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WHITLEY CARPENTER
lagEl.lffll!* feature
Green Beer
IT’S NOT JUST FOR ST. PATRICK’S DAY ANYMORE
By Caroline Gregor news@flagpole.com
W hile sipping suds with friends
at one of Athens’ local brewer
ies, beer fans can know they’re
supporting a company that’s committed to
environmental sustainability.
Terrapin Beer Co. has taken steps to
minimize its impact on the environ
ment, referred to as “terraprint” by the
brewery. Some of the practices the
brewery implements in its day-to-
day work include recycling,
composting and a wastewater
pre-treatment facility.
Through the multiple
terraprint projects, peo
ple are “starting to think
differently and our behavior
is starting to change,” says com
pany president Dustin Watts.
Last year, the Georgia Water Coalition
recognized Terrapin in its “Clean 13”
report, recognizing “individuals, businesses,
industries, non-profit organizations and
governmental agencies whose extraordinary
efforts have led to cleaner rivers, stronger
communities and a more sustainable future
for Georgians.” Breweries use more water
than most businesses, but Terrapin has
reduced its water usage by 20%.
It’s also working with Atlanta-based
Cherry Street Energy—chosen in consulta
tion with the UGA Office of Sustainability
and Athens-Clarke County Sustainability
Officer Andrew Saunders—to install solar
panels on the roof of its Newton Bridge
Road building and solar panel sunshades in
the parking lot. In contrast to something
like pre-treating wastewater, “solar is kind
of a sexy thing,” Watts says. “It’s easy to
understand what it does.”
Once installed, the panels will provide
Terrapin with 30% of its total energy. “It’s
solar brewed beer now.” Watts says. That
means up to 339 tons of the greenhouse gas
carbon dioxide won’t be released into the
atmosphere—the equivalent of saving 362
acres of forest or taking 65 cars off the road.
Terrapin’s solar array will be the largest
of any craft brewery in Georgia, as well
as the largest of any business in Athens,
according to Watts. “We want to be bigger
than beer,” he says. “Beer is a huge part of
who we are, and beer is great because it
brings people together. With this terraprint
project, it’s showing how we are bigger than
beer.”
And, says Cherry Street founder Michael
Chanin, it’s the first installation in Georgia
where a company is buying solar energy
directly. Cherry Street was founded to
take advantage of a 2015 state law
that allowed third-party vendors
to sell solar energy, and has
installed solar arrays for
the cities of Atlanta and
Macon. In Terrapin’s case,
Cherry Street is installing
solar panels at no charge
to Terrapin and selling the
power they generate to the com
pany at a rate less than what Georgia
Power charges, Chanin says. In the future,
Cherry Street will expand the array and add
batteries.
Terrapin isn’t the only brewery in Athens
taking steps to create a greener environ
ment. Creature Comforts has made steps to
run on more sustainable business, as well.
According to head brewmaster Adam
Beauchamp, Creature Comforts is commit
ted to sustainable practices by complying
with all applicable
environmental reg
ulations, preventing
pollution whenever
possible, educating
staff and empowering
them to contribute
to the company’s sus
tainability program,
and improving over
time by striving to
measure environ
mental impacts and
settings.
Because Creature
Comforts is located
in two historic
buildings—the old
Snow Tire facility
downtown and
Southern Mill in
Boulevard—there was no need to use all-
new materials to construct a new building.
The design of the brewery itself also has
tons of natural light, which cuts down on
the usage of indoor lighting. And when
they do use lights inside, they’re all LED.
Creature Comforts also has an internship
through the UGA Office of Sustainability,
which brings in students to brainstorm new
and better sustainability practices for the
company. One of their recent projects was
cutting down on the usage of hot water.
The company has invested in more ener
gy-efficient equipment, such as a natural
gas-burning boiler that burns 10-40% less
natural gas than a standard boiler.
“A typical brewing system may be 80%
efficient in terms of how much sugar is
able to be extracted from the barley. This
system is 95% efficient,” Beachamp says. “It
actually saves about 1,000 pounds of barley
for every 85-barrel batch of [flagship IPA]
Tropicalia we brew over our old system.” ©
Terrapin President Dustin Watts, co-founder Brian “Spike” Buckowski and
Athens-Clarke County Mayor Kelly Girtz (from left) cut the ribbon on Terrapin’s
solar energy project.
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FEBRUARY 5, 2020 | FLAGPOLE.COM H