Organic beers. Organic wines. On the face of it, unusual ideas. The percentage of the population seriously interested in organic products, while growing, is small. The percentage of people who seek organic products and also drink alcoholic beverages makes the market for alcoholic organic beverages smaller still. So one might think that there is little business reason for such products.
The apparent size of the market hasn’t frightened vintners in the slightest. There are dozens of organic wine makers in California and throughout the world. One of the largest wineries in California, Fetzer, began a specialty line of organic wines more than five years ago. The label is Bonterra, and this label accounts for over 100,000 cases of wine annually.
Brewers, however, with a few exceptions have not yet discovered this edge. There is hope; the microbrewing phenomenon is slowly changing the aesthetic of the beer-drinking public. We now have many types of beer and ale available to us, including beers and ales that age in the bottle. In fact, given that the category we know as "beer" includes beer, ale, stout, porter, bock, barley wine, sake, and other concoctions fermented from grain, it is likely that worldwide there are more varieties and flavors of beers than there are of wines. Still, though, the sorts of panache that many wines carry are not the sorts of panache that beers tend to carry. Not yet. Beer, of course, is highly perishable; it does not acquire value as it ages. Wines mostly are far less perishable; they acquire value both by their age and the nature of their vintages. Each wine can be its own niche market, so that such varieties as organic wines can exist as varieties within niches, or as niches of their own. And they can wait on the shelf. Beers don’t last on the shelf for very long. Most beers, particularly the microbrewed types, should be kept cold. There are a few beers that are "bottle conditioned;" that is, they age and improve in the bottle. Some American breweries located in Belgium and other European countries make such beers, though there are not many.) Microbrewed beers usually are bottled without preservatives, and organic beers always are. So keeping them cold — at 45° to 50° F — means that a retailer or restaurant ought to have dedicated, expensive shelving space: a cooler.
The economics of the situation are such that hundreds of standard brands already compete for limited shelf space, and cooler space is at an even greater premium. Unknown organic beers have to shoulder in among the biggest, most powerful beer manufacturers. Thus, the fact there are a few organic beers today is a triumph of sorts. Had we tried to have this discussion even five years ago, we wouldn’t have had anything to talk about. Interest, demand and concomitant availability of the necessary raw materials have had their effect, and will continue to do so. That said, we ought to talk about what beer and wine are and how organic beers and wine differ from their non-organic close cousins.
The Background
Beer and wine are the oldest continuously manufactured beverages in the world. In fact, they might be the oldest continuously manufactured anything, other than spear points. It is only in the 20th century that their basic ingredients — or the materials that are transformed into what we drink — have been non-organic.
This is not to say that certain individuals were, in prior ages, above adding flavoring agents or other components that ranged from innocuous to deadly. In 1516, because beer brewing had gotten entirely out of hand, the Bavarian Purity Law — the Reinhietsgebot — came into being. It required that beer be brewed only from barley (or wheat), hops, yeast, and water; some of the world’s brewers still observe it today.
Reinhietsgebot or not, the brewers likely to make an organic beer are also likely to use ingredients beyond the ordinary: fruits or fruit extracts, spices and other flavoring agents, for example. If they decide to brew an organic beer, they must seek out organic ingredients, including sources of certified organic barley or wheat or the malts made from them. They must find organic hops. And they need yeasts that are not the product of rDNA processes. If the brewer adds flavorings of any kind, these must also be certified organic.
Organic grains and malts are relatively easy to find, though they are not generally grown in the U.S. Most brewers of American organic brews use malt from Canadian grains. The Scots and the Australians can draw on indigenous organic materials, and they do both make organic beers, though only two of the Scottish organic beers are available in the U.S.
Organic hops are a different story. North American hop growing is concentrated in the Pacific Northwest — in the Yakima Valley and in British Columbia — but I know of no source of organic hops from those areas. This may be because hops are very susceptible to diseases. In the early part of this century, an area north of Madison, Wisconsin, was the hop capital of the U.S., but a fungus wiped out the Wisconsin crop. For most of the hop diseases (downy mildew, verticillium wilt, hop mosaic virus) few organic antagonists are available, and none are effective. The American organic beers I know about use organic hops, hop pellets or hop extracts from Bavaria, Tasmania or the British Isles. One part of their secret in keeping organic hops alive appears to reside in rigorously practiced growing techniques: keeping them dryish, stripping out diseased vines, careful pruning and insect and mite control (using natural predators, of course). The second part of the secret is finding the right climate: not too dry, not too wet. The third part of the secret is luck (such as not having your right climate thrown into a cocked hat by El Niño).
