Green Options

Legendary San Diego microbrewery Karl Strauss has partnered with the GreenHouse alternative energy company and the E-Fuel MicroFueler to convert waste yeast from the brewery to ethanol.  When a microbrewer, a microfueler, and the inventor of the Nintendo Wii controller (Tom Quinn, CEO of E-Fuel) get together, there has to be a twist, and there is.  Instead of limiting the operation to ethanol conversion at the brewery, GreenHouse will collect the waste yeast from the brewery and transport it to participating homes and businesses.  Each will have the refrigerator-sized portable MicroFueler unit on site, enabling them to produce ethanol and pump it directly from the MicroFueler into their vehicles.

Beer-making has just taken another giant leap forward into our sparkling green future, with a surprise consequence: reducing alcoholism among cows.

Yes, if you ever wondered why you often see cows passed out under trees when you drive down the highway, here’s your answer.  Some of them have been chowing down on waste yeast, which is sold to farmers as cow feed.  With an alcohol content of up to 8%, that’s quite a kick!

Let’s amble under the fold and see how green beer-making is going to put an end to this bovine drunkenness - and perhaps even save the planet as well.