Sinagua Malts and AZ Wilderness Brewing Collab to conserve Verde River watershed since 2018!

With a purpose to reduce water usage on the declining Verde River watershed, Sinagua malts was founded in 2016. With the help of Arizona Wilderness Brewing (and now many more breweries) the project has been widely successful to this day. Great job AZ Wilderness and Sinagua Malts!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTVQoVvjOjI

Sinagua Malt has become one of the most interesting sustainability stories in Arizona craft beer. Based in the Verde Valley, the company works with local farmers to grow malting barley during the cooler winter and spring months instead of more water-intensive summer crops like corn or alfalfa. Because the barley crop finishes before the hottest months of the year, significantly less irrigation water is pulled from the Verde River during critical low-flow periods. The project was created as a market-based conservation effort in partnership with farmers, conservation groups, and brewers, helping keep more water in one of Arizona’s last free-flowing rivers while still providing profitable agriculture for the region.

One of the most visible supporters of the effort has been Arizona Wilderness Brewing Co., which has collaborated with Sinagua Malt on beers such as “This Beer Saves Water.” Arizona Wilderness has used its platform to educate drinkers about river conservation and sustainable agriculture, showing how craft beer can directly support environmental stewardship in the Southwest. Other Arizona breweries and distilleries have also incorporated Sinagua malt into their beers, helping expand demand for locally grown barley and encouraging more farmland conversion away from thirsty summer crops. According to Sinagua Malt, hundreds of acres have already been converted, saving hundreds of millions of gallons of water that remain in the Verde River system for wildlife, recreation, downstream communities, and the overall health of Arizona’s fragile desert ecosystem.