Making ethical choices at the bar

May 10, 2007: Organic ale and Fairtrade wine are only the tip of the iceberg if you want to take your ethics to the pub, according to the Green Futures website.

It has sampled the best tipples around, scouting out the brands that are taking sustainable drinking to the extreme, with local ingredients, environmentally friendly labels, sustainable corks and returnable bottles.

Among its findings were:

l That Adnams' brewery sports the biggest green roof in the country, and now it has redesigned its glass bottles to be lighter —quite literally — on the planet.

l Whether you're vegan or not, you'll appreciate the fact that Freedom Beer is made only of hops, barley, yeast and pure Burton spring water — there is no fining with fish bladder.

l Manns' deep and creamy brown ale comes in retro bottles with the old-fashioned virtue that they're returnable.

l Made with organic hops harvested at Prince Charles's farm, Duchy Originals Organic Ale won't harm the birds and the bugs.

l It's the demerara sugar from Malawi that makes Fairplay Ale one of the first Fairtrade cask ales.