Gipsy Hill Brewery and Wildfarmed produce carbon-negative beer

South London brewery Gipsy Hill and regenerative farming company Wildfarmed have claimed to created made the world's first carbon-negative beer.

The independent London brewery is claiming it is the first time that a brewery has produced a carbon-negative beer without using carbon offsetting, a process where businesses reduce the carbon footprint of products through activities unrelated to their production, such as planting trees in another part of the world.

The partnership has created two new carbon-negative beers, Swell Lager and Trail Pale. They are brewed using regenerative farming grown barley, and hops which have been recaptured and reused, meaning each pint removes more greenhouse gases from the atmosphere than it produces.

The latest beers have carbon footprints of -40gCO2e for Swell Lager and -30gCO2e for Trail Pale per pint respectively. A typical pint of commercial lager produces at least 350g of CO2, with many craft IPAs starting at 500gCO2e.

Specialist carbon accounting firm Zevero has independently analysed the complete carbon lifecycle of the beers. The study accounted for the full life cycle of the products, from the growing of the ingredients to the end of life of packaging.

Sam McMeeken, co-founder of Gipsy Hill Brewery, said the brand is excited drinkers can enjoy one of its pints "safe in the knowledge it's actively improving the environment and helping solve our climate crisis".

He added Gipsy Hill has "actively sought to introduce new innovations to the brewing process" to improve its sustainability. "By truly embedding sustainability into our brewing process, rather than simply offsetting emissions, we have created a blueprint for sustainable beer range, but the wider food and drink industry."

Edd Lees, co-founder at Wildfarmed added: "We're thrilled to be working with Gipsy Hill to create a beer that not only tastes great but is great for the planet too. We're making it easy for people to help solve some of the world's biggest problems — like climate change and food security — by consuming food and drink made with ingredients from healthy, regenerative soil."

The beers are currently available in a number of locations, including Gipsy Hill's taproom and sister bar in south London, The Understudy at the National Theatre, Kerb Street food markets, and a selection of Youngs venues around the UK.