Brewing water, Fracking, and the Great Lakes

I hope the brewers who read this blog know about this already, but if you don't: you've still got time to register and attend the Great Lakes Water Conservation Workshop next week (Friday, the 26th) in Rochester, NY. Water is the biggest ingredient in beer, after all, and water rates in the Great Lakes region are going up by as much as 25%. It would be smart to learn about ways to cut back your usage. This isn't a lecture, either -- you bad bad brewers, you must stop using water! -- it's smart stuff from brewers like you (from places like Great Lakes Brewing (Cleveland) and Custom Brew Crafters (Rochester area)) that talks real processes, real equipment, and real ROI numbers. Saving water means saving money.

If you Pennsylvania brewers are thinking that the Great Lakes don't affect you, you might want to consider the effects of the hydrofracturing that's going to be taking place in the Marcellus Shale. It's not just making millionaires in the mountains; it's potentially affecting water supplies across the state. Don't get caught short: there's a special afternoon session on the consequences of 'fracking.'

Rochester isn't far -- I travel there often from southeastern PA, and it's only about 5 1/2 hours -- and this is something that really does concern you. Get ahead of this problem so you don't have to catch up to it later on.

I've turned off the comments on this one; we were wandering off topic and getting loud.