Contributed by Joe Agin, Staff Scientist, PPM Consultants
At first glance, cleaning up a petroleum release and brewing a batch of IPA might seem like activities from two different disciplines. One involves protecting human health and the environment by removing contaminants from the subsurface. The other involves combining water, malt, hops, and yeast to create something people look forward to at the end of a long day. But the more I work in petroleum remediation, the more I’ve seen the parallels between these two processes.
Ingredients Matter: You Can’t Fake the Foundation
Every brewer knows the importance of good ingredients. Water chemistry can make or break a batch of beer. The mineral content, pH, and even chlorine levels can impact how hops express themselves or how efficiently enzymes convert starches to sugars. Malt, hops, and yeast each bring complexity to the flavor, but they need to work in balance. A great recipe still needs great raw materials.
In remediation, our “ingredients” are just as crucial. No two petroleum release sites are exactly the same. We need to consider:
- Soil Type (sandy, silty, clayey, fractured bedrock)
- Hydrogeology (hydraulic conductivity, gradient, depth of groundwater)
- Contaminant type and behavior (LNAPLs like gasoline or diesel, MTBE, BTEX compounds)
- Native microbial populations
- Geochemical conditions (nitrate, sulfate, iron levels, and redox potential)
Just like in brewing, poor raw materials – or an incompatible mix – can throw off the entire process. If we ignore how site’s conditions interact with a remediation approach, we might end up with incomplete degradation or rebound effects that bring contaminant levels back up after temporary success.
In both cases, a solid foundation is non-negotiable. A rushed site assessment is the remediation equivalent of using chlorinated tap water to brew a pilsner – it might work, but it wont work well.
Fermentation and Biodegradation: Two Microbial Workforces
If brewing has a “magic moment,” its fermentation. That’s where sugar is converted into alcohol and CO2 by yeast. Brewers select specific strains depending on the beer style – Belgian ale yeast for fruity esters, lager yeast for clean, crisp finishes. They monitor temperature closely, manage headspace, and sometimes even use open fermentation tanks to allow certain compounds to dissipate.
In remediation, our microorganisms work in the opposite direction: instead of creating alcohol, they’re breaking down hydrocarbons – often using oxygen, nitrate, sulfate, or iron as terminal electron acceptors. Whether its aerobic biodegradation of gasoline components or anaerobic reductive dichlorination for solvents like PCE and TCE, microbes are central players.
In both fields:
- Microbial communities are delicate and can be disrupted by pH, temperature, or toxins
- We sometimes “brew” our own conditions, adding substrates or amendments like oxygen-releasing compounds or even hydrogen-releasing donors.
- Fermentation and biodegradation can both produce gas – whether its CO2 bubbles in your beer or methane under a treatment system venting cap.
Both processes require microbial health to be supported, and both can be derailed by environmental stressors. Brewing yeast doesn’t like sudden temperature swings. Remediation microbes don’t like oxygen shocks in anaerobic zones or toxicity from high concentrations of TPH.
Cleanliness Is King
There’s a saying among brewers: “You’re not a brewer; you’re a janitor who gets to make beer sometimes.” Sanitation is everything. Equipment must be thoroughly cleaned between users, from fermentation tanks to bottling lines. Even a trace of contamination can result in off-flavors, spoiled batches, or unintended secondary fermentations.
In remediation, contamination control is just a critical – but in reserve. We don’t want to cause contamination. We want to remove it, and that means strict sampling protocols, clean tools, and sterile procedures. Fieldwork includes:
- Decontaminating tools between soil borings
- Using dedicated sampling equipment for each well
- Wearing nitrile gloves and using clean containers
- Avoiding cross-contamination between media (e.g., soil-to-groundwater)
Laboratories also maintain chain-of-custody protocol and sterile glassware to ensure accuracy. Just as a bad yeast strain can misrepresent a beer’s flavor, bad sampling can misrepresent a site’s condition and lead to poor decision-making.
And just like a brewing system that isn’t cleaned between batches, poorly maintained remediation equipment can result in system failures, fouling, or even recontamination.
Time, Monitoring, and the Art of Not Rushing
Brewing takes time. Depending on the style, you might ferment for a few days and then condition them for weeks. Some lagers are traditionally stored for months (“lager” means “to store” in German). Rushing the process leads to underdeveloped flavors, off gassing, or poor clarity.
Passive forms of remediation are no different such as natural attenuation or in-situ bioremediation, in which case time is the critical ingredient. We don’t “turn off the contamination switch.” We create the right conditions, let nature do its work, and monitor it closely over time.
Monitoring frequency in remediation might look like:
- Groundwater sampling every quarter
- Soil gas readings weekly in active vapor extraction systems
- Microbial activity and electron acceptor tracking during enhanced biodegradation
Just like a brewer might check the gravity of a beer over time to see fermentation progress, we check contaminant concentrations over time to assess performance. We graph trends, compare them to models, and decide whether adjustments are needed.
It’s a long game, and like brewing, one bad data point doesn’t mean the batch (or site) is ruined. But consistent trends are everything.
Quality Control: The Final Product Has to prove Itself
Quality control is the final checkpoint in both processes. For brewers, it’s the taste panels, lab analysis (alcohol, bitterness units, clarity), and customer satisfaction. For consultants, its lines on a graph, lab results, and regulatory compliance.
A brewer’s product is judged on aroma, flavor, color, mouthfeel, and finish. Ours is judged on whether benzene is below 5 µg/L, whether free product has been eliminated, or whether plume stability is documented over multiple quarters. The ultimate judge in remediation is the “No Further Action letter”, which is the point where the client’s liabilities are gone for good.
Both products can fall short if quality control isn’t prioritized. Have you ever heard of a beer with a great recipe tasted off because of process error? We’ve seen remediation systems with great designs that failed due to poor implementation, monitoring, or maintenance.
And when things go right, both outcomes can be celebrated. A clean site is a huge win – not just technically, but in terms of community safety, redevelopment potential, and environmental protection. It might not come in a pint glass, but it’s still something worth toasting.
A Toast to Science and Craft
So, next time you enjoy a crisp Kölsch or a hazy IPA, take a moment to appreciate the science and craft behind it. And while you do, know that the same level of care, monitoring, and process control is happening under the surface of countless remediation sites across the country – sites that once threatened groundwater, air, and soil but are now restored for safe use.
Whether it’s brewing a bold stout or treating a diesel plume, both processes require:
- Deep understanding of systems
- Precision and patience
- The ability to troubleshoot, adapt, and optimize
- And above all, respect for the environment and the people served by the outcome
So, here’s to the brewers and the remediators-to the folks in steel-toe boots and the folks in brewing boots. Cheers!
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