Eco-Friendly BEER!

That's right it's green beer, not the kind you drink on St. Patty's...

The Alaskan Brewing Company has invested in a green way to better power their brewery and cut down on costs. For the cool price of $1.8 million, the brewery bought a furnace that burns spent grain.

Spent grain is the bi-product of the brewing process. Traditionally, spent grain is used for cow feed. But in Alaska there isn't many farms, so it just goes to the landfill. That spent grain can put those landfills over capacity fast. They had to start shipping the grain to the lower 48. However, with no roads leading in or out of the city, everything needs to be flown out. The brewery was barley able to turn a profit selling the spent grain. So they figured out a way to use the grain and save money!

The brewery is now burning the grain to power the machinery that makes the beer. The Alaskan Brewing Company says they should be able to cut their yearly energy costs by 70%! That's a savings of about $450,000 a year!

Beer-powered beer, what a beautiful thing! Cheers!