Swamp Head Brewery is now using Florida’s sunshine to power its brand new brew house.
The Gainesville-based brewery, which had its grand opening Saturday, is now reaping the Sunshine State’s benefits by installing about 50 solar panels on the roof of its new building, at 3650 SW 42nd Ave.
Although eco-friendly practices are not a new concept in the craft beer industry, owner Luke Kemper said Swamp Head appears to be the first Florida brewery to use solar power.
Kemper said he looked into installing panels at the brewery’s previous location, but its roof wasn’t suitable.
“We’ve been talking about trying to do as much as we can as far as sustainability and giving back to the environment,” Kemper said. “This is our step toward trying to get as much solar power as we can.”
Harvesting energy from the sun will also help offset electricity costs, he said.
The 57 solar panels generate enough energy to power about three average-sized homes, said Barry Jacobson, president of Solar Impact, which installed the panels at the brewery.
But that is by no means enough to power Swamp Head’s 30-barrel brew system.
“This is phase one of many phases,” Kemper said.
Jacobson said the brewery has enough room to install about 100 more panels.
The project cost Swamp Head about $45,000, but Jacobson said the brewery will see a good return on investment through tax benefits and lower energy costs.
Dan Fox, a UF marketing senior, went to the brewery on Valentine’s Day for its strawberry chocolate brew.
A lover of craft beer, Fox, 21, said the fact that the brewery cares about the environment will keep him and other environmentally conscious students coming back.
“It definitely adds a great selling point for their brand,” he said.
Christine Denny, a co-founder of First Magnitude Brewing Co., said solar energy is a resource her brewery will look into down the road.
Both breweries are partnered with We Are Neutral, an initiative by local nonprofit Earth Givers that aims to offset organizations’ carbon footprints.
Swamp Head has also put about one acre of land on the west side of its property into conservation. Kemper said he wants to keep the land as pristine as possible.
“It’s also a natural beauty that people can look at from our tasting room,” he said.
[A version of this story ran on page 1 - 8 on 2/23/2015 under the headline “Local brewery now first in state powered by sun"]
Taken from an aerial, remote-control drone, this photo shows Swamp Head Brewery’s solar panel installation mounted on the roof of the building.
