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A south London brewery, Gipsy Hill, has created an offset-free carbon negative beer in what it says is a world first. Gipsy Hill Brewery’s new Swell Lager and Trail Pale are brewed using barley grown through regenerative farming from Wildfarmed and hops which have been recaptured and reused. Each pint removes more greenhouse gases from the atmosphere than it produces. The carbon-negative beer is created without using carbon offsetting, a process where businesses reduce the carbon footprint of products through activities unrelated to their production, such as planting trees in another part of the world. Gipsy Hill combines the barley with recaptured hops – the hop material that has been removed after fermentation from a previous batch of beer and then reused to bitter and flavour a new batch of beer. The complete carbon lifecycle of the beers has been analysed by Zevero, a specialist carbon accounting firm. The beers are currently available in a number of locations, including Gipsy Hill’s taproom and sister bar in South London, The Understudy at the National Theatre, Kerb Street food markets, Seven Dials Market and a selection of Youngs venues around the UK. Gipsy Hill’s new beers have carbon footprints of -40gCO2e for Swell Lager and -30gCO2e for Trail Pale per pint respectively. A typical pint of commercial lager produces at least 350g of CO2, with many craft IPAs starting at 500gCO2e. Sam McMeeken, co-founder of Gipsy Hill Brewery, said: “Making great quality beer has been our obsession for 10 years, but I felt we had to find a way to do it more sustainably. Great beer should be guilt-free, and our new Trail Pale and Swell Lager mean that for the first time, our drinkers can enjoy a pint safe in the knowledge it’s actively improving the environment and helping solve our climate crisis. He continued: “At Gipsy Hill, we have always tried to make sure our beer has a positive impact, and that’s why we have actively sought to introduce new innovations to the brewing process and work with the most innovative producers to push the boundaries of sustainable brewing. “By truly embedding sustainability into our brewing process, rather than simply offsetting emissions, we have created a blueprint for sustainable beer range, but the wider food and drink industry”. Edd Lees, co-founder at Wildfarmed added: “We’re thrilled to be working with Gipsy Hill to create a beer that not only tastes great, but is great for the planet too. We’re making it easy for people to help solve some of the world’s biggest problems — like climate change and food security — by consuming food & drink made with ingredients from healthy, regenerative soil. Our Wildfarmed barley sequesters carbon, increases biodiversity, and is the gold standard of regen agriculture.”