A NEW carbon-neutral beer, using malt barley from Yorke Peninsula, has been launched today to mark World Environment Day.
Sparkke is launching the beer at its brewpub Sparkke at the Whitmore in Adelaide, with funds from the Carbon Zero IPA to go towards Conservation SA.
The IPA, brewed at Sparkke at the Whitmore's pink floored micro brewery, will also be the official beer at the inaugural Illuminate Adelaide.
Sparkke co-founder Kari Allen said this beer marked the businesses commitment to achieving carbon neutrality across the business, including venues, by 2025.
"Small companies such as ours have to begin the genuinely challenging task of doing our part to improve our climate future," she said.
"It's a big goal, and we can't get there without public support. We hope everyone can join us at Sparkke at the Whitmore on World Environment Day, buy a schooner in support of our cause partner, Conservation SA."
Sparkke's head of product and company co-founder Rose Kentish developed the limited-release Carbon Zero IPA in collaboration with Shawn Sherlock, Master Brewer of Foghorn in Newcastle, NSW.
"It was a fantastic opportunity to use different ingredients and brew on a new system," Mr Sherlock said.
"More importantly it was great to really break down what we were sourcing and where from, and to really think about our overall carbon footprint as brewers."
A number of local SA supply partners have been involved in the production of the brew, including Hop Products Australia, Hills Hops, Atomic Yeast, and AG Schilling Co.
Most partners donated their products to help get the beer up, including a donation from AG Shilling of more than 700 kilograms of Yorke Premium Malt.
AG Shilling co-owner Mark Shilling said this collaboration was something he was excited to be a part of.
"We wanted to help someone achieve their dreams, especially after they've been doing it tough over COVID-19," he said.
"We have the capabilities to support an innovative business with a positive initiative, so we are more than happy to get involved. It's something Australians should do more often."
Ms Allen said in order to achieve their goal of managing their carbon footprint by 2025, they had to benchmark their carbon emissions and develop and implement carbon reduction and offset strategies.
"This type of initiative is usually reserved for global industry players with very deep pockets and extensive resources," she said.
"We believe that by starting on this journey, and transparently sharing our experience it could help other small producers start a similar process.
"This carbon conscious brewing project is already helping us understand the hotspots within our processes that produce the most carbon and that in turn helps us plan production of future brews and spirits.
"This beer isn't perfectly carbon zero, but we have done a number of innovative things to reduce its carbon footprint, and we're offsetting the rest.
"We won't get everything right, but we understand that and we're willing to openly share our learnings with our customers and our industry."
The special limited brew will be carbon-neutral through a range of measures including choice of local ingredients, with carbon reduction at the forefront of the recipe and packaging. In the end we carbon offset the balance.
The Carbon Zero Hero is available now in keg, and it will be available in can through a limited-release to the Sparkke online community from June 17 at sparkke.com/products/carbon-zero-ipa and at Illuminate Adelaide.
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