‘Cheers to Nature’: from grain to glass

In March, AB InBev welcomed journalists, local government representatives and the British Beer & Pub Association to its Magor Brewery in Newport, South Wales, for an
exclusive tour that showcased its sustainability efforts in action. The Manufacturer’s Molly Cooper joined them.

When the editorial team got invited to a brewery for a tour and tasting, who better to send than Molly Cooper – the only team member who can’t indulge due to a gluten intolerance? Questionable choice? Maybe. But there was no way we could pass up the chance to visit one of the world’s largest brewing brands.

FAQs

• How does nature play a role in the brewing process at Magor Brewery?
• Why was Magor, South Wales chosen as the site for the brewery?
• What sustainable practices has the Magor Brewery implemented?
• How is Magor Brewery reducing its water usage in beer production?
• What are AB InBev’s plans for introducing refillable bottles in the UK?

The day was titled ‘Cheers to Nature’, but why? Well, AB InBev’s beer is made from 100% natural ingredients, and the brewing industry relies on the natural world around them to make manufacturing possible. “Being sustainable is not only the right thing to do, but it’s in our long-term interest to be great stewards of natural resources,” said Brian Perkins, President, West Europe & CEO, Budweiser Brewing Group, part of AB InBev.

Evolution of business

In 1979, the greenfield site in Magor was purchased and the company at the time, Whitbread (sold to AB InBev in 2001), built a brewery as part of its decision to move from many smaller scale breweries into several large-scale sites.

Originally, the site only kegged beer, but due to the market change, in the 1980s it introduced canning and then in the 2000s, bottling. Due to this packaging evolution, the site now has two canning and four bottling lines as well as kegging facilities and more recently, producing the PerfectDraft kegs.

Magor Brewery is responsible for brewing many of the world’s most loved brands including Stella, Budweiser, Corona, Bud Light and more recently Camen Hells.

Why Wales?

The location of the site was chosen due to the abundance of water that flows through the area. In 1879, a large volume of water, later dubbed the ‘Great Spring’, flooded the works during construction of the nearby Severn Tunnel. The spring originated from the Welsh side which means the water can be pumped in and used at the brewery.

“This is great source of good quality water. It produces around 15 million litres every single day,” explained Lloyd Manship, Brewery Manager at Budweiser Brewing Group UK&I.

The brewery currently has over 500 employees. “We have found it very easy in South Wales to recruit highly skilled people and retain them. We have people working in the brewery who have been here for over 40 years, but we also have young people just starting out on their careers,” said Lloyd.

The business has invested in the apprenticeship team, which has been critical. As a former apprentice himself, Lloyd sees the importance of working with the next generation of brewers.

Not only this, but the brewery is located on the M4 corridor meaning the business has good transport links which also creates easy access to the rest of the European market.

Sustainable initiatives

Every investment Magor Brewery receives is all in a bid to make it more sustainable. The local Welsh government has been of great support both financially and with policy, and the brewery has received several grants over the years to grow the business.

Throughout that time, it has also developed more sustainability goals and environmental impact initiatives. “We’ve removed all plastic from our packaging. This includes the plastic rings from our cans and the plastic wrap which went around the packs. This ensures that we’re plastic-free,” explained Lloyd.

Magor is also committed to delivering its Budweiser with 100% renewable energy. To achieve this, the company has installed one of the largest wind turbines in the UK and it also uses 100% UK barely within its Budweiser brewing at the site.

The brewery strives to invest in optimisation of the plant, its output and energy savings. To achieve this there has been a variety of new technology introduced at Magor including the world’s biggest wort cooler, which can chill three million pints of beer each day. With a surface area the size of a football field, the new cooler is four times the size of a standard version which would be used in a similar scale brewery. It can also reheat the water as well.

Time to invest

“For us, our stewardship of natural resources is critical if we plan to continue brewing for the next 300 years,” urged Lloyd.

He also explained that looking back ten years, the brewery wouldn’t have been a good choice for investment. Magor found itself inefficient and underperforming. “We

weren’t getting investment from our global leaders. But we’ve managed to turn that around, showing that we can offer a good return on investment. And it proves our commitment to our breweries, employees and the local community,” he added.

Over the last five years, Magor has also received some large scale investment from its leaders. This investment has been deployed in many areas throughout the business.

The brewery has bigger valve blocks and mains so it can push the beer around the brewery quicker and more efficiently. However, this has also had a positive impact on quality. It has also installed new, larger fermenters as new brands have been introduced that require longer fermentation times.

On the packaging side, it has also expanded and enabled the capacity to pack 6.2 million hectolitres, meaning a volume of just over 1.1 billion pints.

