This is a secret post- Welcome to Chicago Lagunitas!!

This is a secret post, because I promised I would spend all my free time getting ahead on homework this week... so don't say anything to my husband. Tell everyone else though.

If you follow Craft Beer at all, or live near Chicago, you have heard that Lagunitas is opening a second brewery and has chosen an awesome place in Chicago to call home. If you do live under a rock, here is an article from last week's Chicago Tribune about the move. The most interesting part about this to me is that the move is not just about saving money and being able to increase production. According to the Trib article, Lagunitas founder and owner, Tony Magee said, "he has long been concerned about both the money and diesel emissions expended while shipping beer to the 32 states where Lagunitas is available. In February, while driving to work, he was struck with an idea: Instead of spending all that money to ship the beer thousands of miles, what about opening a second brewery in Chicago?"

With Earth Day less than a week away, and carbon footprints/sustainability becoming more and more important topics everywhere, it seems like a great time for this move by Lagunitas.

 This got me thinking, how many of the breweries that we look to for fantastic beer are considered "green"? I know that I hear about craft breweries trying to be part of the community, helping promote sustainable farming practices, and decreasing their carbon footprint all the time. How do we know that they aren't just full of hot-air? I found a list of the Top Eight "Green" Breweries in the United States, research by the Huffington Post. It is an interesting article. I am not sure what the criteria was that they used to determine this. I would hope to see that the list of "green" breweries will get longer each year.

Do you know of any "green" breweries that were missed by the Huffingotn Post's article? I am hoping that this weekend I can do my part to endorse responsible breweries. If you are looking for something that you can do, perhaps with the entire family, the Earth Day website has some great events on their "Find an Event" page listed. I strongly you to check it out. Maybe this is a little bit of a hippy philosophy, but I think that we should always look for environmentally responsible and respectful companies no matter what we are buying, and do what we can to encourage others to do the same. I feel the same about shopping locally and supporting the local economy. I truly wish we had more locally owned, small businesses by me, especially more local breweries. If I look at my local brewery, Small Town Brewery, I love seeing how much they are a part of the community, and being able to see their passion for beer and the local community is something special. I think that the craft beer community is especially in a unique position to do this.

Boy that turned into a bit of a rant... sorry...

In summation, Welcome to Chicago Lagunitas!!! I look forward to seeing you soon.