The Oregon brewing scene has been known for making some pretty strange beers, but Oregon’s Clean Water Services may top them all with their new plan to turn sewer water into potable beer. The brew would have to make it through safety testing, of course, but the Oregon Environmental Quality Commission is confident in the high purity recycling system that can make sewer water drinkable.
Don’t try ordering a wastewater brew at your local bar, though. Even if the drink makes it through testing, it will only be available to the Oregon Brew Crew, a home-brewing club that plans to serve it at tasting events.
Photo by Judy Holtz
This new beer was part of a sustainability competition hosted by Oregon’s Clean Water Services. The challenge was for local brewers to create a beer using 30 percent purified wastewater, and the Oregon Brew Crew took home the sewer water brewing title.
Though the brewers aim to create a high quality, tasty beverage, the main goal of the competition was less about taste and more about opening dialogue about sustainability. In light of ever growing concerns of global climate change and severe droughts in some areas of the country, Clean Water Services wanted to start a conversation about creative new ways to reuse and conserve water.