Water Conservation in Brewing

Water conservation is a hot and crucial topic in the brewing industry. Not only is water an essential ingredient in the brewing process, but it is also used for various processes in the brewery such as cleaning, rinsing, and cooling. For commercial breweries, it is obvious that saving water reduces their raw material and production costs. Additionally, it is worth noting that breweries have a strong connection to nature and agriculture, making many brewers committed to environmental sustainability.

Water resources are coming increasingly under pressure

One example is the recent past Green Deal between the government and several brewers, including Rodenbach Brewery, Palm, De Halve Maan, and AB InBev. Green Deals in Flanders are innovative green collaboration projects focusing on water, food, circular economy, and many other themes. This specific deal was a partnership between sector organizations, the Flemish government, and breweries to promote more sustainable water management in the brewing sector.

Water resources are coming increasingly under pressure, so the participating parties sought concrete initiatives to reduce water consumption per quantity of beer produced by 2023, including measures to use less groundwater from sources in poor condition. 

Some breweries mainly looked at the bigger picture by closely monitoring and measuring their water consumption or by organising BLITS (Supervised Learning In Teams) courses for employees. Others looked at specific parts of their processes such as the bottling line, cooling systems, CIP (Cleaning in Place) installations, or water treatment. 

Besides relatively simple solutions such as recycling or collecting water, they also invested in innovations such as membrane filtration and reverse osmosis.

On average, producing 1 litre of beer requires 7 litres of water. Thanks to the efforts of the participating breweries, some were able to reduce their consumption to almost 3 litres per litre of beer produced. Thus, in 2023, a net decrease of 654,260 cubic meters of water consumption was achieved through water-saving measures. Over five years, these measures saved a total of 2,286,822 cubic meters of water, equivalent to 915 Olympic-sized swimming pools. Moreover, the eight breweries together saved 1.18 million cubic meters of deep groundwater. That's significant!

What can a home brewer do?

Anyone who thinks that home brewers outperform large, industrialized brewers is mistaken. We know, there are countless brewing setups and variations possible in your home brewery, making it difficult to accurately measure the water usage of a home brewer. In addition, factors such as the amount of rinse water used, the efficiency of the cooling process, and how thoroughly the brewer cleans after brewing should be considered. Still, informed estimates easily speak of 7 to 10 litres of water per litre of beer produced.

Of course, we understand that hobby brewers have little or no access to the tools that larger breweries employ to combat water waste. Nevertheless, we believe there is still room for improvement for some. We share some tips you might not have thought of or heard of. 

Brew Monk counterflow chiller

This counterflow chiller is a solid addition to your home brewery. Inside this counterflow chiller, your wort flows in the opposite direction of the cooling water, ensuring optimal heat exchange. Thanks to this efficient exchange, your wort is quickly cooled and can be directed straight to your fermentation vessel. As a result, you use much less water and significantly speed up the cooling process. When using the Brew Monk counterflow chiller, you only need 40 litres of cooling water for 20 litres of wort, whereas a Brewferm Chill'in 20 stainless steel wort chiller can use up to 160 litres of cooling water. Besides water, you also save time, as the counterflow chiller cools about four times faster than an immersion chiller. This rapid cooling means your wort is exposed to bacteria for a shorter period. It's a win-win situation!

Bottle rinsers

For those looking to maximize their cleaning solution with detergent, it's a good idea to rinse their bottles with a bottle rinse device like the Ferrari Spin or The Vintage Shop's Monster Cleaner. The system is straightforward but no less effective. A simple, mechanical pump sprays the detergent against the inside of your bottle. The excess detergent flows back into the collection jar for the next bottle to be cleaned. This system is suitable for cleaning with Chemipro Wash for example, or for a final acid rinse with Chemipro San. When using Chemipro San, it's important to keep the pH below 3.8 to ensure optimal performance.

Additional tip: Rinse your bottles immediately after degustation to avoid unnecessary scrubbing and cleaning later on.

Collect your cooling water

It's a no-brainer, but many hobby brewers don't bother. Invest in a quality container to collect your cooling water. Cooling 20 litres of wort can use between 40 and 160 litres of clean water. This water doesn't come into contact with dirt or wort, so it's perfectly reusable as, for example, cleaning water in your brewery. Feel free to browse through our range of polypropylene containers with screw lids and taps.

Hop pellets vs. hop flowers

You might not realize it, yet it's true: hop flowers use more water! The difference in water loss between using hop cones and hop pellets can be significant. Hop flowers absorb about 1.5 litres of wort per 100 grams of hops, whereas hop pellets, which are more compact and break down into smaller particles, only absorb 0.6-0.7 litres of wort per 100 grams of hops. This means that if you use 200 grams of hops, hop flowers will absorb about 3 litres of wort, while hop pellets will only absorb 1.4 litres of wort. This amounts to an additional water loss of 1.6 litres when using hop flowers. So when it comes to efficient water use, it's best to go for the pellets.

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