Lake County’s microbrewers are waiting for the other shoe to drop.
As part of the service industry, they were first required by the state to cut back on water provided to customers and water used outside of food preparation — a measure which takes effect today. Two weeks ago, Gov. Jerry Brown ordered further mandatory restrictions, aimed at slashing community water use by 25 percent.
If you add the potential for tiered cost increases and local concerns, such as the proposal voted down recently by the county’s planning commission to pipe water from Kelseyville wells and the Big Valley aquifer to an unincorporated area of south Lakeport, the issue becomes even more trying.
“I’m getting it from all sides,” observed Ron Chips. owner of Kelsey Creek Brewing in Kelseyville.
Not only does water make up 90 percent of beer in a glass, but brewers also use water throughout the process, including the critical phase of cleaning their equipment. California supports close to 450 microbreweries and they average 4 to 7 gallons of water to produce 1 gallon of beer.
Operations shipping regionally or nationally tend to use more. Water is integral to the brewing process, as they use it to move heat and cold through pipes to moderate the temperature of product in the vats.
“Regardless of what size you are, some water goes down the drain,” said Tim O’Meara of O’Meara Bros. Brewing Company in Lakeport.
Some of the state’s larger operations, including Lagunitas and Sierra Nevada, have opened or are working on plans to open facilities in soggier parts of the U.S. — not an option for Lake County’s four breweries.
Mutt & Jess in Cobb and Mount St. Helena Brewing Company in Middletown also produce local beer.
Brown’s order hits golf courses, urban landscaping, campuses and communities. Local governments have been directed to carve 50 million square feet of lawns, replacing grass with drought-tolerant plants and materials. Water districts may implement higher rates as more water flows. And calls are out for more efficient appliances.
The area’s brewers are sympathetic to the state’s requirements.
“If they don’t do something to control groundwater use, there will be haves and have nots,” Chips pointed out. “It’s a big problem.”
“We’re in this together,” O’Meara agreed. “We’re looking at a lot of ways to save water to offset new costs and restrictions.”
O’Meara now recirculates and reuses the water necessary for cooling the beer. He has scaled back the water used during clean up, as well, switching to a more labor intensive process (“I’m scrubbing by hand,” O’Meara said). The restaurant and brewery also plans to shut off hoses running to their outdoors landscaping, if the landlord allows.
“I monitor the water bills very closely,” Chips said. By capturing and reusing water, he has been able to cut his ration to 4.5 barrels of water for every barrel of beer — on the low end for state breweries.
Large facilities can average seven 31-gallon barrels.
“That becomes a bit to try to justify,” Chips acknowledge.
The four brewpubs in Lake County are still waiting to find out if the mandatory rules will require further cutbacks than those in place or planned. For now the concern remains focused on how restrictions might impact cost and quality of their product.
“We’ll have to do something if our cutbacks aren’t enough,” O’Meara said. “We want to do our best.”
