As one of the few fully off-grid, carbon-neutral breweries in the country, Rocky Ridge Brewing Co has set a benchmark for sustainability in the Australian brewing industry.
At the 2025 Beer & Brewer Awards, the Rocky Ridge team was honoured with the Sustainability Award, securing back-to-back wins for their leadership and commitment to constant innovation, proving that great beer can be made while doing the right thing by the environment.
Reflecting on what it means to be recognised by industry peers for their effort in sustainability, co-founder Mel Holland said she is incredibly grateful.
“We always strive to speak with actions more than words and believe that ‘doing’ is the best way to learn and improve. This includes doing the right thing – yes at times we make mistakes, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try, right?
“This award cements our commitment and resolve to keep striving to be the most efficient we can be, finding new and novel ways to reduce our impact, all while still making fun, exciting and boundary pushing beers,” she told Beer & Brewer.
Holland said the team’s secret to success has always been their authenticity and genuine commitment to making a difference.
“We’ve always been advocates for quietly walking the walk, rather than talking the talk. With that comes a level of authenticity and real buy-in from our team and our customers. It’s really nice to have such a huge level of support, and acknowledgement from the industry, to know that people want to walk alongside us in our journey,” she said.
Innovation that never stops
Since launching in 2017, Rocky Ridge has focused on minimising the impact beer-making has on the planet, incorporating efficiencies such as a CO₂ recovery plant, wastewater recycling and a significant solar power system at its Jindong facility.
While it’s a great achievement for the business, Holland explains that the job is never really done, but rather a process of constant innovation and commitment to improvement.
“All of our projects are all ongoing, meaning we never sit back and go ‘that’s perfect’. It can always be improved on. This last year has seen us bring water recycling to reality, placing us among the most water-efficient breweries in the world. We’ve also increased (again) the size of our solar system to be one of the largest off-grid solar installations in Western Australia.”
In terms of what is next for Rocky Ridge, Holland said there are plenty of exciting projects coming in 2026, including auditing and technology improvements.
“[We’ll] continue refining our water treatment strategy and reductions where we can; supplier compliance auditing – as we’ve grown it’s important to make sure our suppliers are coming on the journey with us; on-site Arum lily eradication (noxious weed); support naturalist conservation, tree planting and biodiversity drive; system improvements to allow for real time emissions calculations/impact data; and building better systems to monitor and control our energy, like IOT, to control and monitor our equipment and energy usage.”
Holland’s advice to other businesses looking to improve their efforts in sustainability is to remember that it’s about starting small and giving it a go.
“We’re not perfect. We’re probably never going to be perfect. But we’re committed to being better tomorrow than we are today, and better next year than we are this year. Once you start, you’re on your journey. Our planet is too precious not to have a crack.
“It’s not always about big gestures and huge projects. Every little thing that you do to better your operations, is a win for the planet. Many of our improvements and upgrades started as ramshackled-together experiments, questioning ‘What if we did it this way?’. In that, we’ve had some great wins, and some not-so-great setbacks. At the end of the day, it’s a journey to be more sustainable. And it’s a bloody rewarding journey to be on.”
With that in mind, Holland said she hopes to see more work done on a policy level to support small businesses in reducing their environmental impact through Net Zero Emissions.
“Brewing operations are pretty well suited to ‘in house’ emissions reductions projects, however the red tape is confusing, and the Australian Emissions Reduction Scheme isn’t necessarily tailored to support small business. I’d love to see reform in this space to make it easier for businesses to be rewarded for doing the right thing.”
She added: “I’d also love to see more direct-to-farmer relationships and local supply chains. We have access to some of the world’s best ingredients; let’s celebrate that, support our neighbours, and reduce food miles while we’re at it.”
