Victory Brewing Company’s long-standing commitment to natural resources stewardship is an inspiration to other local businesses and something its loyal customers know and respect. But did you know the beer giant’s efforts took a leap forward in 2014 when Victory for the Environment put a spotlight on how employees work together to go beyond recycling?
Take a look at some of Victory’s key accomplishments and commitments:
- The Headwaters Grant protects the Brandywine Creek—Victory’s water source—and other local watersheds. Created in 2011 and funded in part by sales of Headwaters Pale Ale bottles, this effort helps to keep local water sources clean and includes partnerships with The Brandywine Red Clay Alliance and The Guardians of the Brandywine. In 2016 alone, $32,000 was donated to worthy local organizations.
- The Parkesburg location was designed with sustainability in mind, including smart lights, recirculating water and heat during brewing, Green-e Certified Renewable Energy Certificates for electricity and more.
- All 12- and 24-packs are made from Sustainable Forestry Initiative certified materials.
- Waste oil is sent to be recycled by Waste Oil Recyclers of Modena.
- The Downingtown location is powered by clean, renewable solar energy.
- The Kennett Square location’s walls are lined with repurposed mushroom board from South Mill Mushroom Sales in Kennett Square.
- Employees may use two days per year to volunteer for their favorite causes, which have included river cleanup and hands-on activities for Philabundance.
In 2016:
- Spent grain—5,355.9 tons—was donated to local farms for feed.
- All locations recycled tons of garbage:
- Assorted plastic—250 tons
- Cardboard—64 tons
- Glass—44.2 tons
- Scrap metal—3.1 tons
- Kraft bags—3 tons
- Supersaks—2 tons
- Aluminum—1.5 tons
- Baled film—1 ton
- Fifty-eight tons of waste food was composted.
- A whopping 1,242 pounds of food from the Victory Garden in Parkesburg was donated to the Chester County Food Bank.
Victory’s sustainability efforts extend beyond efforts stemming from its own initiatives. Co-founder and co-brewmaster Bill Covaleski is a member of the Agricultural Land Preservation Board (ALPB) of Chester County.
“One thing our community may not know is that since July 2015, I’ve enjoyed the monthly honor of gathering with the ALPB,” Bill said. “We’re appointed by the Chester County Board of Commissioners, and I’m pleased to note the majority of my board colleagues are farmers. Our primary duty is evaluating farms for preservation.”
Bill explains that the Chester County Board of Commissioners established the ALPB in 1989 to administer the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Agricultural Conservation Easement Purchase Program. Conservation easements require that the landowner assures that all eased property remains in agricultural use—forever. The landowner may stay on the land in existing buildings, plus reserve an additional parcel (roughly two acres) for a second residence to be built. In exchange, the landowner is fairly compensated so he or she may continue to farm the land rather than sell it to residential or commercial developers.
“We’re certainly not looking to stop all development, but we’re helping to safeguard the health and vitality of our boroughs and cities by leaving farms to be farms,” Bill added. “Farmers are paid from a fraction of our taxes and from open space preservation funds—something Chester County residents voted to implement.”
He cites Honey Brook’s Wyebrook Farm as a shining success story. The 360-acre property includes a farm market and restaurant featuring pasture-raised meats and produce. He also noted that the East Branch of the Brandywine Creek—the water source for Victory’s Downingtown brewing—flows through Wyebrook; that water is kept clean thanks to more than 2,000 trees planted there by The Brandywine Conservancy. This year, two other Honey Brook properties were preserved, safeguarding a portion of the West Branch of the Brandywine Creek—the water source for Victory’s Parkesburg brewing.
“It’s definitely bigger than watching over our headwaters,” Bill noted. “Our board has preserved 37,134 acres in 458 transactions since we started, and that’s a credit to our community’s interest in keeping green space productive and watersheds healthy.”
Next time you lift a pint or grab a meal at a Victory brewpub or purchase Victory in bottles or cans, you can know with confidence that this “Locally Brewed, Locally Loved” company takes steps every day to honor Mother Earth.
Find Victory Brewing Company at 420 Acorn Ln. in Downingtown, phone: (610) 873-0881; 600 W. Cypress St. in Kennett Square, phone: (484) 730-1870; and 3127 Lower Valley Rd. in Parkesburg, phone: (484) 718-5080.
- Photos: Victory Brewing Compamy
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