Solar Heater Puts the Power of the Sun in the Suds

By John Foyston, The Oregonian, Portland, Ore.

Feb. 22–Lucky Labrador’s new Solar Flare ale glows as golden as sunbeams in a glass, but a new solar water-heating system makes it Portland’s greenest beer.

Solar Flare will be pouring only at the Lucky Lab brewpub on Hawthorne Boulevard where it was brewed. Sixteen solar panels on the roof are the most visible part of a $70,000 system designed and installed by Ra Energy of Portland.

Glycol pumped through the panels and then to a heat exchanger and computer-controlled valves warmed Portland city water from about 55 degrees to more than 100 degrees in cloudy February.

“Come spring and summer, the system should keep a 900-gallon tank of water heated to 180 degrees,” said Gary Geist, co-owner of Portland’s three Lucky Labrador pubs. Pointing to a big natural gas heater in the brewery, he said, “that boiler should just sit there all summer.”

Thanks to federal and state tax credits and renewable energy grants, Geist expects the system to pay for itself in two to four years. “It makes sense because of the incentives and the level of the technology now,” he said, “and it’s just the right thing to do, especially here in Portland.”

Soon, the Web site — www.luckylab.com — will be linked to a BTU meter in the system, which will display how much energy is being extracted from sunlight.

Hot water is a significant cost at most breweries, because it takes lakes of the stuff to brew beer and to keep tanks and fittings sanitized.

At the Lucky Lab, the system is programmed to begin filling what’s called the hot liquor tank at 4 a.m. so hot water will be ready when brewers mash in — saturate the malted barley in the mash tun with hot water, to begin converting starches to fermentable sugars. After conversion is complete, brewers sparge or rinse the grain with even hotter water to create the wort, which is piped to the kettle and boiled to become the basis of beer.

They brewed 70,200 gallons of Lucky Labrador beer last year: 42,600 gallons at the Hawthorne brewpub, and 27,600 gallons at the Lucky Labrador Beer Hall on Northwest Quimby Street.

“I was skeptical that the system would be that big a help,” said co-owner and head brewer Alex Stiles, “but I’m convinced now: it saves a lot of time for the brewers, and we can turn out beer faster.”

Geist is convinced, too — he’s applying for permits to install a similar system at the Quimby Street brewpub.

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Copyright (c) 2008, The Oregonian, Portland, Ore.

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