| I remember Eel River Brewing Company
from the Celebrator Beer Train days over a decade ago when we
boarded the Skunk Train from Fort Bragg, rolled into the redwoods
and had a party in a secluded meadow. Ted Vivatson, then the
owner, brewer and sometimes bartender at the brewpub, would
pour Ravensbrau Porter and California Blonde with wife and business
partner Margaret. Several years ago, they retracted from distribution
in the Bay Area of California to concentrate on the Pacific
Northwest from their Fortuna brewpub in Humboldt County. It
was a great loss to beer drinkers in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Since then, Ted and Margaret have divorced, but they remain
friends and business partners. Ted raised production in his
brewpub’s 15-barrel system to capacity, hired a few
assistants and set his sights on expansion. But first, he
took his brewery organic.
| “I put up a sign that says ‘Organic Section,’
and my product flies out the door.” |
Organic certification is a harrowing, time-consuming, frustrating
process. One must be able to illustrate that no pesticides
or chemicals are used in production, that all ingredients
are grown free of chemical fertilizers in ground free of all
chemical intrusion for a period of three years, and that no
ingredients are genetically altered. Paper trails must be
maintained for the frequent inspections. The costs, in red
tape, cash and sheer time, are enormous.
So why organic? Why go to the extra expense? Why bother?
“Because it’s what people want,” Ted explains.
“I’ve gone into a supermarket where there are
other organic brands mixed in with the regular beer, and they
weren't selling well. I put up a sign that says ‘Organic
Section,’ and my product flies out the door. It’s
like a religion. The people who want organic beer already
buy organic produce; drive hybrid cars; and live, eat and
vote green. They know that they are paying for higher-quality
products, and they expect higher quality across the board.”
Eel River has been brewing organic beer since 1995 and was
certified organic by the USDA’s National Organic Program
in 1999. According to Ted, theirs was the first certified
organic brewery in the U.S. and the first 100 percent biofuel-powered
brewery in the world. The new system brews 40-barrel batches
to 100-barrel fermentation tanks, and Ted plans to add 120-barrel
fermenters within the next year or so. The state-of-the-art
Italian-made bottling system cost more than the rest of the
brewery combined, but at a filling rate of 3,200 bottles per
hour was well worth the expense. The new digs offer lots of
room to expand as needed.
The tiny city of Scotia, a few miles south of the Fortuna
brewpub, is the last corporate-owned town in California, owned
by the Pacific Lumber Company, once the green movement’s
Great Satan. Now the company leases parts of the 600,000 square
feet of buildings to local businesses like Ted’s, many
of which are embracing the green movement’s ideals.
Scotia is beginning to look like the bustling, busy town it
once was, but now, instead of the humming of saws and giant
sawdust clouds, the air is filled with the sounds of cheerful
small businesses and their customers.
Two Siebel Institute graduates, Head Brewer Mike Smith and
assistant brewer, chemist and quality controller (and occasional
Rolling Boil bass player) Dave Pimsner, have dialed in the
new Scotia brewery to the point that the bottles of beer coming
off the line are crisp and clean. Dave couldn’t be prouder.
“Mike is the greatest,” Dave said. “I’ve
never seen a brewer do so much. We have the best rapport I’ve
ever had in a brewery. We work together like we’ve known
each other for years.” Ted has a lot to do with that
rapport. “As long as the beer comes out like this,”
Ted said as he sipped from a fresh bottle of organic IPA,
“they can just keep doing what they’re doing.”
Look for Eel River products in stores and taverns near you.
As always, if you don’t see it, make yourself heard. |
