One brewery's latest beer took the trip from the toilet to the tap

It may sound gross, but it's actually delicious -- and good for the earth!
 By 
Marcus Gilmer
 on 
One brewery's latest beer took the trip from the toilet to the tap
Stone Brewery got creative for their latest beer project Credit: Gregory Bull/AP/REX/Shutterstock

If you can get past the idea of "toilet beer" -- think of it like bathtub gin! -- then you may be able to experience a taste of the future and a damn good beer to boot.

Southern California beer makers Stone Brewing unveiled their first beer made exclusively from wastewater this month and, based on the feedback they got, it's another winner for the well-decorated brewery.

The brewery recently unveiled a batch of what they're calling Full Circle Pale Ale, beer made from recycled water from the San Diego’s Pure Water project.

San Diego's mayor called the beer "fantastic" while other drinkers said it was "outstanding" and "delicious," words you might not expect for beer made out of wastewater. But, as Stone CEO Pat Tiernan insisted, the purified water that the brewery used for Full Circle was apparently even better water than the water the brewery usually relies on.

And that gets us to the point of the special brew: it's all about sustainability. Tiernan noted the challenges the brewery dealt with in dealing with different water sources during California's recent historic drought. And the beer was an opportunity to partner with San Diego's Pure Water project which is aiming to provide the city with 30 million gallons of recycled water a day by 2021.

Stone is no stranger to sustainability, either. The brewery boasts of its many efforts, including deriving 20 percent of its power at its headquarters in Escondido, California from solar energy. That headquarters also has its own water reclamation system.

Stone isn't the first craft brewery to use wastewater but it's probably the biggest. As for its taste, Stone Brewing Senior Manager of Brewing and Innovation Steve Gonzalez told local news stations said the beer has "caramel notes, some tropical fruit notes. It's a very clean tasting beer."

If you're hankering for a taste yourself, some bad news: according to Stone, the beer was a one-time-only brew made specially for the event. The good news, though? With a brewery the size and popularity of Stone fully on the sustainability bandwagon, maybe more will follow suit. And keeping the world well lubricated with excellent beer is no small or unappreciated task.

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Marcus Gilmer

Marcus Gilmer is Mashable's Assistant Real-Times News Editor on the West Coast, reporting on breaking news from his location in San Francisco. An Alabama native, Marcus earned his BA from Birmingham-Southern College and his MFA in Communications from the University of New Orleans. Marcus has previously worked for Chicagoist, The A.V. Club, the Chicago Sun-Times and the San Francisco Chronicle.

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