We’re not just passionate about producing the best beers we’re almost evangelical about things that are regenerative, sustainable and local: We pride ourselves on understanding what our customers want and sticking to the very best in traditional brewing. But we get just as excited about using the principles of past crafts and then fitting them to the best in emerging ideas and modern technologies. We think that’s why our beers stand out so clearly and win accolades where it really counts, in the glass and out of the bottle.

Henry’s sustainable thoughts

We get behind and support our region, it’s people and it’s resources, whether it’s music festivals or village cricket, working in partnership with communities and publicans or partnering village allotment schemes, you’ll find the brewery at the heart of its community,

We make best use of all emerging green technologies and harness the environmental assets where we live. We capture rainwater from the extensive roofs of our barrel and bottle store and utilise this grey water for vehicle washing, general wash-down, hand wash and toilet flushing.

We don’t just follow others when it comes to sustainability we also create innovative solutions where there were originally barriers.For example when we were told there were no technologies to simultaneously heat our bottle store and cool our barrel  store utilising a ground source heat pump system we designed our own solution. For the past 3 years now we have created an imaginative yet environmentally efficient system that recovers heat from the cold store well. Four boreholes were sunk providing a constant 11c of water that is then compressed for heat or cooling or both. It is so effective that we now heat the offices using the same system.

To enhance the efficiency of the ground source heat pump we installed an 11kw GAIA Wind turbine, a pretty twin blade design that powers about a third of the brewery’s requirements. When the turbine is used to power the compressors that provide heating/cooling from the boreholes a super efficient system is created. Even from the top of Clee Hill yo can spot the spinning blades of the turbine, so if your sat-nav fails just look out for our GAIA Wind turbine.

All of the technologies we have introduced are working hard to reduce our environmental impact and to date we have made a reduction of 17.5 tonnes of C02 waste.

We’re committed to finding new innovative ways of making our production more sustainable and within our brewhouse large heat exchangers recover heat and water from the cooling part of the process and use it at a later time when hot water is required for the following days brew. As well as large scale technologies we have also embraced small changes that all contribute to sustaining our environment. Amongst these changes are the introduction of light weight beer bottles that have reduce our packaging waste. We are also working with the Design Council on new ideas for recycling and producing packaging and fabric from spent hops.

In order to keep our beer miles as low as possible we use locally sourced ingredient in all of our beers. We have also created a self imposed ‘Cask in 50′ rule that means we deliver our cask beers no further than 50 miles from the brewery. This not only has environmental benefits but also helps ensure our beers are enjoyed at their very best every time.

Whatever we do, we will always strive for best practice in our brewing and bottling processes and we will continue to be innovative in the ways in which we support our environment.

You can find out more about saving energy and reducing your own carbon emissions by following the below links.

www.energysavingtrust.org.uk – The Energy Saving Trust is an independent organisation focused on promoting action that leads to the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions. They have a wealth of information and advice for the general public and businesses. To calculate your carbon footprint or to give your home an energy check click here.

Meet Dave – the new star of the Energy Saving Trust TV ad

www.ezsolar.co.uk – EZsolar are water heating specialists. They aim to provide the best solar water heating and other renewable technologies while ensuring they make financial sense in addition to benefitting the environment. Therefore all technologies they sell have short realistic payback periods so that before long the customer sees financial benefit.

www.mea.org.uk – The Marches Energy Agency (MEA) is one of the UK’s leading sustainable energy and climate change social enterprise and an independent registered charity. Created in 1995 MEA strives in all of its work to “create the climate for change” and has a wealth of experience in delivering local, regional and European projects.

www.gaia-wind.com – Gaia-Wind manufactures wind turbines for light industrial, agricultural, commercial, municipal and residential use. Their clients include working farms, educational institutions, large home owners, offices and other commercial premises.