Sustainability

Water Barn

At Bench, we are proud of where we are from. We are surrounded by some of the most amazing orchards, vineyards and farms in the country. Many of these neighbouring farmers and families have been sustainably growing fruit for over 200 years, and as part of this community, we must be just as focused on being stewards of the land. Sustainability is engrained in our brewing culture at Bench, and we quickly established our mantra of Conserve, Recycle, and Reuse.

CONSERVE

It takes a lot of water to make beer. Water can account for up to 95 percent of beer’s content, and water is used in every step of the brewing process. In brewing, the industry average is about 8 litres of water used for every litre of beer produced. At Bench, our commitment is to to use as little water as possible. Currently that is 5 litres of water for every 1 litre of beer. Our goal is to get that ratio down to a 4:1 ratio. Every Drop Counts.

RECYCLE

A custom water purification system treats all of our brewery wastewater onsite. Wastewater that is eligible for treatment consists of water used for cleaning, brewing and packaging. We also make sure to side stream all of our hops and yeast to make the brewery waste water easier to treat and of the highest quality before it enters the purification system.

REUSE

Once brewery wastewater is treated by our water purification system, we then use it to irrigate our hops field as well as our neighbouring apple orchard, fruit farm and vineyards that spans approximately 170 acres. The cherries, plums, and peaches grown on these farms are used as ingredients for our beers creating a wonderful circle of sustainability.

Our Certifications

Part of our ongoing commitment to sustainability includes maintaining our Carbon Neutral Certification with Climate Smart by BMO Radicle. Read our most recent Carbon Neutrality Report.