 92%.

So, what should you do? If you’re in Canada, buy beer in an industry standard bottle. If you’re in the US, buy an aluminum or steel can without a plastic cover. Either way, local is better. Try refillable kegs or growlers if your local brewery allows it.

Beer and Human Rights

We were not able to find much on beer and human rights, unfortunately. Maybe we will revisit this issue in a future episode. A few notes though. First, beer in aluminum cans also has the baggage of human rights abuses from bauxite production.

On labour practices in breweries, we looked a bit at unionization rates. All AB InBev beer made in the US is made by unionized workers. For other major producers, it’s a bit more mixed. You can find a list of union-made beer here. Craft breweries rarely employ unionized workers – in 2016 Gulf Island Brewery became BC’s first unionized craft brewery.

Kyla’s Notes

The colour changing gin she was drinking was Arbutus Blue Gin.
Vice published an article suggesting the higher the alcohol content, the higher the carbon footprint. Read more here!
Cider, the greenest alcohol?
While wine and beer are often not vegan (what? Why not, you ask? We talk about it more in our upcoming episode about Vegetarianism!), spirits are usually vegan unless honey or cream is used as an ingredient for flavouring.
The impact of wine on the environment appears to be ok! But this note is subject to change…
Some fun facts about different spirits!
Jobs in the alcohol industry, and revenue. And more fun revenue stats.
Alcohol’s death toll globally. And it’s health effects:
- From the WHO
- From Forbes