Raising the Bar: The Breweries Putting People and the Planet First in 2025

B Corp Certification isn’t just a star sticker businesses can slap on after a good day. It means that a company has gone through a rigorous, holistic assessment by B Lab to prove it is creating a positive impact for its workers, community, customers, suppliers, and the environment.

Certified B Corporations are part of a growing movement of businesses that are redefining what success looks like. These companies are legally accountable for considering their impact on all stakeholders, not just shareholders.

What is a B Corp?

To become a Certified B Corporation, a business must score at least 80 out of 200 points on the B Impact assessment, a framework that evaluates performance in five key areas:

• Governance 

• Workers 

• Community 

• Environment 

• Customers 

The Breweries Leading by Example

The U.S. is home to almost 10,000 breweries, but fewer than 20 are Certified B Corps. This doesn’t speak to a lack of values, but instead to the challenge of this certification. The process requires a deep commitment to sustainability and equity with reassessment every three years.

Here is the lineup of B Corp certified breweries in the U.S. that I would gladly give a rose to as the Beer Bachelorette:

• Acme Beer

• The Alchemist 

• Allagash Brewing

• Aslan Brewing

• Athletic Brewing

• Creature Comforts

• The Grain Shed

• Hopworks Brewery

• Lakefront Brewery

• Lawson’s Finest Liquids 

• Liability Brewing 

• Lost Grove 

• MadTree Brewing

• New Belgium Brewing

• North Coast Brewing

• Roadhouse Brewing

• Triple Bottom Brewing

• Upslope Brewing

• Brewery Vivant

Each of these breweries has made real, measurable changes in how they operate. For example, MadTree ranked highest in the Community pillar of its B Corp score. They’ve partnered with nonprofits like the Cincinnati Zoo and Groundwork ORV and are part of 1% for the Planet, donating one percent of all sales to local environmental causes.

Why it matters? Brewing is a resource heavy industry. On average, it takes about four to eight gallons of water to produce 1 gallon of beer. But some breweries are making big moves to reduce their footprint.

Spotlight: New Belgium Brewing

New Belgium’s sustainability program is widely regarded as a benchmark. 

Carbon Reduction & Clean Energy

• Runs on 100 percent renewable electricity 

• Captures and reuses heat from the brewing process

• Installs solar panels and generates electricity from wastewater 

• Achieved LEED certification for its buildings

• Fat Tire became America’s first certified carbon neutral beer 

Community Partnerships

• Donated $130,000+ to GRID Alternatives, supporting solar power and affordable housing

• Helped install 27.8 kW of solar for 19 low-income households

• Prevented over 530 tons of CO2 (the equivalent of planting 12,500 trees)

Industry Leadership

• Co-founded the Glass Recycling Coalition

• Founded the Brewers Association Sustainability Subcommittee 

• Advocates for climate policy through BICEP and We Are Still In

Packaging & Lifecycle Innovation

• Researches the sustainability trade-offs between cans, bottles, and kegs

• Promotes refillable bottles and draft beer to reduce emissions

Spotlight: Heineken

Heineken is aiming to make all of its production sites carbon neutral by 2030, and the entire value chain by 2040.

Key projects include:

• Building solar-powered breweries in Spain and Nigeria 

• Using rice husk biomass for heat in Vietnam

• Launching plastic-free cardboard multipacks in the UK

• Partnering on a wind farm in Finland to power 13 of its operating companies

Heineken has already cut their emissions per hectoliter by 51 percent since 2008 and implemented over 130 renewable energy projects globally.

Spotlight: Beyond Belief Brewing & BrewDog

Beyond Belief Brewing (UK) is taking food waste and turning it into delicious beer using a patented process that replaces malt with surplus pasta.

BrewDog (UK) is tackling emissions with bold moves:

• Purchased 9,308 acres in the Scottish Highlands to plant 1.1 million trees

• Achieved Positive Planet GOLD Certification three years running

• Reducing bar emissions by switching to vegan/vegetarian menus and ditching single uses plastics

• Building toward zero waste and circular operations

Consumers Are Paying Attention

This shift isn’t happening in a vacuum. Consumers are asking for sustainability and backing it with their wallets. According to a recent survey:

• 61 percent of beer drinkers say sustainability influences their purchasing decisions

• Nearly half are willing to pay more for beer that aligns with their values

• The most cited priorities included: reduced water and energy usage, recyclable or refillable packaging, and less waste across the production cycle

Even with inflation, people are willing to pay up to 30 percent more for beer that has been brewed responsibly.

Tools

Not every brewery has the capacity to pursue B Corp status and that is okay. There are resources available to help breweries of all sizes integrate sustainability into their operations at their own pace and magnitude. For example, the Brewers Association provides tools like its Water and Wastewater Reduction Manual. It’s important to remember that this doesn’t need to be all or nothing.

Next time you are grabbing a six pack or posting up at your favorite taproom, take a second look. That fun label with a dragon fighting a bear might stand for more than you think.