Sustainability
Earth-Friendly Brewing:
- Waste products including the "spent grain," used hop flowers, berries and brewers yeast are given to local farmers for reuse as livestock feed.
- Nylon malt bags are collected for gardening, sandbagging and eco-construction.
- Wooden bungs used to seal kegs are chipped into a nutrient-rich garden compost.
- Pallets and slip-boards used to transport kegs are returned to the distributor and reused.
- Five-gallon buckets used to hold everything from cleaning agents to fruit products are reused in the pubs to recycle oil and glass.
- Much of the brewing equipment is purchased second-hand and retrofitted to suit McMenamins' needs. In fact, most of the small-brewery fermenters began their service overseas in England.
- Kegs are purchased from other breweries or industrial recycling plants.