Water to beer?

AB InBev has over 200 breweries globally and it continues to share best practices worldwide. This sharing of knowledge is good for the company’s efficiency, learning and networking.

This also includes water stewardship which is fundamentally about two things; reducing and/or reusing water wherever possible. “We have reduced water loses by fixing leaks and making sure we’re efficient with our water usage. When it comes to reusing, there are many more avenues for us to explore,” Lloyd explained.

As a business, the brewery is very water-intensive in its processes from start to finish, as well as in its packaging activities and cleaning. There’s no area of the brewery that doesn’t need water. However, Magor recycles water from its pasteurisers and then places it back into its cooler to use somewhere else.

“One of the key issues is evaporation rates. As we boil off liquid to remove the volatiles and improve the taste profile, we can control the boiling rate which reduces evaporation, in turn reducing the loss of liquid and ultimately our water usage overall,” said Lloyd.

Most of the beers brewed at Magor are now down into single figure evaporation rates (around five to seven per cent) which is a significant reduction when compared to figures from just a few years ago. Controlling this can be difficult depending on what is being brewed as the recipe can be affected. Lloyd added: “With global brands it is always a challenge. We must make sure that the taste profile is perfect.”

AB InBev is proud of its patented ‘Simmer and Strip’ brewing technology. This aims to reduce energy consumption during the boiling process by simulating gas bubbles without boiling, therefore saving energy and reducing carbon emissions, as well as saving water. “We share this technology with other brewers because we want them to also be more sustainable with their water usage,” Lloyd continued.

The brewery catches all the liquid that is evaporated as it passes through condensers, so it doesn’t escape into the atmosphere. “We would get complaints if we allowed evaporation directly into the atmosphere due to the odour. Even though to me, it’s a beautiful smell,” he laughed.

Over the past five years, Magor has significantly improved its water savings, reducing losses from nearly ten per cent to just 3.51% – an overall reduction of more than 60%. This improvement reflects the brewery’s efforts to minimise excess water usage

Consistency is key

Water from the Great Spring is piped directly into the brewery where it’s treated to make sure it is perfect for the brewing process. Over time the pipes which feed the brewery are at risk of degrading. If the brewery notices a change in the flow, it could suggest a breakage in the pipe meaning that inferior quality water could be pulled through into the brewery. “When this happens, we must re-clean and restart our systems, which is a problem. However, the quality of the natural spring water is stable and is the same as it always has been; it’s perfect for our beer,” said Llyod.

Right now, it takes 2.99 pints of water to make one pint of beer. Although this has been significantly reduced from 3.62, the Magor site is aiming to halve this number again, reducing it to 1.65. Lloyd certainly believes this to be possible as it is being done in other breweries around the world. “Our target for this year is 2.8, which is an ambitious goal,” he said.

Renewable energy

Magor brewery runs on 100% renewable energy which it purchases from solar farms. Lloyd continued: “For us, we want to work on our own green energy. We discussed a range of options including changing our power plants, installing more solar panels and wind turbines to provide more electricity. The wind turbine here provides us with 20% of our power directly on an annual basis.”

One option the company is exploring still further is hydrogen. As battery technology improves and the batteries themselves become smaller, the feasibility of having electric boilers versus hydrogen boilers becomes more of a viable option. For Magor, it’s about finding the most sustainable method.

Project refillable

One project the site is looking at is refillable bottles for its brewed drinks. It is working alongside the local Welsh government and a consortium of beverage producers across soft drinks, spirits and beer to discuss the idea further.

“Can we imagine a future where bottles are returnable and refillable in the UK? This idea is both sustainable and good for business. But it requires significant investment and the creation of an industry-wide bottle washing and sorting facility,” said Brian.

The cost of investment is partly a response to the UK’s extremely high packaging taxes, which are among the steepest globally. “With the upcoming regulations, the UK will have the highest Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) costs in Europe, nearly double that of the next country. While these policies are well-intentioned, their financial burden can discourage companies like ours from investing,” he added. This incentive would need to be industry-wide and could not only apply to one brand or company. As such, AB InBev has created a consortium of competitors as it is not a problem that the business could realistically or practically solve on its own.

“The project has the potential to materialise, but it would require a bottle sorting and washing facility plus a return loop. The industry would have to consider standardised containers for the products to make the lines work efficiently and it would need to be simpler for the consumer when they are returning bottles,” explained Brian.

The scheme is in its early stages and discussion has been ongoing for a few years. The next stage is putting together a pilot in Wales. “We have a huge opportunity to reframe and reposition this idea to consumers and beer drinkers as a better and more sustainable choice. This has not been the narrative for the last 20 years,” Brain added.