Flathead brewery receives first ever sustainable brewing award
BIGFORK, Mont. — The Flathead Lake Brewing Company in Bigfork is being honored with the 2018 Montana Sustainabrew Award
This is the first ever Montana Sustainabrew Award. The award is sponsored by Montana Brewers Association, Montana Conservation Voters Education Fund and Montana Renewable Energy Association.
The sponsors give the award to a brewery that works to protect Montana’s clean air and water by being more sustainable.
This brewery worked on this from the beginning.
It used to be the Bigfork Bowling Alley. Crews renovated it instead of just tearing it down.
They used recyclable materials for the renovation. This included 100 percent of the insulation. Even the floors are made of recycled material. The furniture is made from old timber and some of the tables are made out of old oak barrels. Any material that they couldn't use they donated to organizations.
Director of Brewing David Brendgard told NBC Montana they continue to be sustainable by reusing water from Bigfork sewer and water. Brendgard said the water is clean but won’t be bottled. The water isn’t used in the brewing process but instead for their heating and cooling.
Brendgard said small breweries can use up to eight gallons of water per gallon of beer produced. He said their brewery uses about 3-4 gallons.
Brendard said they are also looking into reusing CO2 in the future.
