Terrapin Beer Commits to 100% Sun-Powered Brewing

, Terrapin Beer Commits to 100% Sun-Powered Brewing

Terrapin Brewing is taking its sustainability efforts to the next level and will soon be the first Georgia brewer to purchase renewable power directly at its own facility.

Through a partnership with Cherry Street Energy, a new solar array is being installed on the Terrapin rooftop, as well as solar-panel sunshades in the brewery’s parking lot. And once completed the solar panels will offset around 30% of Terrapin’s energy consumption with a renewable resource.

, Terrapin Beer Commits to 100% Sun-Powered BrewingCherry Street Energy, an Atlanta based renewable power company, will own, operate and maintain the solar panels at the brewery and, as part of the deal, will sell the power generated back to Terrapin.

“Our model allows Terrapin to avoid the upfront cost of the solar infrastructure, and solely pay for the power generated at competitive rates to their current utility” says Samantha Lenard, Cherry Street Energy’s director of sustainability. “The brewery is projected to offset up to 339 tons of carbon dioxide, which saves the equivalent of 362 acres of U.S. forest in one year and equates to taking 65 passenger cars off the road each year.”

Terrapin’s president Dustin Watts, told Behind the Beer, that the solar project is just a part of a much broader sustainability initiative for the Athens, Georgia-based brewery…

“The very idea of sustainability was originally ingrained in our DNA, and it’s something we’ve always been passionate about.”

“When we look at what we’re all about as a company, it’s about making great beer, the outdoors, recreation and music. Love for the outdoors is at the core of who we are at Terrapin, as a brewery and as individual employees.”

, Terrapin Beer Commits to 100% Sun-Powered Brewing“We look to do what’s best for our communities and for the environment because it matters to each of us. It’s that simple.”

Terrapin’s sustainability efforts, something the company calls its Terraprint, are impressive and the now MillerCoors owned brewery deserves credit for its earth-friendly initiatives as do other big brewers, such as Anheuser-Busch InBev.

Peter Frost assembled some of the highlights from Terrapin Beer’s sustainability initiatives in recent years…

  • Terrapin was the first craft brewery in Georgia to package its beer in recyclable aluminum cans, and all of its cartons and case boxes are made of recycled material and are 100% recyclable.
  • The brewery installed a wastewater pretreatment facility that mitigates strain on its municipal treatment plant and ultimately contributes to improved quality of the local watershed.
  • It also saves water with equipment that captures condensate within its steam line and via the implementation of a new clean-in-place system on brewing and fermentation tanks.
  • Terrapin has installed LED lighting with automated sensors in its warehouse and high-efficiency on-demand boilers in the brewery.
  • Byproduct from the brewery’s wastewater pretreatment facility is composted and returned to the brewery landscape for beautification, plant health and erosion mitigation.

“Every decision we make at the brewery has an effect, and we continue to look for opportunities to be better,” Watts says. “A lot of people make beer, and these days a lot of people make good beer. We want to stand for something bigger than beer.”

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