PETALUMA, Calif.— The Lagunitas Brewing Company, the OG of IPA that has a rich, history of hop-forward and innovative craft brews, and Toast Ale, an organization that makes planet-saving beer brewed with surplus bakery bread, have collaborated with local Alvarado Street Bakery to create the exclusive, limited-edition brew – The Toast of Petaluma. In honor of this initiative, Lagunitas will make a donation to Sonoma Family Meal to feed 200 food insecure people in the community and support this nonprofit that envisions an equitable, sustainable and resilient food ecosystem.
The Toast of Petaluma is a California common lager made with Nova, a new lager yeast strain, moderately dry hopped with Loral and Citra hops, and brewed using surplus imperfect loaves of sprouted sourdough from our friends at Alvarado St. Bakery. It will be sold exclusively at the Lagunitas Petaluma TapRoom & Beer Sanctuary beginning June 7.
“Together with Toast Ale, we’ve brewed a delicious beer that also demonstrates our commitment to reducing our environmental impact,” says Paige Guzman, Lagunitas’ Chief Marketing Officer. “We take great pride in making positive changes that create a more resilient and sustainable craft brew industry, and we’re on a roll with this new partnership that truly offers a creative approach.”
Alvarado St. Bakery took 80 surplus fresh bread loaves that would have otherwise gone to waste and reduced them into crumbs. Lagunitas brewed them into 16 kegs of The Toast of Petaluma. Malt is a key beer ingredient, but it has a high carbon footprint due to the land and water required to grow barley and the energy used for malting. Using surplus bread in the grain bill has a 79% lower carbon footprint than malted barley and prevents food waste while also reducing demand for malt.
“Food production is the biggest contributor to climate change and biodiversity loss, but one-third of all food is wasted,” says Rob Wilson, Toast Co-Founder & Chief Toaster. “We have a Big Hairy Audacious Goal of preventing 1 billion slices of bread from being wasted. To achieve that, we’re brewing Toast beer with surplus bakery bread – using 25% less malted barley than other beers, and empowering our community of beer lovers to embrace the circular economy.”
Since 2016, Toast has avoided 61 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, freed up 260,000 square meters of land, saved 100,914 gallons of water, and used more than 3 million slices of surplus bread.
Lagunitas is also making a difference beyond this partnership. The brewery sells spent grains and yeast at a significant discount to provide quality nutritional feed to farm animals in its communities. This keeps approximately 12 million pounds of waste out of landfills annually and reduces the demand for crops grown specifically for animal feed. In addition, Lagunitas only works with sustainable suppliers, recycles more than 100,000 pounds of materials per month, uses renewable energy from solar systems and an anaerobic bio-digester, treats 100% of its wastewater on-site, and maintains an overall focus on reducing waste.
Lagunitas packaged The Toast of Petaluma in a keg format and will offer it locally to minimize serving and distribution emissions. The new tasty brew, alongside other delicious bites, is available at the Lagunitas TapRoom & Beer Sanctuary located at 1280 N. McDowell Blvd., Petaluma, Calif. It is open Wednesday – Sunday from 11:30 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.
About The Lagunitas Brewing Company
When The Lagunitas Brewing Company started on a kitchen stove back in 1993, no one could have imagined that a small, Northern California brewery would expand to 34 countries and have the #1 selling IPA in the world. During its history of making innovative craft brews, it has created an iconic line of hop-forward beers including: Lagunitas’ IPA, Daytime, Hazy Wonder, A Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’, and Maximus. And there is now a seat at the bar for everyone. Lagunitas’ next chapter of innovations include a craft brewed non-alcoholic brew, sparkling hop water and hard sparkling tea for full-flavored imbibing: IPNA, Hoppy Refresher, and Disorderly TeaHouse. Even as its offerings have evolved, its passion for edgy brewing, fresh music, strong sense of community, and of course, dogs, have remained the backbone of the brewery.
About Toast Ale
Food production is the biggest contributor to climate change and biodiversity loss but one-third of all food is wasted. We’re here to change that. We brew planet-saving craft beer with surplus fresh bread from bakeries, using it to reduce demand for barley. All profits go to charities fixing the food system. Toast is a Certified B Corporation, founded in the UK in 2016. It expanded to the American East Coast in 2017 and collaborates with bakeries, breweries, and charities all over the world.
About Alvarado Street Bakery
Alvarado Street Bakery, located in Petaluma, CA, is a solar-powered bakery that prides itself on being a worker-owned and operated cooperative. With a commitment to quality and sustainability, our dedicated team of bakers sprout and harvest organic whole wheat every day, crafting a unique dough that forms the foundation of our delicious and nutritious breads, bagels, and buns. Since 1977, Alvarado Street Bakery has been a pioneer in producing wholesome, organic whole grain breads. You can find our sprouted baked goods in grocery stores and natural food stores across the country, where we continue to make a positive impact on people’s lives through our commitment to healthy and sustainable baking practices. Taste the difference with FRESHLY SPROUTING GOODNESS!
About Sonoma Family Meal
Since 2017, during the tragic Kincade Fires, Sonoma Family Meal (SFM) has committed to strengthening the local food economy and nourishing the community in times of crisis and stability. SFM has provided over 750,000 in Sonoma County since then. At their newly opened community kitchen, they convert locally sourced ingredients and rescued perishables into meals for local families and seniors experiencing food insecurity, while providing culinary career training and food-business support. During disasters, they proactively coordinate resources to provide quality emergency meals for those who have been impacted. Sonoma Family Meal is committed to using local restaurants that support Sonoma County Farmers and ranches to feed families nourishing, chef-made meals. By creating meals with local ingredients and local hands, Sonoma Family Meals supports the community’s entire food system.
For More Information:
https://lagunitas.com/