QUISPAMSIS, N.B. -- A craft beer company in New Brunswick has tapped into the power of the sun in a step toward becoming a sustainable and socially responsible business.

In 2019, Foghorn Brewery decided to open a second location in Quispamsis, N.B. With the expansion came the idea to tie in sustainable power to the brew house.

“As we started planning, we looked at things that made sense for us as a community. You know, you're a big part of people's lives, they come in and they're very involved in Foghorn,” says brewer Andrew Estabrooks.

According to Estabrooks, what made sense was to invest in and harness the power of sunshine. To do that, the brewery had ground-mounted nor'easter solar arrays installed.

“You can see the little meter go up and down, depending on how sunny it is, and really it ties into the panel and enables us to use energy towards canning, the lights, things like that within the brewery,” says Estabrooks.

The brewery is not yet net-zero, but say that is their end goal.

“The power that's generated here, obviously, is a small percentage of the overall usage in this facility, but we say it generates enough power to run our canning line,” says Sarah Tippett, the director of customer experience at Foghorn Brewery.

Estabrooks says renewable energy installation is an expensive project, but he’s looking forward to building on what they’ve already accomplished.