From Farm to Glass: The Sustainable Future of Brewing in Leicestershire
When people ask whether there are any truly independent, family-owned breweries left in the UK, the honest answer is that there are fewer every year. The UK now has 100 fewer breweries than a year ago, with the total standing at 1,715 at the start of 2025, down from 1,815 at the start of 2024. In that context, what we've built here in Leicestershire over the past 176 years feels both rare and worth talking about.
We are Everards. We've been brewing interesting and exciting beers for all since 1849, and sustainability has never been a buzzword for us. It's been a way of doing business long before anyone put a label on it. From the water we use to the spent grains we repurpose, this is the story of how a Leicestershire family business is helping to shape what sustainable brewing actually looks like in practice.
Where It All Started: A Family Business Rooted in Leicestershire
Our story begins with a farmer and a maltster. In 1849, our founder William Everard joined forces with maltster Thomas Hull, and together they leased a small brewery on Southgate Street in Leicester, with one simple belief: to brew honest beer for honest people. William brought the farming instinct; he understood the land before he understood the beer, and that farmer's soul is why we still treat our ingredients with such respect today and Thomas Hull brought the brewing knowledge. That combination of local land and local craft became the foundation of everything we do today.
By 1875, the brewery had outgrown its beginnings, and a new home was built on Southgate Street, designed by William's nephew John Everard, a place that reflected who we were: proud, hardworking, and here to stay.
After William's death in 1892, his son Thomas took over and expanded the operation, leasing the Bridge Brewery in Burton-upon-Trent and, by 1901, acquiring the Trent Brewery outright. That site was eventually renamed the Tiger Brewery around 1970, giving a home to what would become our most famous beer. In 1972, we brewed something truly special: Tiger. A bold, full-bodied ale that captured the spirit of Leicestershire and became our flagship beer.
The Everards' family business has now been led through six generations. We've never sold out, never merged away our independence, and we've never stopped brewing beer in the county that made us. That kind of continuity doesn't happen by accident. It happens because every generation has taken the long view, prioritising quality, community, and responsible practice over short-term profit.
Why Sustainable Brewing Matters More Than Ever
We don't need a spreadsheet to tell us why looking after the land matters. When your family has been brewing in the same county since 1849, you don't think in quarterly results; you think in generations. For us, sustainable brewing isn't a modern pivot; it's making sure the Meadows are still thriving when the next generation of Everards takes the helm. As Everard's family business is rooted in Leicestershire, the idea of leaving this place better than we found it isn't a strategy; it's common sense.
Progress is being made across the industry, but there remains a significant gap between intention and action. It's harder, particularly for smaller independent breweries in the UK that lack the scale to invest in green infrastructure.
The Society of Independent Brewers has set out plans to help independent breweries meet Net Zero obligations, with a target of reaching Net Zero for the independent brewing sector by 2045, five years ahead of the Government's legally binding target of 2050.
At Everards, we're not waiting. We've already invested heavily in making our home at Everards Meadows one of the most environmentally considered brewery sites in the Midlands, and we're proud to show our workings.
What Sustainable Brewing Looks Like at Everards Meadows
When we moved to Everards Meadows and opened our new state-of-the-art brewery in 2021, sustainability wasn't an afterthought. It was built into the site from the ground up. Here's a clear look at what that means in practice:
Solar Energy - Our roof isn't just a cover; it's a power station. Our solar panels harvest enough Leicestershire sunshine to power the brewing of 100,000 pints of beer annually. That's two full weeks of brewing on 'sun-power' alone.
Yeast Waste - Waste yeast is sent to an anaerobic digestion plant just 4 miles away, turning it into biogas
Water Efficiency - Our water-reclamation system recovers and reuses cleaning detergents, and our water efficiency programme is reviewed and improved annually, cutting waste at every stage of the brew
Carbon Reduction - We generate nitrogen to replace CO2 for flushing oxygen from pipes, reducing our carbon footprint
Electric Transport - Grounds are maintained using an electric buggy, and most company cars are now electric or hybrid
Building Design - Natural light, automated heating, cooling, and ventilation reduce energy consumption throughout
The home of Leicestershire's biggest beer producer, Everards Meadows, has been designed with sustainability in mind, with the roof covered in solar panels that generate enough energy to power the home for over two weeks, equating to around 100,000 pints of beer a year from solar alone.
