A Sustainability Story: Black Star Co-Op Pub and Brewery

[caption id="attachment_110337" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Black Star Co-Op Pub and Brewery"][/caption] The following interview is part of our annual "green beer" series for 2012. To read more interviews and articles visit the main page here. Co-operatives are businesses owned by the people who use its services or who work at it. You don’t have to be a member-owner to come to the brewpub, but supporting Black Star Co-op means supporting livable wages, democratic workplaces, local farms, and quality products from community brewpubs. TriplePundit: What’s your name and the name of your brewery? Jeff Young, Beer Team Leader, Black Star Co-Op Pub and Brewery 3p: How long have you been in the business? JY: Co-Op: 6 years; Brewpub: 1.5 years 3p:Where are you located? JY: Austin, Texas 3p:What volume of beer do you produce and where do you distribute? JY: On-site only; 500bbls/yr 3p:What are your plans for growth, if any? JY: Second location in South or East Austin in a few years 3p:What makes your brewery sustainable? JY:  The brewpub is on the verge of Gold Star LEED Certification,  our grain goes to local rancher, almost all water is dual-usage (cooling/cleaning), kitchen produces less than one bag of garbage per day (the rest is recycled or composted) 3p:Forget finances- what’s your brewery pipe dream? JY: Having a second location and making almost all the Austin Member-Owners within 10 minutes of a Black Star Co-op Pub! 3p:What is the one thing you want Triple Pundit readers to know about your brewery? JY: We are the first Co-operatively owned and worker self-managed brewpub! 3p:What’s your favorite brew? JY: Our own Vulcan--assertively hopped rye ale