This south London brewery has created the world's first carbon negative pint

In a world-first for environmentally friendly beer making, south London's Gipsy Hill brewery have made the first offset-free carbon negative pint. 

Gipsy Hill Brewery’s new Swell Lager and Trail Pale are brewed using barley grown through regenerative farming, and hops which have been recaptured and reused, meaning each pint removes more greenhouse gases from the atmosphere than it produces. Swell Lager has a carbon footprint of -40gCO2e, while Trail Pale's is -30gCO2e. To put that into context, a typical pint of commercial lager produces at least 350g of CO2, while many craft IPAs start at 500gCO2e.

“Making great quality beer has been our obsession for 10 years, but I felt we had to find a way to do it more sustainably," says Gipsy Hill co-founder Sam McMeeken. "Great beer should be guilt-free, and our new Trail Pale and Swell Lager mean that for the first time, our drinkers can enjoy a pint safe in the knowledge it’s actively improving the environment and helping solve our climate crisis."

Brew day for Gipsy Hill

Brewing one of the world's first carbon negative beers, Swell Lager 

The process took years to perfect, and incorporates multiple moving parts to ensure it's groundbreaking carbon negative status. They are the only beers in the world to be made using certified regenerative barley, sourced exclusively from Wildfarmed which works with farmers to implement regenerative pracites such as intercropping, cover cropping and reduced tillage, which improve soil health, reduce erosion and sequester carbon. This barley is then combined with recpatured hops – the hop material that has been removed after fermentation from a previous batch of beer and then reused to bitter and flavour a new batch of beer. As they would usually be thrown away in a typical brewing process, greenhouse gas emissions from their use are zero. 

But don't just take our word for it – the entire process of these beers has been independently analysed by specialist carbon accounting firm Zevero and incorporated the full life cycle of the beer, from growing to packaging. 

The beers are currently available in a number of locations, including Gipsy Hill’s taproom and sister bar in South London, The Understudy at the National Theatre, Kerb Street food markets, Seven Dials Market and a selection of Youngs venues around the UK.

Want to be part of the journey? Help Gipsy Hill become a Carbon-Negative brewery!