The conflict in Iran is creating new headaches for brewery operators across the UK. Gas prices have risen sharply, electricity costs are following, and the picture for the coming year is more complicated than the headlines suggest. Here is a clear breakdown of where prices are now, why they have moved, what the medium and long-term outlook looks like, and what breweries can do about it. Subscribe here for first view and exclusive access. Short-term impact: the Strait of Hormu

Why Refrigeration Gas Matters in Breweries Refrigeration systems aren't why any of us got into brewing, but they are important in your brewery's carbon footprint. Operational efficiency and appropriate sizing are key but there’s a hidden challenge - refrigeration gas leaks over time . All refrigerants leak to some extent, whether through tiny microfractures in piping or during routine maintenance. These leaks reduce cooling efficiency, meaning your equipment has to work harde

Brewery wastewater is not a compliance tick-box. It is a direct cost, and for most UK craft breweries, it is significantly underestimated. The typical craft brewery produces 5 to 9 litres of wastewater for every litre of packaged beer. That wastewater carries high biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), wide pH swings and suspended solids that water companies measure, price and surcharge. If you are not actively managing it, you are paying more than you need to on both the supply si

8 proven ways to save money and reduce electricity usage in a craft brewery.

Reassessing the environmental impact of importing bittering hops into the UK from abroad

Learn 5 easy ways to stop wasting caustic in your craft brewery.

Natural gas is typically the second largest utility cost in a UK craft brewery, after electricity. At 2025/26 industrial gas prices of £0.05 to £0.08 per kWh, a brewery at the 42 kWh/hl Brew Resourceful benchmark producing 10,000 hl per year is spending £21,000 to £33,600 on gas annually. Breweries running without heat recovery or on ageing boilers can spend two to three times that for the same output. Most of that spend passes through a handful of systems: the steam boiler,

Most breweries are paying significantly more for water than they realise. Not because the meter rate is wrong, but because the true cost of water (once you include heating, pumping, treating and disposing of it) is roughly 3.75 times what you pay at the tap. Reduce your brewery water usage and you are not saving one cost. You are saving four simultaneously. This article covers where water actually goes in a brewery, and six specific tactics to reduce consumption, ranked by im

How to measure Brewhouse Efficiency, efficiently.

Acidulated malt is a standard item on a lot of UK craft brewery grain bills. It turns up in recipe after recipe, usually at 1 to 3% of the total grain weight. The stated purpose is mash pH control. The problem is that it is a more expensive, higher-emission way of doing something that can be done better with a food grade acid addition. This article explains why, and what to use instead. What is acidulated malt and how is it made? Acidulated malt is produced by two methods. In