Paige Mattson is the creator of Sprout Bottle, a handcrafted, reclaimed beer bottle garden kit that she says she invented because of a growing interest in repurposing items that become garbage far too often.
Switching from the once-ubiquitous brown bottles to cans may have been novel nine years ago, but today, it’s just one way craft brewers are reexamining their relationship with the container industry in hopes of shaving costs and putting better beer on the shelves.
While many beer advocates would argue that nothing smells better than beer being brewed, hardly anyone would think of the byproduct—spent grain—as a base for a high-end perfume.
Beer helps prevent osteoporosis; 5 Seasons uses rainwater for brewing; Kettle House collaborates on beer-flavored ice cream; and AB-InBev and Miller-Coors raise prices.
On water alone, brewers use roughly 20 gallons for every pint of beer in your fridge. Toss in electricity, fuel for heating, sewage-effluent loads and the masses of spent malt, and you can see why sizable breweries are looking to cut back.
