Tell us about the idea of the “village brewery” and how it’s inspired your work.

In 2008, the founders of Stone & Wood came together, inspired by the idea of a village brewery. Traditionally, everyone in the community had a role to play – the butcher, the baker and the local brewer. A brewery didn’t just supply fresh beer to the locals, it was the town’s meeting place and could be relied upon to provide support to the wider community. Today, Stone & Wood believes supporting the community that supports us is not just a nice-to-do, but our responsibility.

How can beer be a force for good in the world?

For us, good means more than just the quality or the taste of the beer; it reflects how we fulfil that role as the local brewer and encapsulates our approach to business.

As a conscious business, we don’t look to make profit for profit’s sake; instead, we seek to strike a balance between our sustainability commitments, paying it forward to our communities and investing in the wellbeing of our team.

What are some of your sustainability and community impact goals and how are you achieving them?

As a B-Corp certified business, we work hard to continually operate by high standard practices around the community and environment.

To better support our commitment to the community, we set up a national not-for-profit – The inGrained Foundation – in 2018. Through inGrained we generate and direct funds to help grassroots charities capacity-build for future generations, in the areas where we live and work. In June of this year, inGrained donated over $115,000 to local charities via its Northern Rivers Grants program, assisting a whole cross-range of organisations, from Koala Habitat protection to youth mental health services.

Environmentally, we focus both on the footprint of our breweries as well as our impact on our supply chain. Each year we track our energy, water and waste to ensure we are improving year on year, and perform above industry best-practice. Outside of our brewery walls we are also mindful of where our ingredients are coming from. We prioritise local and Australian made ingredients; our Pacific Ale for example is 100% Australian made, right from the grain and hops through to the bottles, labels, and cartons. We have some exciting plans in the works with small scale and regenerative farmers which we look forward to sharing more about soon.

We also release an annual Beer As A Force For Good report that keeps us accountable across all environmental and community pillars. You can read more of our report here: https://stoneandwood.com.au/impact/

What makes Stone & Wood beer unique?

Each Stone & Wood beer has its own story. Drawing inspiration from the stunning Northern Rivers region we call home, the mad genius of the brew team gets to work creating beers that are quality, sessionable beers that are brewed ‘slowly.’ This allows the natural ingredients to shine through each finished product.

Tell us about some of your favourite products right now?

Right now we’re enjoying the simple moments that come with our Green Coast Lager. With a lot of us having to stick closer to home at the moment, this clean, crisp lager is the perfect accompaniment to a BBQ with the family or a fresh seafood dinner.

What does drinking responsibly mean and look like for you?

We believe that drinking responsibly means drinking with awareness. Awareness about the product you’re drinking – where has it come from, what strength ABV; awareness of others – keeping an eye on your mates and respecting those around you, and most importantly, self-awareness. A refreshing beer is one of life’s joys, but it’s not an answer to any problem. Enjoy the moment, but know your limits.

Learn more about Stone & Wood here.