This commitment was formally recognised when we received a British Institute of Innkeeping Sustainability Champion award, something we're genuinely proud of.
Local Leicester Produce and the Everards Family Business Approach
Sustainable brewing isn't just about reducing waste and cutting carbon footprints. It's about where your ingredients come from, who you support when you spend your money, and whether the local economy benefits from your success. As an Everard's family business, the answer to all three has always been Leicestershire first.
We work with local suppliers wherever possible. We support local Leicester produce. We keep money circulating within the community rather than sending it out of the county. We're proud 'Leicestershire-first' drinkers, from the water drawn for our mash to the local tradespeople who helped build the Beer Hall. Our footprint stays small, so our impact on the local economy stays big.
Ask our Head Brewer, Jon Elks, and he'll tell you straight: "We aren't trying to save the world with one pint, we're just trying to brew the best beer possible without leaving a mess behind. Whether that's our solar-powered kettles or our 4-mile biogas loop for waste yeast, it's about being a good neighbour."
Once we've extracted the sweetness from our mash, our spent grain doesn't end up in a landfill. Instead, it's collected by local Leicestershire farmers to feed their livestock. It's a literal 'Farm to Glass' loop: the grain helps raise local cattle, and that local beef often ends up back on our menu in the Beer Hall.
That's a circular economy you can actually taste. This is part of a broader global movement in sustainable brewing, where spent-grain repurposing is one of the most impactful waste-reduction strategies available to any brewery. We take that seriously.
The 70 Acres Around Us: Sustainability Beyond the Brewery
We chose to build our state-of-the-art home at Everards Meadows because it allowed us to stay rooted in Leicestershire while proving that 'local' can also mean 'world-class sustainability'.
More than 70 acres of the Everards Meadows site is undeveloped meadowland, opened to the local community to enjoy for free, with investment in walking and cycling routes connecting to Route 6 of the National Cycle Network and the waterways.
We didn't just build a brewery; we protected a park. Our 70 acres of meadows are a vital sanctuary for the River Soar's wildlife, from nesting kingfishers to the local otters. It's also one of Leicestershire's most welcoming spots for dog owners. If you and your four-legged companion are walking the National Cycle Route 6, we're the perfect pit-stop for a pint that supports our eco-friendly efforts across the meadows.
There are many different species of wildlife in the meadows, a bug hotel, and the land is carefully managed to optimise flora and fauna. We also work with community groups, including the South Leicestershire Litter Wombles, to run regular litter walks in and around the meadows. When we opened the site in 2019, we installed a new bridge to connect communities across the river, opening new spaces for locals, walkers, cyclists, and dog owners.
This is what a sustainable family business looks like when it thinks beyond its own four walls.
Our Beers: Quality You Can Trace
Everything we've described above feeds directly into what you'll taste in the glass. When the ingredients are sourced carefully, the process is managed responsibly, and the people doing the brewing genuinely care about high-quality outcomes, the beer reflects it.
From the famous Tiger to our small-batch experimental brews exclusive to the Beer Hall, every pint we pour carries the weight of that 176-year commitment to doing things properly. You can explore our full range on our Beers page and see exactly what we mean.
Sustainability initiatives are gaining significant traction across the UK craft beer market, as consumers increasingly favour brands that prioritise eco-friendly practices. We've been building towards this for generations. It's not a pivot for us. It's just who we are.
Come and See It for Yourself
We think the best way to understand what sustainable brewing actually means is to come and see it for yourself. Watch the beer being made through the glass panels in our Beer Hall. Walk the meadows. Try a pint that was brewed a short distance away from where you're sitting.
We are Everards of Leicestershire, located at Everards Meadows, Cooper Way, Leicestershire, LE19 2AN, just four miles from Leicester city centre. You can call us on 0116 201 4100 or visit everards.co.uk to book a brewery tour, reserve a table at the Beer Hall, or simply find out more about the beers we make and how we make them.
We've been here since 1849. We're not going anywhere. And we'd love to show you what 176 years of caring about your craft actually looks like.