Wastewater Beer Offers Revolutionary — but Revolting — Twist on Conscious Cookouts

It being the July Fourth holiday weekend in America — what some Brits still call “that day” — we will be barbecuing and picnicking. On what? Brats and burgers? Veggie chicken nuggets? For those of legal age, why not wash whatever it is down with yummy, recycled wastewater beer?

We know what you’re thinking: “Veggie burgers for the Fourth of July?” Or possibly you may have stopped at drinking recycled wastewater. Fear not. People with skills have it well in hand.

A brew hailing from Singapore, home of beloved Tiger Beer, called NEWBrew, is made using reclaimed wastewater. It’s completely safe, supposedly delicious and, while you’re getting slightly sloshed, you’ll be helping save the earth. Or at least Singapore’s fresh water supply.

It’s a two-fer. As we explore what’s gone into the making of NEWBrew, let’s have some fun with other weird, recycled food and beverage items for your offbeat independence bash.

To begin, Singapore Island, aka Mainland Singapore, is, as the name suggests, an island. Islands have limited fresh water supplies. We all saw Tom Hanks sipping it off leaves in “Castaway.” Within three years of that, Singapore first released wastewater for drinking. Coincidence?

Fly forward to 2018, when Singapore’s National Water Agency (abbreviated as “PUB” and we swear that’s true and not a beer joke setup), having done serious science into wastewater reclamation, turned to local craft brewery Brewerkz with a strange proposal: take “Singapore’s own brand of ultra-high grade recycled water” and make a beer from it (awkward pause).

It was part PR stunt and part serious effort to apply some of the best water treatment tech on the planet and productize it. Small batch no more, it’s now available for sale.

As the New York Post reported on Thursday (June 30) — employing lingo from London’s East End or Manhattan’s Lower East Side — “A new blond ale being sold in Singapore will allow beer-drinkers to literally “get pissed.””

Per the tabloid, “The alcoholic beverage, called NEWBrew, uses recycled sewage water to create the drink. It first went on sale in stores in the Asian city-state in April. The beverage is made from NEWater — specially treated sewage water first introduced in 2003.”

In a press release heralding the earthy ale, Singapore International Water Week (SIWW) Managing Director Ryan Yuen said, “NEWBrew is possibly Singapore’s greenest beer and the perfect accompaniment to this year’s SIWW, with its key themes of climate resilience, resource circularity and water sustainability. We are delighted to partner Brewerkz to bring NEWBrew back again, as it is also part of PUB’s efforts to educate Singaporeans on the importance of water recycling and reuse as a strategy to achieve water sustainability.”

Recycled Rations for Revolutionaries

You’re probably asking yourself, “If white wine goes with fish, what foods does wastewater beer go with?” Reasonable question. We’ve got suggestions. The rest is on you.

Suppose you’re going full-bore with a green Fourth of July barbecue. Sure, you’ve got the Impossible Burgers, but what about the bread? Are you going to buy buns made from the world’s diminishing bun resources? Minneapolis-based company NETZRO is down with upcycling, the practice of taking waste and turning into something far more valuable.

The company upcycles a few things, but we’re most interested in how it takes grains left over from beer brewing and spirits distilling and turns them into — bread.

According to its website, NETZRO is working with Minnesota breweries, taking spent grain and “partnering with local millers, bakers, chefs, food scientists and food production companies, all creating new products and recipes with these great upcycled ingredients.”

If wastewater beer is cool, we see a future in bread made from used booze grains.

To save time (you’ve got orders to place online and stuff to pick up curbside or in-store), we refer PYMNTS readers to the Upcycled Food Association, which has helpfully assembled all kinds of upcycled food items for your July Fourth gathering, like “upcycled Chocolate Chip Cookies” from Imperfect Foods, or Diana’s upcycled bananas for “chocolate covered frozen treats.”

Back to beverages, not a drinker? No NEWBrew for you. Instead, maybe try The Space Food Co.’s Spare Tonic, “a category-defining effervescent drink made from whey that would otherwise have been discarded, plus three other ingredients: fruit, spice and a touch of honey.”

The list goes on. The greening of July Fourth food and drink is upon us, so from toilet beer to veggie burgers to “upcycled Chocolate Chip Cookies” (??), celebrate a recycling revolution this Fourth.