REGINA — Regina’s District Brewing Co. is making strides in sustainability efforts.
District Brewing is the only known brewery in Saskatchewan that reuses CO₂ using a smart carbon capture machine.
“[It] actually takes the CO₂ that's released during the fermentation of our beers, and it captures it, and it filters it to 99.9 per cent clear, and then we reuse that CO₂ instead of it just being released into the atmosphere,” said Hayden McPherson, marketing co-ordinator for District Brewing Co.
According to McPherson, District Brewing produces 80 metric tonnes of CO₂ a year. Those numbers are comparable to nearly 20 gas vehicles driven each year.
“This machine cuts down on our use of outsourced CO₂ by 98 per cent, so we're almost self-reliant on all of our CO₂ supply just from our fermentation on its own,” noted McPherson.
The smart carbon capture machine costs roughly $75,000. District Brewing managed to acquire some financial aid from the federal government for purchasing the device.
McPherson said this move is part of the company’s overall goal of sustainability.
“We're always brewing for a better tomorrow, not leaving too much of an impact on our earth and being as sustainable with everything we use as possible.”
McPherson noted their CO₂ capture machine and other sustainability efforts factored into Paddock Wood Brewing Co. announcing a new partnership with the brewery last week.
Those other sustainability initiatives include donating spent grain to farmers.
Spent grain is a byproduct leftover after the brewery’s mash of barley, wheat or oats.
McPherson noted the grain is super-nutritious for animals.
As for upcoming shifts in sustainability for brewing, digitally printed cans instead of labelled cans could soon become the norm.
“[They] come out not only for better quality, but it's easier to recycle, has a lot less toxins and things like that,” noted McPherson.
On their side, McPherson said District Brewing plans to continue its sustainability efforts.
“What we want to achieve is looking into getting solar panels as well, to help reduce our energy inputs and really get that under control.”
He added, “going on developing where you can actually capture biogas from spent grain is also something to look at.”
