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Sustainably is the ‘it’ word and concept nowadays. But will the public really embrace beer brewed from waste water?
Here’s the deal…
Over the weekend Stockholm’s Nya Carnegiebryggeriet (a Carlsberg brewing facility that’s actually operated by Brooklyn Brewery), and the Swedish Environmental Research Institute (IVL) debuted a beer they developed together brewed with recycled waste water.
The result of IVL’s many years in the trenches developing the technology that can transform waste into safe drinking water, PU:REST is a 4.8% ABV Pilsner made with organic malt, hops and recycled waste water.
In an effort to introduce their ‘waste into safe drinking water’ concept to the consumer in a more palatable manner, IVL thought “why not a beer?” When they approached the Carlsberg-owned brewery Brewmaster Chris Thurgeson said “we couldn’t resist the challenge,” and rest is history according to Lonely Planet.
And although they’re the first brewery to have crafted a commercial beer from sewage water, they’re not the first brewery to successfully brew a beer from waste liquids.
Last year Stone Brewing made headlines last when they successfully brewed a small batch of ale with waste water for an event but that beer wasn’t for sale and it remains to be seen if the public will be willing to pay for the opportunity to drink beer brewed from sewage.
But with the ‘sewage beer’ becoming available in Swedish liquor stores on July 2nd we’ll soon have a better gauge as to the public’s appetite for waste water brews.
All image credits: Nya Carnegiebryggeriet
