Beer
Drinking responsibly takes on a whole new meaning when you consider the environmental impact of beer production.
These days, organic alcohols are becoming more popular. Choosing organic means ingredients are grown without the use of pesticides and contain no added preservatives. While not legally required to do so, micro-brewers tend to use simple ingredients for unpasteurized or minimally processed beers.
Ontario’s return and refill bottle system is one of the lowest impact systems in North America. Standard beer bottles can be reused 12 to 15 times and beer vendors will recycle packaging in most cases. In 2008, the Beer Store recovered over 2.1 billion containers, and has an average bottle recovery rate of over 95 per cent.
For those who prefer to recycle in a blue bin, clear glass bottles are easier to repurpose than coloured glass. But, it is best to take advantage of the sorting and processing capacity of most beer stores, and get your deposit back!
Wellington Brewery’s Russian Imperial Stout
Sep 2011
Note: Deep brown, almost black in colour with a faint nose. Strong flavour of dark chocolate with a short bitter finish. Extremely well-received among our tasters. Located just outside of Guelph, Canada’s oldest independent microbrewery has been brewing their English Ales since 1985. Ingredients include 100% Canadian-grown barley malt, a continuously cultured strain of More >
Steam Whistle Brewery’s Pilsner
Sep 2011
Note: Gold in colour with a faint scent. Light and fruity flavour with a short finish. Steam Whistle’s Pilsner contains only four ingredients: pure spring water, malted barley, hops, and yeast. All ingredients are GMO-free, but not organic. Steam Whistle bottles are thicker than standard bottles, and last longer. The brewery is bullfrog-powered and More >
Mill Street Original Organic
May 2010
Contains 100% organic ingredients and no preservatives. It’s also the first certified organic beer in Ontario. The brewery has a heat-recovery system uses steam from boiling to heat water for brewing. The organic malt used in the beer comes from Washington, and the hops come from New Zealand. However, organic malt and hops are difficult More >
Nickel Brook Organic Lager
May 2010
This beer contains no additives or preservatives, and all of its ingredients are certified organic. However, it is only available in Burlington-area Beer Stores and some LBCOs. Nickel Brook’s beers are naturally carbonated during fermentation, which is also a requirement for Canadian breweries under the National Organics Certification Program. This is because injected carbon dioxide More >