Brewing Carbon Negative
Toronto’s Karbon Brewing Company started with an ambitious goal; to become Canada’s first carbon negative brewery by 2024. Putting sustainability as a business priority is a lofty ambition at the best of times, as is starting a brewery during a pandemic and Karbon has endeavoured to do both. Rather than relying solely on carbon offsets, Karbon aims to use innovative technological solutions to reverse the carbon footprint of the brewing process. Environmental sustainability seems to be top of mind with every aspect of their business model, from brewing to packaging, to ingredients, and even to their merchandise which is made from recycled plastics. They’re using locally sourced ingredients including hops sourced from Ontario’s Wolfe Island Hopyard and Clear Valley Hops. They have also signed on as members of 1% for the Planet, supporting environmental non-profits.
They are currently brewing out of Junction Craft Brewery and plan to open their own Toronto location to be the home of their carbon negative operation. They shared their first ever batch, which includes a Helles Lager, a Hazy IPA and a Wit.
Helios
Helles Lager - 5%
Helios pours gorgeously crystal clear and has a clean, bready nose. It’s light and airy on the palate. Overall it’s clean, crisp and refreshing. It’s notably dry, which is pleasant, but it’s missing some of the sweetness to the malt bill that you’d typically expect in a Helles. There’s a pleasant floral note to the background, a slight mineral earthiness, and very minimal bitterness. That dryness carries all the way through to the finish. It drinks like a great light lager. With a touch more body and malty sweetness, this would be right on the money.
J.E.D.I.
Hazy IPA - 6.5%
First of all, J.E.D.I. stands for Justice. Equity. Diversity. Inclusion. I’m here for that kind of messaging, and even more here for that as a guiding principle. The beer poured clear as day, which is notably off considering it’s billed as a hazy IPA, but as previously stated, it’s their first batch, and these things take time to fine tune. They’ve already stated that the next batch will be more as branded.
It’s got a copper hue and a fairly muted nose apart from some bready, malty sweetness. On the palate there’s a sticky caramel maltiness with some mild sweetness, an earthy background, a slight tinny quality, and something a bit floral with a peppery note coming in through the finish. There’s a mild undertone of caramelized mango and a citrusy zip of lemon. Overall it drinks a bit more like an English IPA. It’s not what they intended, but it’s not unpleasant either. I’ll be excited to try future versions of it.
One World
Wit - 5%
Their Wit gives off characteristic aromatics of banana and pineapple. Those fruity esters carry through on the palate along with a mild hint of orange peel and a note of cloves. The spicy notes of coriander are mild, leaving just a faint savoury tingle on the finish. The mouthfeel is smooth with a medium body, and perhaps less effervescence than you might typically expect, but with that said, I quite like the smoothness of the body with this flavour profile. Wits are not a style I typically reach for but I do enjoy this.
Brewing is a process with a famously large carbon footprint, and one that is expensive in resources. Karbon has embarked on an ambitious and commendable goal, which if successful could influence a more sustainable future for the industry. Their mission is “Better Beer for a Better World”. I’ll be very intrigued to watch their progress, and try more of their beers!
Keep an eye on their social media, follow along and watch for their products to be available in stores this year!
Article and photography by Nathan Lefebvre.
Find Karbon Brewing Co. online:
Related:
Canada Is About to Get It’s First Carbon Negative Brewery - From Treehugger
Nathan
Nathan is a craft beer enthusiast from Ottawa, ON. He is the Co-Founder of @TeamLactose, he’s passionate about travelling for beer and he loves talking about beer from Ontario, Quebec and beyond.