Baar beer honoured in the area of sustainability

The Baar brewery has been honoured with the ‘Future Award’ at the international European Beer Star competition in Nuremberg, Germany.

The “Future Award” honours sustainability in the brewing industry and, according to the competition website, product quality is also included in the assessment of the brewery.

The beer from the Brauerei Baar is produced exclusively with electricity obtained from renewable energy sources, half of which comes from the brewery's own solar plant. The other half comes from Swiss hydropower, according to the brewery. The thermal energy is generated entirely from wood. Although the wood-fired heating system is naturally slow to react, consumption peaks can be broken thanks to a storage tank.

Managing Director Martin Uster (right) and Master Brewer Urs Rüegg accept the award    Photo: zvg

According to the brewery, it has invested 15% of its total turnover in both the heating centre and the PV systems, making it the first CO₂-neutral brewery in Switzerland, and this has been achieved without buying in any additional certificates.

The transition to a low-temperature brewery was another factor in winning the award. By lowering the process temperatures from 140°C to 100°C, only 19% of the thermal energy is now required to produce one hectolitre of beer, compared to 1997.