Visitors to Melbourne are spoiled for choice when it comes to, well, everything. There’s a reason Melbourne has been crowned the World’s Most Liveable City…seven years in a row. Kegs of Glory, a craft beer inspired travel campaign put on by Expedia.com.au had us salivating over our favourite craft breweries in Melbourne, and it also gave us a hot tip into one with a difference, set to launch next month.
Planting its roots in the heart of Melbourne’s CBD, Urban Alley Brewery is one of the most exciting outfits due to launch this year in Melbourne. With innovation at the forefront, Urban Alley is challenging current sustainability methods surrounding beer production, through thoughtful consideration of end-to-end practices.
With their signature ‘Urban Ale’ on the lips of Melburnians for the past two years, Urban Alley has become national leaders in mindful consumption through the launch of the first biodegradable can holder, E6PR, into the Australian market.
Their new brewery space at District Docklands is New York loft meets Melbourne warehouse aesthetic and connects the production facility to the 550-capacity brewpub constructed from recycled brick and wood throughout – sustainability you can see, touch, and sit on.
The 25 hectare-litre brew house is set to produce 2 million litres per year through a combination of their Urban Core range, as well as monthly and seasonal limited releases. Production has been challenged at every level to ensure that processes adhere to the brand’s strict sustainability benchmarks surrounding waste, energy consumption and gas emissions. The key to Urban Alley’s unique eco-model has been the collaboration with local Victorian businesses to develop innovative and organic solutions.
Melbourne Made, Locally Focused
With District Docklands fast becoming Melbourne’s newest dining and entertainment hub, community-focused initiatives have allowed Urban Alley to largely reduce their carbon footprint. Partnering up with a neighbouring distillery has allowed for both facilities to mitigate the need for the rapid heating-cooling-heating process that requires up to 3000 times more gas than the average Australian home. The exchange of water at the desired temperature from the brewery to the distillery and vice versa has reduced gas emissions to now mirroring that of residential consumption.
Bio-waste, Be Gone!
The development of an on-site bio-waste plant allows for everything but the kitchen sink (well in their case, spent grain) to be broken down and repurposed as fertiliser. This process also creates natural gas, which will be utilised to power the brewery. How incredible is that! Wastewater will be sent to the on-site water treatment plant where solids remaining from the brewing process are settled out and the PH levels tested and corrected to achieve a neutral reading.
Plans For The Future
With Urban Alley Brewery’s founder, Ze’ev Meltzer, always looking for next the challenge, plans for the future are already in development. Brewery wastewater, after the correction process, is high in minerals, salts and proteins, making it the perfect farm irrigation. Urban Alley Brewery has begun developing a program that will see the brewery’s wastewater captured, transported and reused in farm irrigation. Truly innovative.
Coming Soon to Urban Alley’s Product Portfolio
Urban Alley Brewery has pioneered the introduction of biodegradable six-pack rings (E6PR), which is made from spent grain. E6PR is not only a great alternative to plastic, it is also edible to marine life – a win win for our oceans and environment. Urban Alley Brewery is currently the only brewery in Australia – and the fifth brewery in the world – to implement its use.
While their signature ‘Urban Ale’ has been on market for over two years, and is featured across many of Melbourne’s iconic venues including Naked for Satan, The Smith Prahran and The Emerald Peacock, additional SKU’s will be launching in September 2018. These include: Urban Lager, Urban APA and the Urban Dark.
The brewery will officially open to the public in September 2018.
Get excited, Melbourne.
