Blasty Bough Brewing is Paving the Way for Sustainability with the Installation of 182 Solar Panels and Geothermal Cooling System

Epsom, NH - The New Hampshire Sustainable Craft Beverage Program recognized Blasty Bough Brewing Company, in Epsom, New Hampshire, as the ninth member of the New Hampshire Sustainable Craft Beverage Recognition Program. This farm-to-kettle brewery and pub perched atop historic McClary Hill was established in 2018. Owner Dave Stewart has been working with the New Hampshire Pollution Prevention Program right from the start to ensure that the business was following the best sustainable practices from the ground up, which allowed them to have sustainability at the core of their business, implementing sustainable practices first, last and always. 

While keeping sustainability as their business foundation, they were able to scale their sustainability practices while expanding the business. Recently Blasty Bough installed 182 solar panels which generate ~117,000 kwh of electricity each year. When asked about why they chose to install solar power, the answer was simple – “it is the right thing to do, and I have been wanting to do it for a long time.” The brewery was awarded a U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Energy Assistance Program (REAP) grant which helped finance one third of the installation cost.  

The brewery not only does the obvious things to better the environment, but they also do the not-so-obvious things such as installing a geothermal loop before the concrete floor was poured for an addition to an existing building to house. Stewart devised the closed loop system to use ground temperatures to cool hot wort before pitching yeast.  The water in the closed loop is kept at 38F degrees in 55-gallon drums in the refrigerated room where the kegged beer is stored. The closed loop water is pumped through the heat exchanger where heat is transferred from the hot wort. The now heated water is transferred through 400 feet of copper tubing buried under the basement concrete slab. The tubing is bedded in a layer of sand under four inches of closed cell foam board. This arrangement takes full advantage of ground temperature for heat dissipation before returning to the storage tanks in the cold room. The use of the closed loop system maximizes energy efficiency and conserves water. 

Financially, the cost of this system was a fraction of the cost of a glycol chiller, saving about $13,000 in up-front cost and reducing on-going electrical demand. The system keeps clean groundwater from being pumped into the brewery’s septic system and reduces the amount of glycol needed for cooling. The system is simple, robust, inexpensive, scalable, and effective helping Blasty Bough Brewing meet its goals for reducing its energy footprint and conserving water while making high quality products for its customers. 

Further, to reduce water consumption, the brewery re-uses almost all the water used in the brewing process for other things, such as watering plants on the farm, and their beer to water ratio is below the industry average for their size, with Blasty Bough averaging around 5:1 (5 gallons of water used for 1 gallon of beer produced) compared to the industry average of 7:1. Blasty Bough’s recognition by the Sustainable Craft Beverage Program has been a long time in the making, and we are thrilled that they are now an official member. 

The Sustainable Craft Beverage Recognition Program is a free, voluntary program offered to environmental leaders in the craft beverage industry who go above and beyond to produce high quality eco-friendly craft beverages. Recognition requires the completion of an application and a site visit by New Hampshire Pollution Prevention Program (NHPPP) staff for verification. This visit also gives NHPPP staff the opportunity to offer additional suggestions for sustainability practices.

NHPPP at the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services is a non-regulatory business assistance program started in 1991. The program offers free technical assistance to all businesses and organizations throughout New Hampshire by helping them reduce waste and save money. The Sustainable Craft Beverage Recognition Program expands on work NHPPP has been doing with the craft beverage industry to improve energy efficiency, conserve water, minimize waste, and reduce the volume and strength of wastewater. The programs’ goal is to publicly recognize craft beverage producers who are making sustainable choices, preventing pollution, conserving resources and encourage other producers to implement sustainable practices. 

For more information visit the New Hampshire Sustainable Craft Beverage Program webpage or contact Kathy Black at kathryn.black@des.nh.gov or (603) 271-6460.