Deeds, M. (2018, August 29). It was toilet wastewater. Now it’s beer. Can you swallow this new Boise brewery trend? Retrieved
November, 2018, from
https://www.idahostatesman.com/entertainment/ent-columns-blogs/words-deeds/article217481130.html
This article talks about beer. More specifically on the name that it should be given after it is produced from recycled “toilet” water. Names like “Deja Brew”, “Wasted Pale Ale”, and “Brown Trout” are among the possibilities for names. The article points that the problem isn’t purifying the water of brewing the beer but, instead, selling the product. Brewing companies, like Mad Swede and Mother Earth are open to ideas. Jerry Larson from Mad Swede states that “water is king,” meaning that the more water Idaho residents save, the better of they will be and this holds true for many other states and counties. Participating in Pure Water Brew Boise, a large conference, Mother Earth hopes to educate people on the benefits and funnel any monetary donations into a scholarship fund for people working on bettering water treatments and Water for People, a nonprofit.
Interest after reading this article led me to research more about the differences in production volume. I found that it takes approximately 20 gallons of water to make a pint of beer, something that isn’t very environmentally friendly. The problem these breweries are facing is definitely real and difficult to look past. It’s a challenge when one want to be funny with the name they’ll use for their beer but ultimately, they want to make a profit, since it is a business and scaring away potential buyers is not the way. As a last thing, I was shocked after reading that recycled water can offer more calcium and minerals, making it overall healthier than the tap water coming out of our faucets.
I had no idea that this was the case for beer! Did you read anything about what certain companies, if anything, have done to limit their use of water? If so, what would that be?
It sucks how much water it take to make this beer, definitely not the best use of water especially in places like California. But it is super interesting that the recycled water is better for you. My question is how could we save some of this water for uses other then this?
This is super interesting and a very innovative way for recycling water! However do you think with this being the headline the “ick factor” would play heavily when customers purchase their beer?
Why was toilet water the choice for their water source? Is there no cleaner alternative? Water from street drains, even, seems cleaner than sewage.
This was definitely interesting to read, I had no clue that beer companies were attempting this. Could the same principles of brewing beer with waste water be applied to using waste water for other industrial food production? Is this even a possibility, or is it just the nature of beer brewing that allows waste water to be a viable resource?