Happy Earth Day! Or as the United Nations (UN) and much of the rest of the world prefers, International Mother Earth Day. On such a truly special occasion, the 50th anniversary of the designation, it’s a safe bet that plenty of environmentalists will be celebrating with an artisan crafted beer. So to honor both traditions here’s a list of nine U.S. breweries, and one from Australia, where everyday feels like Earth Day. Even their names have been inspired by our planet’s magnificence. We asked them to summarize how that inspiration helped impacted their namesakes. Below are their responses.
Beer on Earth – Providence, Rhode Island
For our name, we wanted something that captured how important beer is to cultures all around the world; how wherever you go, you are sure to find people socializing with the beer of choice for their region. Beer is a way of bringing people together no matter what language they speak, and we thought that “Beer On Earth” was a clever way of capturing that sentiment.
Earth Eagle Brewings – Portsmouth, New Hampshire
The qualities which Native Americans attribute to the “Eagle of the Earth” (common wild turkey) speak to our philosophy as brewers and business owners: ecological, charitable, resilient, and unconventional. ”Brewings” is our nod to the first brewers, women from whose cast iron cauldrons came special brews for their families and communities. Cheers to you, intrepid imbibers, for sharing our adventures in beer.
Earth – Bread + Brewery – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The reason we chose to name Earth – Bread + Brewery is because the restaurant industry is typically pretty wasteful and we wanted to do whatever we could to leave the smallest footprint. Our restaurant and brewery was built with sustainability in the forefront. We are avid composters and recyclers, the cleaning products we use are non-toxic, we buy locally whenever possible, and our spent grain is used as feed for the cows or composted. We’re members of the Sustainable Business Network, Climate Collaborative and Slow Food Philadelphia, and we support the PA Association of Sustainable Agriculture.
Earth Rider Beer – Superior, Wisconsin
Earth Rider beers are crafted by decorated brewers with cold, clear Lake Superior water and premium, hand-selected ingredients. We brew at the head of the Great Lakes on the Duluth-Superior Harbor for Minnesota and Wisconsin. Fiercely independent Earth Rider Brewery crafts world-class beer with Lake Superior water and peerless ingredients. Earth Rider’s team is proud to sustainably produce beer for Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Earthly Labs – Austin, Texas
Our mission is to recapture 1 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) waste to avoid having it released into the atmosphere to help preserve the Earth we love. In addition to applications for home and buildings, we help brewers (Hops & Grain, Denver Beer Co., Devil’s Canyon), capture and reuse up to 50% their CO2 waste, reduce their costs, and make better and more sustainable beer.
Related Story: A Toast to the B-Corp Breweries Who Put Employees, Environment, and Community On Par With Profits
From The Earth Brewing – Roswell, Georgia
From the Earth is a brewpub with amazing food made with premium ingredients and a lot of love. We work directly with local farmers and growers to ensure we have the freshest, sustainably raised ingredients possible. We are satisfied knowing where our products come from, and we believe the consistency we provide to our partners helps them make decisions that have the long-term goal in mind: caring about our food, where it comes from, and how it was farmed.
Green Earth Brewing – Greeley, Colorado
We make great efforts to brew our ales in the most sustainable ways we possibly can, using only local grains and hops in our ales, managing our water consumption by reusing it as faithfully as we can, and donating our spent grains to the local high school agricultural program. Our taproom and brewhouse are filled with reused and repurposed items that have been given an extended life. Since people are part of our beautiful Earth, we’ve been moderating hours and cautiously serving patrons during the COVID-19 outbreak to keep them healthy and safe.
Mother Earth Brewing – Kinston, North Carolina
Our mission is to help you savor the goodness of Mother Earth. Being green can be easy, and making simple, educated product decisions during our design phase was critical to our overall objective of a low-impact brewery. In 2013, the United States Green Building Council took notice, and after a nine month observation period, they awarded Mother Earth Brewing a Gold certification in the LEED® program. We’re proud to be the first production brewery in the country to achieve the Gold rating, the highest rating ever attained by a brewery.
Red Earth Brewery – Cudgen, Australia
Our story started with a working avocado farm overlooking Mt. Warning, an old tin packing shed and a vision forged in the red earth of the Tweed Valley. Fueled by the love of this land, we believe in making time for the good things life has to offer: a morning surf and a cool, crisp beer to finish off the day. We figured you can’t have a beautiful place without a fresh local beer, and you can’t have a great local beer without great people. So here, in this special place, we come together. By collaborating with local suppliers, we celebrate the best produce Australia has to offer, and at the same time we’re able to give back to the community. We believe in low impact brewing. We package our beers minimally and distribute locally. Even our spent grain ends up as breakfast for the much-loved pet pigs down the road. When we learn something new about how to further reduce our footprint, we act on it, happily. Our aim at Red Earth Brewery is to bring together those from all walks of life with a shared love of quality beer and the land we are lucky enough to brew it on.
Scorched Earth Brewing – Algonquin, Illinois
The namesake of the brewery was initially forged by our interest to claim a name that truly represented the land and its history. Years before Illinois was settled, much of it was covered by vast swaths of prairie grasses. Uninspired by pictures of prairies alone, we dug deeper. Our research took us to stories and images of prairie fires, some of which were ignited by terrible forces of nature and truly destructive, others that were purposefully started. The fires essentially wiped out an ecosystem, but also provided a new beginning for greater growth, diversity, and creativity – a fresh start. Scorched Earth symbolizes this for us in so many ways. More than anything, though, it represents a blank canvas to create a unique and diverse portfolio of beers and experiences.
Thanks for featuring Earthly Labs and the brewers that invest in our carbon capture technology to reduce CO2 emissions. A shout out to all of them in addition to those you mentioned – Austin Beerworks (featured here), (512) Brewing, Icicle Brewing, Jackalope Brewing, Double Mountain and many more! Amy
Hi Amy: Would love to see the full list of your brewery partners and learn a little more about the concept. Cheers to sustainable beers.