STORY: Would you give this beer a try?

What about after discovering it’s made from wastewater?

Weissenburg, Germany

Meet the Reuse Brew – a uniquely engineered beer from Germany which is made from reclaimed wastewater.

Its brewers say the drink is perfectly safe… tastes good… and offers a sustainable solution to beer-making.

Uwe Huebner, Xylem Water Solutions

“I can reassure you. You won’t find anything from the sewage treatment plant. We have really done very intensive purification.”

The sewage water used for the beer goes through four purification steps.

That includes a mechanical, biological and chemical stage, in which solid waste is removed – and dissolved substances are turned into solids for removal too.

The last step involves ozonizing and filtering the water — which removes anthropogenic trace substances.

Those are substances derived from human activity — like using cosmetics and pesticides.

The water is treated even further after the purification stages…

…prior to its transformation into the Reuse Brew.

Representative of the American water tech corporation Xylem, Uwe Huebner, provides some insights.

“The purification process exceeds the standards established by drinking water regulations. It encompasses partial mineral extraction. Consequently, the water is intentionally hardened to a certain level in the brewery to enhance the beer’s quality.”

The Reuse Brew is a collaborative endeavor involving the Technical University of Munich, Xylem, and the German city of Weissenburg.

At this trade fair in Munich, tasters say they can’t tell the difference.

Nadine Krogull

“It’s delicious. You don’t realize that it’s wastewater. It’s really good, really good. It’s mild and tastes great.”

Sebastian Beck

“It should be said – it’s surprisingly good. Because you’re doing something for the environment, we’re reusing water and I don’t notice any difference to a normal beer. It’s really good.”

But the Reuse Brew isn’t available for purchase yet.

Its brewers say its purpose is to show the possibilities of modern water treatment – and how water can be used sustainably.

HUEBNER: “Yes, we are currently experiencing very frequent water shortages due to climate change. And we also see this in Germany where we have periods of drought, where we have periods – seasonal, regional – where we already have restrictions on consumption. And one way to counteract this is to reuse treated wastewater.”