Wolaver’s Organic Ales:
Better Brews, Better World

By Kat Schuett

There is nothing like a bad taste in your mouth to inspire you to create something better. For Morgan Wolaver, it was a sub-par, watered down organic European beer (we won’t name names) that he tried back in the mid-90s.

“I thought, ‘There is no reason for this.’ It was like just because it was organic it didn’t matter if it tasted bad,” Wolaver said. “I knew it didn’t have to be this way.” So he and his brother, an organic farmer, set out 10 years ago to make the first U.S. certified organic craft beer.

“Maybe we were a little ahead of ourselves,” he said in retrospect. It definitely seemed that way when the company started approaching distributors, who acted like he had to have been drinking a little too much of his own merchandise if he actually thought that an organic beer would sell.

But over the years the trends caught up with his way of thinking and now Wolaver’s Organic Ale is the top selling organic beer in the United States, with over eight different craft varieties and distribution in 26 states.

Today, the organic beer category rivals the growth of organic coffee with sales topping $25 million—a growth of 29 percent in 2007 alone according to data from the Organic Trade Association.

All the while, the humble, Vermont-based brewery has continued to focus on three things, making great small batch organic craft beers, sourcing ingredients as close to home as possible and continually looking for ways to go greener with everything from manufacturing to packaging. From working with domestic farmers to overcome organic hops shortages to developing plans to create a biomass powered eco-brewery—Wolaver’s has helped make kicking back with a tall, cool one something you can truly feel good about.

Local Before Local Was Cool
These days, with the rise in awareness of global warming and carbon footprints, “local” has become a popular marketing strategy. But back in the 90s, long before Al Gore’s “Inconvenient Truth,” Wolaver had already created a business plan that revolved around not only organic, but also being as much of a local operation as possible.

Experimentation with Regional Brewing. In the beginning, being local also included a regional brewing structure. With recipes in hand, his team, named the Panorama Brewing Co., struck up deals with breweries in five different states to brew and distribute Wolaver’s Organic Ales.

It didn’t take them too long to figure out that this idea was great in theory, but didn’t work so well in real life. Every brewery had different sizes of bottles and caps, which required that they make different labels and separate shipping cases for each brewery. The different breweries also would often substitute ingredients resulting in beers that didn’t taste the same. In the end, Wolaver’s decided that they needed to have their own brewery where they would have more control, so in 2003 they bought out one of their partners, Otter Creek Brewery in Vermont, and instead of focusing on brewing regionally, they focused on sourcing ingredients as local as possible.

Supporting Local Farms. One of the best examples of their commitment to local ingredients is their latest launch, Will Stevens’ Pumpkin Ale. And who is Will Stevens you might ask? He’s an organic farmer that lives right down the road from the brewery and the one who grows the pumpkins for the brew that bears his name and image.

“We wanted to show our commitment to organic farming and what better way is there to do that than to name the beer after the organic farmer who grew our pumpkins?” said Max Oswald, director of marketing. “If consumers respond to this like we think they will, this could be the start of a series where we highlight the growers of the ingredients we use in our beers.”

In addition to the pumpkins, the wheat for their Wit Bier is from Gleason’s Grains, just down the road.

“It’s about the little things, not just the big projects that look great,” commented Wolaver.

If it can’t be grown on the East Coast, then the next best thing is to at least stay in the United States. Wolaver’s was able to do this with the introduction of their All American Ale, which uses only domestic ingredients.

“The mission in our business is to be as local as possible. That being said, the brewing business was not really set up to do that. The growing conditions needed to make quality barley and hops are vastly different.”

Because grains like barley need more sunshine than Vermont could offer, it’s sourced from the Midwest, Colorado or Canada. Then there were the hops—the most challenging little ingredient of all.

Working With Farmers to Increase Domestic Supply. The biggest topic of conversation when you talk to most brewers is the hops shortage. That shortage only gets worse when you look at sourcing organic hops, and as organic beer grows in popularity it only puts more strain on that limited supply, says Oswald. Thus, most organic brewers end up importing their hops from New Zealand and Europe.

To develop a domestic source of organic hops, Wolaver’s recently started working with a farmer out of Oregon who had set 10 acres aside to experiment with organic varieties. Wolaver’s contracted to buy his hops if he grew them, an important step to reduce risk for the farmer. “We have now tried these hops out with two brews and they have turned out great,” said Wolaver. “We hope to explore even more varieties with this farmer in the future.”

Wolaver is also working with the Vermont extension of the Northeast Farmers Association to get local farmers to grow hops and barley.

Growing hops isn’t something a farmer can do easily though; it’s a major undertaking requiring a million dollar investment in specialty equipment. However, there is a lot of interest in growing hops right now and according to Wolaver there will be no shortage in the near future. “I’m confident that soon we will be able to source at least 30 percent or more of our hops locally,” he said.

