Brews from
the Sun

The annual competition to crown America's favorite solar craft brewery

See the 2019 Competition Winners

Brews from the Sun news

Voting has opened for the 2nd annual Brews from the Sun Competition. This year’s competition is even bigger!

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You crowned America's favorite solar-powered craft breweries!

This year,12,334 people cast votes for 44 breweries in three categories. The winners in each category are:

Brewpubs

1st place

Canal Park Brewing Company

Duluth, MN

2nd place

East Forty Brewing

Blue Springs, MO

3rd place

Shy Bear Brewing

Lewistown, PA

Microbreweries

1st place

Mad Mole Brewing

Wilmington, NC

2nd place

Birdsong Brewing Company

Charlotte, NC

3rd place

Wise Man Brewing

Winston Salem, NC

Regional breweries

1st place

Maui Brewing Co.

Kihei, HI

2nd place

New Belgium Brewing

Fort Collins, CO

3rd place

Boulevard Brewing Company

Kansas City, MO

12,334 people cast their vote in 2019

Brewpubs —8 competitors

Per the Brewer's Association: A restaurant-brewery that sells 25 percent or more of its beer on site. The beer is brewed primarily for sale in the restaurant and bar. The beer is often dispensed directly from the brewery’s storage tanks. Where allowed by law, brewpubs often sell beer “to go” and /or distribute to off site accounts. Note: BA re-categorizes a company as a microbrewery if its off-site (distributed) beer sales exceed 75 percent.

Brewery
Votes
741
388
253
70
63
37

Microbreweries —21 competitors

Per the Brewer's Association: A brewery that produces less than 15,000 barrels (17,600 hectoliters) of beer per year with 75 percent or more of its beer sold off-site. Microbreweries sell to the public by one or more of the following methods: the traditional three-tier system (brewer to wholesaler to retailer to consumer); the two-tier system (brewer acting as wholesaler to retailer to consumer); and, directly to the consumer through carry-outs and/or on-site tap-room or restaurant sales.

Brewery
Votes
1630
1337
692
223
209
123
116
72
71
67
51
12
10

Regional breweries —15 competitors

Per the Brewer's Association: An independent regional brewery with a majority of volume in “traditional” or “innovative” beer(s).

Brewery
Votes
1288
649
220
216
155
99
63
61
50

Brews from the Sun sponsor

Solar United Neighbors is proud to partner with sponsor BrewSavor™ by NewAge Industries to spread the word about solar breweries. The company, a manufacturer of fluid transfer systems, has been solar since 2011. Its company headquarters hosts a 1 MW system. It is one part of NewAge's commitment to environmental sustainability that also includes a "cool" roof and EV charging for employees.

Learn more →

Competition details

This spring, solar-powered craft breweries from across the country will compete during 6 weeks of public voting to receive the most votes and be crowned America’s Favorite Solar Craft Brewery of 2019. Solar craft breweries can sign up to participate in the competition through April 30th. Public voting will take place from May 6th - June 15th.

Competition details →

Legal Remedy Brewing Company, SC

Mudshark Brewery, AZ

Last year's competition

41 Solar Craft Breweries from 21 different states competed in the 2018 Brews from the Sun competition. Receiving over 2,000 votes, Mudshark Brewery of Lake Havasu, AZ was crowned America’s Favorite Solar Craft Brewery of 2018. Legal Remedy Brewing of Rock Hill, SC came in a close second place and Flathead Lake Brewing of Big Fork, MT took home third place.

More 2018 highlights →

What solar-powered breweries are saying…

2018 Winner

Being a part of the Brews from the Sun competition has been a lot of fun! It has given our entire company, from our sales team, servers, bartenders, management and brewers the opportunity to engage with our customers on our sustainability efforts. We have been able to spread the word and encourage others to join us in going solar!

Tina Stocking
Director of Sales & Marketing
Mudshark Brewery

2018 1st Runner-Up

We have had a great experience with the Brews from the Sun Competition - so many people are learning about our use of solar energy... We have even had some local breweries inquire about who we used, how much it saves, etc., which is fantastic! ... It has helped us share the other sustainable efforts we continue to make in our brewpub.

Alex Hubbarth
Marketing & Social Media Manager
Legal Remedy Brewing Company

2018 2nd Runner-Up

It has been really fun to engage our community to rally for their local brewery in this nationwide competition. It has also been a great tool to educate more people on the sustainable aspects of our brewery and why we feel that using solar power is an important aspect of our overall goal of being environmentally responsible.

Sarah Peterson
Marketing Manager
Flathead Lake Brewing Company