Sustainability

We love the pristine wilderness that surrounds us in the Great Smoky Mountains, so naturally it's important to us reduce our impact on the environment and our community when ever possible.

 

Our sustainability program is constantly evolving as we grow. Check back often to see our progress.

 

 

Suggestions

If you have a great Reduce, Reuse or Recycling idea that you'd like to share with us. Drop us a line. We'd love to hear from you.

 

One Step at a Time

The process of getting any business off the ground is an exciting and yet, daunting task. However, even in the early days the concepts of reduce, reuse and recycle were utilized.

 

 

Our space in downtown Bryson City was built in the 1940s and served as a warehouse until we arrived. Over the previous 63 years the building collected a lot more than dust... When planning out the space, we incorporated as much of the existing mountain of material living inside in the design. From the stairs to the walls, the materials we reused gives our space it's unique "cabin industrial" look.

 

To find another interesting reuse project all you have to do is look up. The black tarps suspended 20 feet up are actually the back side of California billboard, which are required to be printed on fire-retardant material due to the frequent wild fires common on west.

 

Brewing uses lots of power even at our level. We focused on every aspect the business to find ways to reduce our consumption.

 

What We've Done So Far

• Traditional light fixtures throughout the brewery have been replaced with LED bulbs.

 

• Our cold room is cooled by our chiller (which runs 24/7 to chill our fermenters), thus eliminating the need for a second cooling system.

 

• You'll find low flow toilets and waterless urinals in our restrooms.

 

• Our 12,000 square foot space is cooled by Big Ass Fans which use less than 3 amps per unit (operating at full power).

 

• The Green Room serves as our cold weather Tap Room, eliminating the need to heat the entire building.

 

• Infrared heating is utilized at the main Tap Room bar when needed.

 

 

Just about every item that comes into our brewery that can be recycled is recycled or composted. That includes all the cardboard, glass, tin, aluminum, etc. Each type is separated on-site and delivered to our local recycling center every week.

 

Growlers

In addition to the traditional recycling we -- like many other breweries -- use growlers to sell our beer for off-premise consumption. Every month we trade out hundreds of our growlers, clean & sanitize them and "recycle" them back into the rotation. By cleaning, refilling and recycling this glass back into the system, we reduce our glass orders, resource consumption & fuel costs of producing them and our impact on the environment.

 

Grain

Each week we use several thousand pounds of grain to produce beer. When we are done with it. The spent grain is donated to a local farmer, who uses it to feed his live stock. Just about every brewery uses the same method to recycle their used grain. For us, the process has brought us closer to the community and fostered relationships with families who have been farming these mountains for generations.

 

 

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