Is your craft beer green? No, I’m not talking about food coloring in your Solo cup on St. Patrick’s Day. How environmentally friendly is your beer? Climate change, carbon footprints, and sustainability are hot (and rather controversial) topics. And the question is invariably the same: What are WE doing about it?

Beer is big business. Statista.com states about 141.55 billion barrels of beer were sold in 2022; while beerinstitute.org declares about 62% of beer volume produced in the United States is packaged in aluminum cans. According to The Aluminum Association, Americans throw away roughly $700 Million of recyclable aluminum cans each year. And Science.HowStuffWorks.com estimates only about 25% of glass containers used by consumers in 2018 were actually recycled. That’s a lot of unnecessary waste in landfills. (Fun fact: Believe it or not, Germany outpaces the rest of the world when it comes to recycling, with nearly 66% of the country’s solid waste being recycled annually.)

At Stockholm’s, it is important for us to be responsible stewards of our environment. The beer we brew is delivered through a draft system, and our beer to go is bottled in reusable glass growlers. This eliminates the need for single use bottles or cans. Draft beer flavor also typically keeps longer as there is less probability of variations in temperature, light, pressure, etc. that can alter or ruin the brew. Draft beer can be susceptible to taste contamination if the lines aren’t properly cleaned and maintained. Lucky for us, Mike Seaman, a draft systems professional, expertly cleans our beer lines regularly. Together with his parents Ed and Sue, Mike owns and operates The Homebrew Shop and Broken Brix Winery and Cidery St. Charles. You can find their hard cider at Stockholm’s, as well!

So if you’re looking for an easy and delicious way to reduce your carbon footprint, just drink our beer. It’s a great way to be green, just in time for St. Paddy’s!