Hepworth’s range of ales and lagers has always been green. Skilled, traditional craft beer is brewed according to very environmentally sound principles. The ingredients, hops, barley, yeast and water are natural and only produce fine beer when they are healthy and treated with respect.
Fine farmers are a speciality of Sussex; expert selection of crops is a key. Hepworths are skilled traditional brewers; good beer is naturally a result. Hepworths only buy the best. Organic barley from the Goodwood Estate in West Sussex and award winning hops from Bodiam in East Sussex. As a Sussex brewer and independent, we are proud to source locally – and we are very aware of the environmental implications. Lower food miles, even before the beer is produced!
Having just built and planned our own purpose built brewery, we were able to factor in many energy efficiencies – double glazing, emphasis on natural lighting and insulation were built into the building specification. We went further.
Solar panels provide electricity and excess is dispersed to the National Grid. Reed beds recondition waste water and feed it back into the river Arun, with the approval of the Environment Agency. Waste with higher protein levels are purified by anaerobic digester, producing new energy. Water with a high yeast level is taken off site for use as a soil conditioner.
After use, hops and spent grain is sought after by local farmers for use as animal feed.
Broken glass is sent for recycling; cardboard is compacted and recycled.
Heat, a waste product from beer chillers has been captured and
completely heats the offices and visitor centre.
But our green credentials are significantly enhanced by our latest
development, truly innovative, designed in-house, and currently
constructed from parts from domestic appliances!
By these means, heat is sourced from the fermenting beer and re-routed to heat water for the boiler which starts the brewing process. In effect, the fermenting beer contributes to its own continuance. We have the world’s first beer source heat pump!
This process is new. But the very best proof of the recyclability of beer lies in the product – down a pint and you will recycle it yourselves!
Ingredients are simple and pure: Barley, hops, yeast and water, sometimes a
little wheat or corn to vary the style. They are the traditional components
of British Ales and we respect these traditions rigourously. We source all
ingredients, where possible, in Sussex, a county of superb agriculture. Organic barley comes from the Goodwood estate and Andy regularly meets the Farm Manager to ensure the planting will yield correct protein content. The barley is roasted to our own, very precise specifications.
We are pleased to announce the launch of a range of beers which will delight beer-lovers who are gluten intolerant, suffer coeliac disease or who wish to avoid potential allergens.
“It all starts in the field” says Andy Hepworth. “Because we forward contract our ingredients we develop a close relationship with our farmers and can be very specific about the planting and harvesting. We’ve selected a low protein barley – gluten is a protein. Traditional malting and brewing methods, when employed meticulously, result in the breakdown of the protein and then fine filtration removes any residue. We use no additives”
The result is an authentic craft beer, gluten free, traditionally brewed, with no compromise on quality, taste or strength.
Gluten free status and similar allergen information are noted on the back label of our beers.