Wine is both simpler and more complex than beer. It has only two ingredients: grapes (actually, the juice of grapes) and yeast. Over time, the great wine producing regions have imposed standards both of mixing and of allowable additives. As we will see, adding the requirement that either wine or beer be "organic" brings complexity to the process and raises some interesting questions.
One of the more prominent organic wine distributors and importers (The Organic Wine Company, Inc., San Francisco) has developed a succinct definition: "Organic wines are produced using organically grown grapes. No pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, chemical fertilizers, or synthetic chemicals of any kind are allowed on the vines or in the soil. Strict rules govern the winemaking process and storage conditions of all imported and domestic wines that acquire certification. Moreover, organic winemakers often avoid many of the chemical substances used to stabilize conventional wines" (from their web page).
The Organic Grapes into Wine Alliance (OGWA) says, "Although the growing of wine grapes organically is (in general terms) defined in both current California and federal law, nowhere in the U.S. do details exist on processing standards of organic winemaking. In a purist point of view, the term organic wine currently means‘wine made from organically-grown grapes’ without the use or addition of anything: no added sulfites, no yeasts, no bentonite [aluminum silicate clay], no egg whites, no gasses (N2, CO2 or whatever).... The unofficial criteria for calling a wine‘organic’ [have] been wrongly reduced to signify whether a wine has added sulfites or not." (from their web page)
Sulfites are present in wines to begin with. They are a natural result of fermentation. The Organic Wine Company notes that fermenting yeasts produce sulfur dioxide from the inorganic sulfates in grape juices. OGWA allows for sulfur dioxide treatment of wines as long as the resulting level of sulfites in any wine does not exceed 100 ppm.
Why treat wines at all, you ask? It is simply that sulfur dioxide inhibits growth of molds and bacteria and stops oxidation. Federal regulations require any wine, beer or spirit that contains more than 10 ppm of sulfites to say "Contains Sulfites" on the label. For organic wines, the presence of this warning will mean that the wine has between 10 ppm and 100 ppm of sulfites. The absence of the warning does not mean that the wine is sulfite-free; rather, it means that it has from 0 ppm to 10 ppm of sulfites. If you are sulfite-sensitive, you will have to make a judgement on the wines you can drink.
The Beers
The number of certified organic beers available in the U.S. is not large. Domestic examples are very few. The list expands slightly when we look at some Belgian, French, and Scottish offerings. Some very good examples of these are readily available in the Chicago area. As of this writing, none of the brewers in the Chicago area is making a certified organic beer.
The most readily available, relatively local organic beer comes from Lakefront Brewing Co. in Milwaukee. Their first certified organic beer is Lakefront Extra Special Bitter (ESB), brewed from several Canadian organic malts (provided by Schreier Malting Co. in Sheboygan, Wisconsin) and "Pride of Ringwood" organic hops (from Tasmania in Australia). Lakefront has also recently released an anniversary barley wine, Beer Line Barley Wine Style Ale. This ale, also certified organic, is a product of several organic malts, including organic oatmeal. It is in the tradition of "strong beer," so called because of its higher-than-usual alcohol content. Lakefront ESB is available in several retail outlets including Whole Foods and Sam’s. It is a very good bitter-style ale. The Beer Line Barley Wine is not available as of this writing in the Chicago area (and may be sold out everywhere). In an interview, co-owner and brewmaster Russ Klisch of Lakefront Brewing noted that Lakefront got interested in making organic brews as the result of a request from a food store in Wisconsin a while back. Only recently did all of the necessary ingredients start to become available. The brewery’s biggest hurdle in becoming certified for organic production was, as it turned out, concern with their water and the chemicals it contained, a problem they overcame.
Humes Brewing Company, of Glen Ellen, California, brews only organic beers. In fact, Humes has the distinction of being the world’s first certified organic brewery. Their best-known beer is Jaipur Pale Ale, an India Pale Ale style, one of the bittered ("hoppy") beers becoming more common. This beer is reportedly available in the Chicago area in natural food stores, though I have not yet seen it here. Whole Foods carries Humes products in California, so could also have them here. Their other beers are Cavedale Ale, a Belgian style ale; Old Hophead, a "strong ale" (7.5 percent alcohol by volume); and Steep Canyon Stout.
