Three Specialities - One Self Sustaining Cycle
How we Built a Self-Sustaining Ecosystem
Sustainability is not all about tree hugging hippies trying to prevent that beautiful oak in their local park from being taken down. For me its as much about sustaining the survival of our company through its growth, as it is doing our part to protect the planet.
We are building Allkin to showcase what is possible, and doing so in one of the most energy hungry production sectors I have ever worked in, brewing. It takes 94 trees an entire day to remove the carbon footprint of a single pint, thats if we let things continue as per the status quo.
So, here it is, 3 Stages of one self sustaining cycle over 3 specialities; Brewing, Roasting & Baking.
🌞 STAGE 1: Harnessing Nature’s Power
Our story starts with the elements. On our farm, solar panels soak up sunlight, wind turbines turn with the breeze, our bore hole pulls up the water from beneath our brewery and hydroelectric turbines spin with the flow of the nearby river, all working together to generate clean, renewable energy. This isn’t just where our energy begins; it’s the foundation of everything we do.
That energy powers our brewery, where every beer and drink is crafted with care, balance, and intention. But we didn’t stop there. Our brewing process flows in a circular, regenerative loop:
• The hot water used in brewing? Captured and stored for reuse.
• Natural CO₂ from fermentation? Collected, stored, and reused to carbonate drinks and power the beer lines in all our venues.
• Even our spent grain isn’t left behind. It’s dehydrated and milled on-site, transformed into nutrient-rich flour. That flour becomes fresh bread, pizza dough, and pastries in our very own bakery. From grain to glass and back to the table, nothing is wasted, and everything has purpose.
Any excess spent grain continues it journey, on to Stage 2.
🔁 STAGE 2: Closing the Loop with Biogas
The cycle doesn’t end when the brewing does. All of our brewery waste feeds into our custom-built electro-methanogenic biogas system, which creates green energy that recharges our on-site battery systems. This gives us the power to keep the cycle going, without relying on the perfect weather or the national grid.
Our philosophy has always been to spread energy generation across multiple sustainable sources, ensuring that no matter the conditions, one or more systems are always generating power. That resilience means not only are we powering our farm site sustainably, but soon, our city centre venues as well.
🔄 STAGE 3: Powering More Than Just Beer
The energy we generate fuels our bakery, kitchen, and on-site roastery, each of which also feeds back into the biogas system with their organic waste. Even the heat from baking is captured via our heat recovery unit, which helps warm the rest of our Oakridge farm site.
And when all is said and done, after every grain has been brewed, every loaf baked, and every bean roasted, what’s left from our bio system is clean water. We utilise our geographical height advantage & return it to the river running through our farm, but not before capturing even more energy via micro-turbines installed in our wastewater run-off. Every drop designed to give back every watt of energy we can.
💡 The Result: A Truly Independent, Regenerative Energy Ecosystem
What we’ve built isn’t just sustainable, it’s self-sustaining.
A closed-loop ecosystem powered by solar, wind, water, and innovation. Every system supports the next. Every input has a meaningful output. Every decision, from how much we brew to how we heat a room, is made with respect for the clean energy we produce here on site.
Even our electric delivery vans charge from the surplus energy, and we’ve added EV chargers for our neighbours and community to share in the benefits.
💬 Built with Purpose, Designed for Impact
This isn’t an off-the-shelf solution. It’s something we built from the ground up with one mission in mind: to create a business that meets the needs of today.
A business that causes no unnecessary harm. One that proves sustainability and community go hand in hand. And one that, above all, inspires future generations to think differently about how we make, consume, and give back.
We’re proud of what we’ve built. And we’re just getting started.