Earth to Beer is “a national campaign that challenges brewers to craft a packaged beer that is better for the planet, pushing the limits of each brewery’s environmental stewardship and sustainable business practices.”
It aims to help brewers support sustainable and environmentally-friendly suppliers and producers and foster lasting partnerships between breweries and environmental non profits.
Eric Steen, the creative force behind Beers Made by Walking, created Earth to Beer. He runs a marketing company called Forest Green, where he works with beer industry clients and environmental organizations. Steen spoke with All About Beer editor John Holl about Earth to Beer.
The Conversation
John Holl: What have you seen as the relationship, or the evolution of the relationship between beer breweries and environmental causes?
Eric Steen: I think a lot of breweries, a lot of brewers, and people who make beer, people who make beverages in general care about where their ingredients are coming from. And so as more and more breweries start their businesses and keep going, they care about community causes, and they care about what’s going around what’s going on around their brewery.
I’m based out of the Pacific Northwest, and around here I see more and more breweries that are sourcing locally, or who have sourcing processes that sort of intentionally bring on special certifications like organic or salmon safe. Or they are talking a lot more about regenerative agriculture. I think that’s happening across the country.
John Holl: With that in mind, then talk to me about where the idea came for this, this new initiative that you’re putting together?
Eric Steen: I have been organizing beer industry campaigns for about 10 years now and it started with Beers Made by Walking. That’s where I invite brewers on nature hikes and urban walks. And then they make beer with plants that we find on the trails. I worked with a couple hundred breweries on that campaign over the years and we have beer festivals and things like that.
It really introduced me to environmental conservation work. And it also eventually landed me real job in the beer industry, where I got to work with a brewer. I’ll try to make a longer story short, but I’ve been working on campaigns similar to that.
There’s one called “Cheers to the Land” based in Oregon, where, 20 or so breweries make beer with all Oregon ingredients, or at least to highlight Oregon farmers in the beer that they’re making. The proceeds go back to the Oregon agricultural trust who works to permanently protect farmland in the state. I’ve been organizing that now for three years. And I just began to get a sense that this needs to be a national thing. There needs to be a national campaign.
Earth Day makes a lot of sense to me. And so that’s how I decided to make Earth to Beer happen. And so, Earth to Beer is campaign where breweries are challenged to make a beer in package that has intentionally sourced ingredients that are environmentally responsible, that’s upstream from the brewery and then donate back a percentage of the proceeds to an environmental organization.
John Holl: What’s the response been so far?
Eric Steen: We have 35 breweries signed up. And I think that’s in 23 or 24 different states across the country. For the initial year that’s really awesome. My goal is to eventually get every brewery to make a beer that has responsibly sourced ingredients, at least once in the year. Not every brewery thinks about these things, but there are lots of breweries who do think about it.
John Holl: What’s your what’s your call to action? For the brewers that are just learning about this? What should they do if they want to get on board for next year and beyond?
Eric Steen: The simplest thing to do is just go to EarthToBeer.com and get in touch with me and our team. We definitely want to build off of the momentum that we’ve gotten from this year.
In the future I think we’ll see some really cool opportunities for brewers in terms of sponsorship opportunities, and preferred vendors, and incentives along getting cost of goods price down.
Pull Up a Stool is a regular feature on All About Beer. Reach out to editor John Holl at JohnHoll@allaboutbeer.com with suggestions on brewing professionals, industry leaders, or curious drinkers that should be featured. And to support our journalism, please visit and donate via Patreon.com/AllAboutBeer