The best way to get most of the other North American organic beers is to seek them out as you travel. Most of the few there are come from the West Coast and are decidedly local. Others come from Canada, including brews made by Pacific West Brewing Co. from British Columbia. Their organic malts come from Saskatchewan and their hops from a small group of farmers in Bavaria.
A few organic brews from outside the U.S. are available. Two come from the wonderful Scottish house, Caledonian Brewery. Their Golden Promise Organic Ale was the first organic brew of the British Isles. This golden ale is delightful, with a floral hop aroma and a rich character. It is bitter in style, but much more malty than most American bitter styles. Caledonian also makes the organic Golden Pale Ale. This is a light-colored (not a "lite") beer that is very balanced in flavor. Both of these beers can be found at Whole Foods Markets.
Two especially good beers come into the U.S. through Vanberg & DeWulf Importers. The first, Foret, is Belgium’s only certified organic ale. This is a "bottle-conditioned" ale in a corked and punted bottle, suitable for cellaring (that is, it ages well). It comes from Brasserie (Brewery) Dupont in Tourpes, Belgium and is a Belgian Saison Ale (seasonal summer ale brewed in the winter). If you have not tried Belgian beers, and this is your first one, you will be starting well. The other V&B organic import is Jade, France’s only certified organic beer. It is a French Country Ale, an example of the biere de garde style brewed in the north of France, mainly in French Flanders.
The Wines
The world of organic wines is surprisingly large. The majority of wineries that produce them are (here’s a big surprise) in California, with a few in Washington State and New York. Canada, France and Australia have a few wineries producing organic wines. The good news? They are readily available. Whole Foods carries many fine examples. The examples I cite are all available in Chicagoland.
One of the most interesting of the California organic wineries is Topolos at Russian River Vineyards (Forestville, CA). The owners of this vineyard practice "biodynamic farming," which is an organic, sustainable method of farming in line with the theories of clairvoyant Rudolph Steiner. I had an opportunity to taste their Zinfandel and it was a nicely complex but smooth wine out of the bottle.
California’s first organic winery was Frey Vineyards, one of a handful of organic vineyards that uses no added sulfites in its wines. It is located in the Redwood Valley appellation area, very near Fetzer. Several examples of their organic wines are available in our area.
Fetzer’s Bonterra Vineyards (Hopland, CA) line of organic wines includes a Cabernet Sauvignon, a Chardonnay, a Viognier, a Syrah and a Sangiovese.
The Organic Wine Works is part of a pair. Organic Wine Works itself makes wines it describes on the label as "Vegan"(no animal products at all used in the creation of the wine) and uses no added sulfites. Its sister winery, Hallcrest, also describes itself as Vegan but uses added sulfites in its wines. The wineries produce several varieties and styles of wine.
Among the other U.S. wineries that produce readily available organic wines are Sonoma Creek, Coturri, Konrad, Mont St. John (Napa), Adler Fels (Sonoma) and Lolonis.
Several foreign organic wines are easily found in Chicagoland. Offerings from Penfold (Australia), Albet i Noya (Spain), Chateau La Grange Clinet (France) and Trocken (Germany) can be found on store shelves here.
And a "None of the Above"
One of the more unusual concoctions from California comes out of HoneyRun Honey Company. They produce organic meads. HoneyRun makes meads they call "honeywines," made without sulfites or other chemicals — and without grapes. They use only berries (for alternative flavors), honey, water and yeast. The products have not yet reached Chicago but HoneyRun tells me that they have plans to be here soon. Currently they produce a Blackberry Honeywine, a Cranberry Honeywine and a Cherry Honeywine. The Blackberry and Cranberry varieties apparently have no detectable sulfites so when they become available here they will be a potential alternative for sulfite-allergic people.
Getting to the Bottom of the Bottle
If "organic" is part of your lexicon and wine is part of your diet, you are in luck. You have many choices and many of them are quite good, some of them award-winners. And you don’t have to go far to find them.
If, on the other hand, you seek organic beers, you can find some fairly readily, but your choice is very narrow. It will probably remain so for a while. The Lakefront ESB and either of the Caledonians will keep you going for a long time, though. If you have some Viking or Anglo-Saxon warrior in you, you might have wait a while until the mead arrives. But keep your helmet on.