Chapter 7: The Microbrewing and Craft Beer Movement

Chapter 7: The Microbrewing and Craft Beer Movement

Major breweries, or macrobreweries, have begun to change the way they operate in order to achieve higher efficiency, reduce their consumption of energy and water and create a more environmentally sustainable beverage. Microbreweries that don’t have the large profits of macrobreweries stand to benefit greatly from increased energy efficiency. While large breweries produce thousands of barrels of beer every year, microbreweries tend to focus on unique, specialty beers.

Through creativity and ingenuity, microbreweries have the freedom to craft beers that include variations in ingredients, utilize different fermentation processes and create experimental flavors unique to their brand. In some cases, microbreweries produce so little beer that they don’t have the distribution macrobreweries have, preferring to market to small, regional audiences. In order to get their delicious beers into the glasses of consumers, they often employ both a brewery and a pub, also called the “brewpub” business model.

By employing the proper air compressors and improving energy efficiency, small breweries and distilleries can reduce their expenses and focus more on making the specialty beers that are unique to their brand.