Growing barly is complex as well. Although barley is not currently grown on the East Coast, decades ago it did quite well there. Of course the variety of barley grown in Vermont would be different than those grown out west, but it’s entirely possible that in the future there could be a local source available, Wolaver said.

Leading the Way in Sustainability
While organic and local are the key steps in crafting a Wolaver’s brew, the third mission is to continually make strides toward sustainability through all stages of manufacturing, packaging and marketing.

“We just start with the little things we know we can do effectively,” Wolaver said. These not-so-little things include installing a free-air cooler system that brings in cold air from outside during the freezing winter months, cutting down on energy use; replacing all the lights with T5 bulbs, which will pay for themselves in 3.5 years and will last 8 to 10 years; using biodiesel for their boiler; planting employee organic gardens; and, recycling spent grain by giving it to farmers for animal feed. Wolaver even refused to asphalt their parking lot because of the oil that would be released from the hydrocarbon. And, all of the executive staff also drive Toyota Priuses, including the Wolaver’s brewmaster.

Continuous Improvement. Although they are already much more green than other breweries, Wolaver’s is always looking for ways to be more eco-friendly. Next they plan on upgrading to a heat exchanger which stores water heated by the brewing process to be used for cleaning, which is expected to reduce their energy needs by 10,000 gallons of biodiesel a year. But, the ultimate eco-solution that they are striving toward is to create a biomass brewery, allowing them to use their spent grains (or other carbon-neutral sources like wood pellets) as fuel, eliminating their need for fossil fuel altogether. Through a grant they were able to work with the local university to conduct a feasibility study, and this green brewery is, indeed, possible to create. Because it is very costly, however, it may be a while till they can put the plan into action.

Packaging. On the packaging side, they are currently using a high level post-consumer recycled board for their six-packs, but this was no easy feat. When Oswald went to his supplier asking for this, they refused, saying that there was a higher chance that the packaging would give way and basically told him it was bad business. “I ended up flat out saying, ‘Just give me the recycled board.’ If I can reduce waste that much by using recycled board, I was willing to take my chances,” he said. “If one six-pack fails because of extreme humidity, then I am sure that customer will let us know and we’ll make it right for them.”

He continued, “If packaging companies were wise they’d realize that there are many companies trying to be sustainable, so why don’t they take this product and sell it to others too? Make it a win, win, win for everyone. But, many times when dealing with these issues, you’re fighting to get people to understand that what you want to do really does makes sense.”

“Plastic Bags Are Stupid” and other Eco-Marketing. Wolaver’s environmental commitment also can be seen in their marketing methods. About seven years ago, long before everyone started selling reusable canvas bags, Wolaver’s was giving organic cotton bags away as a promotion with a big six-pack insert that boldly proclaimed “Because Plastic Bags Are Stupid.” Consumers could also buy bags for $10 and the profits would go straight to the Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF). They are still doing this today with variations like apple picking bags for fall or recycled bags for Earth Day.

“We can’t afford to give away kayaks or golf bags like the big guys, but these fit the brand and communicate our message without being preachy,” Oswald said.

For another Earth Day promotion, they gave away 30 Neuton battery-powered lawnmowers and offered a $50 off coupon on their website as a consolation prize for those who didn’t win. “Organic beer and clean, quiet battery-powered lawnmowers, they just go together,” Oswald said.

“It’s a great experience to team up with other likeminded companies who are trying to reach out to the same type of consumer.”

Lastly, but Above All, It’s Gotta Taste Great
Although organic, local and green are important elements in the Wolaver’s brand, it all comes back around to what drove Wolaver to start his company in the first place—great tasting beer. Wolaver and Oswald have seen the taste of their beer build bridges, winning over crossover customers and disbelieving distributors.

Ironically, Oswald was one of those hard-to-win-over distributors before he started working for Otter Creek, and ultimately Wolaver’s. Working as the craft beer specialist for a Budweiser group, he got a call from a Wolaver’s sales rep one day asking him to try his new organic beer.

“I told him not to waste his time coming to see me. I wasn’t interested in an organic beer. I was dead set against it. But he told me he was coming to town anyway so I let him stop by with samples. I really liked them for their quality and uniqueness,” he said. “I made room for these beers because they were good, not because they were organic, but through that experience I was exposed to the value of organic.”

Now Wolaver sees others crossing over through beers like their Oatmeal Stout, which was created in part to bring in the serious stout drinkers. “I picture someone drinking it and thinking ‘wow this is really good beer, and then turning it around, reading the label and finding out more about organic farming, sustainability and local sourcing. Each time that happens, I know I have succeeded in doing what I set out to do.”

Kat Schuett is the editorial director for Organic Processing Magazine. You can contact her at kat@organicprocessing.com.