Continuing my look at sustainability and the craft brewing industry, I recently interviewed Chuck Magerl, founder and owner of Free State Brewery in Lawrence, KS. Free State is significantly smaller than the other brewers I have interviewed, but maintains the signature sustainability trademarks that seem to be such a part of this industry. In addition, Magerl has a unique story to share regarding the key role he played in making it legal to bring back the German brewing tradition that was once prevalent in the state, but was almost entirely lost during prohibition.
Don’t miss Sara’s other brewing sustainability feature:
A look at Stone Brewing’s sustainability initiatives
Q&A with Sierra Nevada’s sustainability manager Cheri Chastain
Sustainability lessons from the craft beer sector
Q: How did you get into the brewery business?
Magerl: I was writing an article on the history of brewing in Kansas, which had a large German population that settled here. Beer was a part of the community, and there were 113 breweries in Kansas in the 1800s. In 1880, Kansas became the first state to have constitutional prohibition and ended this vibrant tradition for a time.
Learning about the history of beer in this state inspired me to experiment, myself. There were small breweries that had opened on the West Coast, and I took some classes at the University of California-Davis, which had developed a brewing program.
I came back to Kansas and got the law here changed by lobbying the state legislature. In 1984, there was a push to reform Kansas liquor laws to allow liquor by the drink, and I saw this as a chance to ride the wave and get breweries to become legal as well. Our company is the first legal brewery in Kansas since 1880. Eventually, I dropped my civil engineering background to pursue this.
Q: What does sustainability mean to you?
Magerl: To me, it suggests a continuation into infinity, and yet, nothing lasts forever. Sustainability has to do with tinkering with some of the ingredients and processes, yet making sure that we don’t lose any of the critical pieces while we tinker with other solutions to continue the product in the face of challenges. Sustainability means an active involvement with natural systems and having a sense of balance.
There is a desire of the consumer to know a story as a way of forming an emotional alliance with that brand. If there’s a sense of that, it can help build a bond with consumers. Even stores like Walmart that haven’t traditionally had that are now pursuing it because having a sense of being connected to real people is important.
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Q: Do you see the craft brewing industry as having a special connection to sustainability?
Magerl: In many instances, yes. There are key people and pioneers that have sustainability at their core, but it isn’t de facto within the entire industry.
As we evolve in agriculture, shouldn’t we all have sustainability as a crucial aspect of what we are doing? Ideally, long-range vision is associated with the industry.
Q: Adaptive re-use of buildings and materials seems to be common in this industry. Have you engaged in these activities?
Magerl: Re-imagining spaces and taking elements of what currently exists there and modifying and adapting it is a challenge. It is a lot easier to go to an open field and start fresh rather than adapting and restoring an old site.
This building (that houses the restaurant and brewery) has had many uses — it was literally an open barn. A trolley depot came straight through this building at one time. Union Pacific ran it as a bus station for some 40 years and then it was neglected. Even a large part of the roof was not in usable condition.
We took that wood, molded it, planed it and turned it into the framing of the front of the building. We are re-using Cyprus wood that had been part of large vinegar vats as part of the building. That wood has a lot of durability and character – there is a story behind it. Those stories convey meaning to a customer and help build that social/emotional connection.
Q: Are there other things you are doing on the environmental side of sustainability?
Magerl: Yes, there are a number of things, including:
- We re-claim waste heat and use it to pre-heat our hot water. We have been doing this for 20 years;
- Food and paper waste from our kitchen is shredded and composted;
- Spent grain gets utilized as feed for local dairy farmers that we have developed a steady relationship with; and
- We purchase renewable energy credits from hydropower that is generated on the Kansas River just north of us.
Q: It seems that the craft brewing industry is far more in sync with sustainability as a core way to operate a business than many other legacy food companies. Why is that?
Magerl: There seems to be a divergence with products that enable a social experience, allowing people to share stories and a bond. We don’t see that same emotional connection to bread, for example.
The alcohol component of the craft brewing industry does have a level of conviviality and social sharing that other products don’t seem to have access to. In beer and wine, you can taste the “craftsman” compared to other products that don’t often lend themselves to that with a wide variety of different tastes within a similar product line.
Q: Tell me about the social side of sustainability. What are you doing for your employees and the community?
Magerl: Different businesses have different mandates placed on them. We want to be ahead of what’s required. So, we have had health insurance for our dishwashers well before it was required. Our wait staff have access to matching retirement funds. Our cooks have paid vacations. For the most part, our actions create added value beyond the paycheck for employees.
On the community side, a huge part of who we are is being connected to the community. We host approximately five major fundraising events for the community groups each year and host lesser ones each month. We are always hosting and sponsoring events at our brewery. Examples include farmers markets, food groups and charitable organizations.
One of the fun events we do every year is the Brew to Brew Run, which is a 41 mile run that starts at Boulevard Brewing Co. and ends here. The benefits go to help fight cystic fibrosis.
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Q: Looking forward over the next 20 years, what it takes to be “sustainable” will change, especially in certain areas where water is already scarce. What are your thoughts about dealing with these challenges?
Magerl: Resource problems like water scarcity and quality have always been big topics to me. Water scarcity is the biggest risk factor for food production operations in our state and others as well. Restrictions, like those imposed recently in California, don’t seem to be fully thought through as to the full consequences they may bring. These issues require long-range commitments. It is easy to see the problem, but harder to get committed actions to deal with it.
There is a region right on the boarder of France and Germany called Alsace that really represents an amazing collection of food and wine done very well by people that truly enjoy life. Some day we are going to catch up to them. We don’t want people to have to settle for something less or convert to an ideology in order to enjoy a superior product. Local, by itself, is not the whole answer – preserving high quality has to be a big component.
Q: Are you thinking about or pursuing dedicated supply chains?
Magerl: It is hard to grow hops around here – they are very susceptible to temperature and pests. We are actively involved in hops selection in the regions where they grow best, like Yakima, Wash. We send our people there to select different lots coming from different sites and specify the characteristics we need.
Malt is a little more open at this point. We have three acres of malting barley growing five to six miles outside of town that we contract with local growers for. Most malting barley grows in the Northwest part of the U.S. – Idaho and Montana. Completely different varieties of grain are grown here than what we use for brewing. The winter weather in Kansas makes barley more vulnerable to crop loss. The potential exists for different varieties of barley to be grown in our state that would be suited for brewing. We are talking with folks at Oregon State University about this.
Q: What advice would you give to others looking to enter the promising space of craft brewing?
Magerl: The brewery business is running counter to the trend of more closings vs openings in new business creation. That makes it exciting, but there are important things to watch out for. There was a wave of growth in the 1990s that resulted in some poor quality products making it to market. Recently, while talking to University of Kansas business students, I emphasized two words: Problems emerge. The thing you need to know is: how do I, or will I, respond, because each person responds to situations differently.
There was a problem with some sub-standard products that went to market out of a sense of having to get the product out there to meet the wave of demand, or a mindset of “I have to do this cheaper” to cut costs. However, when you are dealing with a biological business, cheaper is not always the best way to go.
From the interviews I’ve done so far, it seems clear that those who survive and thrive in the craft beer industry seem to have learned this lesson well – balancing the need for efficiency in many areas with the need for high quality ingredients and processes. The result: small businesses dedicated to avoiding waste and artisanal devotion to quality. Next, we will take a look at the good work Boulevard Brewing Co. is doing on sustainability.
Thanks to Sara H. Harper, Director of Sustainability Solutions at K•Coe Isom for contributing this feature.
