Wiper and True
• • • Sustainability Award • • •
Robyn Gilmour
Saturday 18 October 2025
This article is from
Beer Awards 2025
issue 123
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It’s easy to be swept away by how big, bright and beautiful the Wiper and True taproom is — when it first opened in 2023, I daresay it was the talk of the UK brewing scene — but what its impressive, modern interior conceals is how much the brewery has invested (and continues to invest) in sustainability behind the scenes. Wiper and True is on a mission to reach Net Zero by 2030, while also being refreshingly realistic about that transition being a marathon and not a sprint.
Its sustainability journey began by switching to a green energy supplier in 2012. When it could, the brewery began using 100% Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) certified cardboard for all its packaging, in 2014. Wiper and True places these events on the same timeline that chronicles its investment in solar panels and a closed-loop carbon capture plant in 2024, with the point being that doing what you can, adds up.
“One of the biggest milestones this year has been the installation of a centrifuge; it’s been a huge sustainability win for us,” says facilities & sustainability manager, Joe Watts. “It’s helped reduce tank time by around 30%, meaning we’re brewing more efficiently, and we've seen a 7% improvement in yields across most of our beers. In practice it means we’re using fewer resources to make more great beer – less energy, less water, and less waste.”
At the time of writing, Wiper and True is also in the process of wrapping up a feasibility study into heat recovery on its brew kit. “The aim is to capture and reuse heat from one brew in the next, potentially reducing our gas consumption significantly,” says Bea. “If all goes to plan, we hope to install the system within the next 6-12 months. As a bonus, any excess heat not used in the brewing process could be diverted to heat our taproom. We came across a brilliant ceiling-mounted system in Amsterdam that uses coiled hot water pipes and fans to circulate warm air, and we think it could work beautifully here.”
While he can’t give too much away yet, Joe also indicates that in 2026 the brewery will raise the curtain on “a collaborative project with a company making big strides in sustainability within their own industry, and one that’s closely connected to the world of beer”. Mysterious, but one to watch no doubt.
When asked if there’s anything Wiper and True would like to see change or progress in the beer and brewing world over the next year, Joe says: “Absolutely. We’d love to see more suppliers stepping up with bold, realistic sustainability goals. A large portion of our carbon footprint sits in Scope 3 emissions; things like packaging and ingredients. If we’re going to keep shrinking our environmental impact, we need our supply chain to be on the journey with us, offering lower-impact materials and committing to their own decarbonisation roadmaps. Fortunately, we’re already working with some brilliant suppliers who are doing just that, and we hope to see more follow suit.
“We’d also like to see greater access to government grants for sustainability initiatives. We've had some green funding in the past, which made a real difference, but it's still surprisingly limited. If the industry, and small businesses in particular, are going to make fast, meaningful progress, there needs to be a much more ambitious, centralised funding strategy in place. Right now, the opportunity is there, but the support isn’t.”
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