Alaskan beer company uses beer as a fuel

Hi Ya! How's it going, eh?  Taking life with a grain of salt? Well, hoist a mug of roasted and brewed Arabica beans and grab a whole grain virtual muffin, why don't'cha? Speaking of grain, The Alaskan Brewing Company came to innovative idea to reduce its fuel oil consumption: the beer company is using beer as a fuel source. (Personally, I used beer as a fuel source for years!)

To be more specific, the company is using the wet grain, known as 'spent grain' - left over from the brewing process, as the fuel source for their new steam boiler. Alaskan is the first craft brewery in the world to use that brewing by-product, reducing the company’s fuel oil consumption in brewhouse operations by 60-70 percent.

"We have the unique honor of brewing craft beer in this stunning and remote place. But in order to grow as a small business here in Alaska and continue having a positive effect on our community, we have to take special efforts to look beyond the traditional to more innovative ways of brewing. Reducing our energy use makes good business sense, and good sense for this beautiful place where we live and play," said Alaskan Brewing co-founder Geoff Larson.

The company began the spent grain energy process in 1995 with the installation of a grain dryer. Company's experts designed the grain dryer to use up to 50 percent of the grain as a supplemental fuel source to heat the dryer itself.

In 2008, The Alaskan Brewing Company became the first craft brewery to install an energy saving piece of brewing equipment called a mash filter press. The mash filter press, in addition to providing greater efficiency, produces a lower-moisture-content spent grain than does the more traditional lautering process. This form of spent grain better lends itself to drying and for use as fuel for the brewery’s grain dryer and, ultimately, the new spent grain steam boiler system.

Over the latter months of the last year, the company completed the final stage of the process with the installation and commissioning of the $1.8 million, custom-constructed spent grain steam boiler.

Alaskan expects that the new boiler will eliminate the brewery’s use of fuel oil in the grain drying process and displace more than half of the fuel needed to create process steam in the brewhouse. The company expects to save nearly 1.5 million gallons of oil over the next ten years.

Well now, I'm impressed. But it's just a different way of thinking. I mean, they had all this left over grain they were throwing out so why not figure out a way to recycle it that would save them a bunch of money. Now that's innovation! I'll drink to that...but since I'm not drinking anymore, I'll hoist my coffee cup with you!

See ya, eh!

Bob