Beer: Taste Test How To Drink Responsibly
No one needs an excuse to drink good beer, but here's one anyhow: 2014 is the best year ever to find ecofriendly ales. Virtually nonexistent 20 years ago, green beer is now being cranked out by brewers of all sizes, from micro to mega.
"When I opened in 1996, I was barely able to find organic malt," says Ron Silberstein, who started San Francisco's ThirstyBear Brewing Co. and sits on the Good Food Awards Beer Committee. "But as more people use organic products, it has become easier to brew sustainably."
Microbreweries like ThirstyBear often have a drastically smaller carbon footprint than their giant competitors. On average, a locally brewed pint is 300 percent kinder to the planet than a bottle of beer that has traveled far. Microbrews make up just 7.8 percent of beers by volume, but the number of small breweries grew by 18 percent last year.
To even be considered for a Good Food Award, beer makers must recycle water, source locally, and not use genetically modified ingredients. To win, they have to be tasty, too.
http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/2014-5-september-october/taste-test/how-drink-responsibly?utm_source=insider&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter
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