Bell's Brewery Logo
Bell's Brewery Logo
Bell's Brewery Logo
Bell's Brewery Logo

Sustainability

Environmental Impact

One of our core values is responsibility. We recognize a responsibility to minimize the impacts our business has on the environment and have made sustainability a focus. We work hard every day to find new opportunities to minimize our footprint across the whole brewing process: from the natural resources we use to the systems we’ve designed to brew in, the recyclability of the packaging we use to sharing our best practices with other craft brewers.

Here are some of the many examples of what we’re doing to reduce the environmental impact of our beer:

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How We Approach Sustainability

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Responsible Resource Use

  • An 85-ton geothermal field installed eight feet beneath Bell’s two-acre hop yard uses glycol filled tubes to exchange heat and offset heating ventilation and air conditioning demand in the brewery offices.
  • Ammonia refrigerant is used at our brewery. Compared with other cooling solutions, it is highly efficient, does not deplete the ozone layer and has zero potential to contribute to global warming.
  • A green roof above our barrel-aging warehouse increases insulation, reduces storm water runoff, and extends the roof’s life.
  • LED lights are 75 percent more efficient than incandescent bulbs. In 2019, the LED lights at our brewery, office building, and logistics center conserved 180,000 kWh of energy each year, enough energy to power 22 homes annually.
  • A CO2 vaporizer repurposes the heat generated from wort fermentation to convert liquid CO2 into CO2 gas that can then be used for brewing and packaging. In 2020, this reduced our electricity demand by 190,000 kWh per year.
  • In 2018 we redesigned our foam traps reducing the water used in operations to produce a barrel of beer by 16%, a 14 million gallon savings in 2019.

Waste Mitigation

  • In 2020, our recycling program helped us achieve a diversion rate of 83%. When we include spent grain that is sent as cattle feed, our diversion rate is 99%.
  • Our “Cube” processes wastewater from brewing and packaging, removing suspended solids from malt and hops and converting its biological oxygen demand into renewable electricity and heat that is used to offset brewing operations.
  • Since 2017, all disposable service items including plates, utensils and straws at our Eccentric Café have been compostable, with the exception of plastic cups which are recycled. This has tripled the Café’s diversion rate.

Leadership

  • In 2020, we opened a recycling co-op that allows area brewers and manufacturers to drop off grain bags and supersacks which could otherwise not be recycled in Michigan. These materials are recycled through single stream aggregation and densification.
  • Founding member of the Great Lakes Business Network.
  • Member of the Wellhead Protection Committee since 2015.
  • Member of Brewers for Clean Water since 2022.

Sustainability News

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This Earth Day, let’s protect our clean water

This Earth Day, let’s protect our clean water

There are many challenges facing our planet. On this Earth Day, we want to highlight a particularly important resource to us all: Clean water is vital, not just for the beer we brew, but to sustain the lives we all lead. We know this firsthand: our home state of...

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5 facts about Bell’s, beer, and clean water

5 facts about Bell’s, beer, and clean water

Water is one of beer’s most essential ingredients, affecting its taste, aroma, and overall quality. To be responsible stewards and protect this resource, we must focus on protecting life-sustaining clean water, not just for beer, but for everyone. Here are five facts...

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