What’s Driving Your Brewery’s Carbon Footprint? A Stage-by-Stage Breakdown

What’s Driving Your Brewery’s Carbon Footprint? A Stage-by-Stage Breakdown

If you’ve started thinking about your carbon footprint, one of the first questions is: where are our emissions actually coming from?

Not all parts of the brewing process have the same impact. And it’s not always where you’d expect.

In this article, we break down your carbon footprint by stage – using open-source modelling data designed specifically for small and mid-sized breweries. You’ll see what really drives your emissions, and how much things like packaging, gas use, and ingredient sourcing matter.

1. Ingredients – Why Barley Dominates

Your emissions start before brewing even begins.

Barley is typically the largest source of emissions in the ingredients category. That’s due to:

• Fertiliser use, especially nitrogen-based fertilisers
• Farm machinery and fuel
• Transport from field to maltster to brewery

Modelling data shows that standard barley-based recipes contribute around 58g CO₂e per litre of beer – often more than half of all ingredient-related emissions.

Other ingredients:

• Hops can add to this total, especially if they’re imported or require intensive irrigation
• Yeast has a relatively low impact, but still adds a few grams per litre when considered at scale
• Water, while not carbon-intensive on its own, adds up through treatment, heating, and use in cleaning

Ingredient sourcing decisions – like choosing lower-input grains or local hops – can have a meaningful effect on overall emissions.

2. The Brewing Process – It’s Not Just About Energy

Brewing requires energy, water, and chemicals – all of which carry a carbon cost.

• Thermal energy (gas) is usually the largest contributor here. Boiling the wort takes a lot of heat, which is typically delivered using natural gas – a Scope 1 emission.
• Electricity powers cooling systems, pumps, milling, and lighting. Most small breweries buy it from the grid – Scope 2 emissions.
• Water is used throughout – not just in the product but also for cleaning and cooling. Most breweries use around 5 litres of water for every 1 litre of beer.
• Cleaning chemicals like caustic soda and acids also add to emissions, both through production and disposal.

Together, these process inputs can add 50–100g CO₂e per litre, depending on batch size, fuel type, and efficiency.

3. Fermentation – Natural CO₂, Real Emissions

Fermentation releases carbon dioxide as a natural by-product. For most small and mid-sized breweries, this is simply vented into the atmosphere.

The amount released depends on:

• The amount of fermentable sugar in the wort
• Yeast strain and fermentation conditions
• Final ABV

A standard 4–5% ABV beer will emit a few grams of CO₂e per litre during fermentation. High-ABV styles release significantly more – not a massive share of your footprint, but one to consider if strong beers are your main product.

Carbon capture systems exist, but are currently rare and often cost-prohibitive for smaller breweries.

4. Packaging – Usually the Biggest Contributor per Litre

Packaging is often the single largest source of emissions in a brewery’s footprint – especially when using glass bottles.

Data from open-source modelling shows:

And that’s consistent with academic research. A study by the Priestley Centre for Climate Futures at the University of Leeds found that 330ml glass bottles can create over 7 times more emissions per litre than a 20L steel keg.

But it’s not always the biggest source – breweries using reuse systems, recyclable formats, or local closed-loop packaging can reduce this dramatically.

The format, material, and whether it gets reused or recycled all make a difference.

5. Distribution – Often Overlooked, Still Worth Tackling

Getting beer to your customers also contributes to your footprint.

• If you use your own vehicles, that’s Scope 1
• If you use third-party logistics, that’s Scope 3 – but still counts
• Small, frequent, long-distance deliveries significantly increase emissions per litre

The carbon impact of distribution depends on distance, vehicle type, drop size, and delivery frequency. Even if it's not your largest category, it's often one of the easiest to optimise.

Final Thoughts: Know Where to Focus

The brewing process is full of moving parts – but not all of them matter equally when it comes to emissions.

• Packaging and ingredients are often the biggest contributors
• Gas and water use can add up quickly, especially in less efficient setups
• Fermentation and distribution are smaller, but still meaningful

Understanding your emissions by stage helps you make smarter decisions – and communicate them clearly to buyers, certifiers, and your own team.

Next up: we’ll take this one step further – with a practical guide to decarbonising your brewery.