Amsterdam brewery turns rainwater into beer

Innovative beer is brewed using rainwater in an effort to reduce runoff and flooding in Amsterdam.

Beer and innovation seem to go well together, as we’ve seen with smart beer glasses and 3D-printer filaments made from recycled beer waste, and now an Amsterdam-based brewery is using beer to help reduce the city’s flooding problem.

Hemelswater, meaning heaven’s water in Dutch, is brewed using rainwater. In partnership with De Prael brewery, the team set up barrels to collect rainwater around the city, which then undergoes a process of bacterial filtration and boiling for a sanitary brewing process. Having collected over 1000L of rainwater in May 2016, Hemelswater produced it’s first beer: Code Blond, available for EUR 2 per bottle, or on tap in various bars around the city. Hemelswater was borne out of the Amsterdam Rainproof project, which encourages disruptive solutions to runoff during heavy rainfall, with Hemelswater hoping to install more barrels around the city which will contain sensors that automatically notify the team when they are full and ready to be turned into beer.

What other uses could collected rainfall (so-called ‘sponge’ solutions) provide?