Windy Beer Anyone?

It’s long been a grump of those who like a pint of beer now and then, that beer can be a little too “gassy” sometimes. And not to put too fine a point on it, that gas can give you gas… in the form of flatulence. But if beer can give you wind, bow about wind that can give you beer?  Come on down the Outer Banks Brewing Station, in Kill Devil Hills, California.

The Outer Banks Brewing Station  is known as the first wind-powered brewery in the country, according to the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. The brewery was founded in 2001 by Eric Reece and Aubrey Davis (pictured below) who wanted to set up an environmentally friendly brewery.

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The wind turbine used by the brewery is a BWC Excel with a rotor diameter of 23 feet that sits on a self-supported lattice tower 80 feet up.  It shaves about $150-$250 off the brewery’s electricity bill each month, but in March April and May, the windiest months, it generates all the electricity needed. The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy says the Outer Banks Brewing Station is one of 14 prime examples of how wind turbines can spur eco-tourism. Many people come to visit the brewery and restaurant. While dining you can see a display showing how much electricity the turbine outside the window is generating.

It is estimated that the wind turbine will offset approximately 1.2 tons of air pollutants and 250 tons of greenhouse gases over its operating life. There’s not just a wind turbine there- on top of the turbine there is a weather station that contains research equipment that sends data to multiple North Carolina universities.

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One wonders whether the green energy may impart a certain green flavour to the brews created, but the brewers say that the end product is in no way affected by having wind generated electricity behind it rather than fossil-fuel generated electricity. But many patrons like the flavour of the beer, plus the knowledge that, in Spring at least, it was brewed purely on wind-power. Cheers!

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