AVBC Honored with State Award for Cutting Waste
(November 19, 2004 – Boonville, CA) Anderson Valley Brewing Company has again been named a winner in the 2004 Waste Reduction Awards Program (WRAP) for continued efforts to reduce waste and protect the environment, sponsored by the California Integrated Waste Management Board — the state’s leading authority on recycling and waste reduction.
“For a company who runs 365 days a year and releases twenty thousand barrels of beer a year we produce very little waste,” states brewery President, Ken Allen. “For example, 99% of our waste water is processed through reclamation ponds (a white Egret hunts in Pond 3) and used for land irrigation, we recycle most everything in the office and out on the floor, and our spent grains go to local livestock owners for feed. Basically, we have a 4×8 dumpster for “garbage” that takes a whole week to fill. I’d say reuse and environmental responsibility is a lifestyle for us.”
Now in its 12th year, the WRAP awards honor businesses for cutting the amount of trash they produce, conserving resources, and reducing waste disposal in landfills. All together, this year’s WRAP honorees have diverted 1.8 million tons of materials from local landfills through excellent resource management and recycling, and their voluntary waste reduction efforts have saved them $135 million in operating costs. Applicants are honored based on a set of criteria developed in cooperation with the business community. Practices evaluated include waste prevention, materials reuse, recycling, recycled-product procurement, and employee education.
“Businesses make up the engine that keeps California’s economy strong,” said Board Chair Rosario Marin. “It is a pleasure to honor each winner of this year’s WRAP Awards because their voluntary efforts help local cities and counties by recycling and reducing the amount of materials going to landfills. WRAP Awards recognize the good work businesses do to bring us closer to a zero waste California.”
The California Integrated Waste Management Board is the State’s leading authority on recycling and waste reduction. It promotes a zero waste California in partnership with local government, industry, and the public. This means reducing waste whenever possible, promoting the management of all materials to their highest and best use, and protecting public health and safety and the environment. For a complete list of winners by county, and more information, please visit the Board online at www.ciwmb.ca.gov/WRAP/.
For more information about Anderson Valley Brewing Company’s waste reduction efforts, or the company in general, visit www.avbc.com, call 707-895-BEER (2337), x14 for Dave Gatlin, Head Brewer, dgatlin@avbc.com.
AVBC Brings Heavy Metal to California
(October 4, 2004 – Boonville, CA) Anderson Valley Brewing Company brought some heavy metal home from Denver, Colorado this weekend. On October 2nd, the brewery received a Bronze Medal, in the British Stout category, for their Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout, at the 2004 Great American Beer Festival ® .
"It’s a real honor to receive a medal at the GABF," said AVBC Head Brewer, David Gatlin . "There are so many good beers being brewed these days, it’s a tough competition. Most of the beers we compete against are brewed in small batches, some specifically for the event. The beers we send to the competition are brewed in hundred barrel batches (3100 gallons) and come right off our bottling line. They’re exactly the same beers that you’ll find on the store shelves," he added.
The Great American Beer Festival® is the nation’s premier beer event, now attracting approximately 400 breweries and displaying over 2000 different beers in 67 separate style categories. Competition is fierce, with the widest array of beers and beer styles, of any beer judging in the nation. With 201 medals awarded this year, fewer than ten percent of the entries received awards. As this year’s festival lacked a specific Oatmeal Stout category, Anderson Valley’s brewers decided to see how the Barney Flats would fare in another category.
" Barney Flats has too much hop character and aroma to be a true-to-style oatmeal stout, but it’s our deliciously rich and complex version of what an oatmeal stout can be," said brewery president Kenneth Allen. Recalling the early years of the brewery, Allen added "Barney Flats was our first ale to receive a GABF medal, the gold in the Oatmeal Stout category, back in 1990 . We’d entered it in prior years, and the judges kept saying it was fantastic, but too hoppy for the style. In 1990, though, they decided that, style or no, Barney Flats was so much better than any other stout being judged, that they had to give it the gold. It’s tough to get that much flavor into a stout, and I think we’re the only ones doing it."
Barney Flats, one of Valley Brewing Company’s regularly awarded ales, also recently won the Silver Medal in the Oatmeal Stout Category at the 2004 World Beer Cup , and the Gold Medal for Oatmeal Stout in the 2003 World Beer Championships.