Looking for organic beers? There are more choices every year

Looking for organic craft beer to go along with the biodynamic veggies, organic farmhouse cheese and grass-fed organic beef on your shopping list? A few years ago there were only a few certified organic brews, but more brewers are tackling the challenge of sourcing organic ingredients and more farmers are converting their fields over to organic grains, leading to a growing selection of craft brews free of unwanted chemicals.

There are a few levels of organic certifications that a craft brew can attain, with the most strenuous being the “100% organic” label given to beers that use only ingredients free of chemical pesticides, fertilizers and herbicides, while other brews labeled simply as “organic” can use up to 5% (by weight) ingredients that are not organically grown. In a beer’s case, this is most likely the hops as only a handful of U.S. hop farmers grow organic crops.

Dan Del Grande, founder and brewmaster of the all-organic Bison Brewery, says that a dedication to 100% organic beers is a challenge but can lead to more creative brews. He calls it the “crayon box problem”: The ingredients he has access to are like the “box of 24 crayons, but the [non-organic] brewers have the big box with 128 different colors.”

The basic malts and many traditional hop varieties are grown organically, but some specialty malts or new aroma hop varieties are not yet grown by organic farmers. “I had to look for something to brew with,” he says which led to more foody ingredients in Bison’s beers like Honey Basil Ale or Chocolate Stout made with organic Peruvian chocolate.

The addition of organic fruits and herbs is common in organic brews; try these craft brews if you’re looking to fuel the movement toward more organic farming in America:

Logsdon Farmhouse Ales in Hood River, Oregon makes lauded saisons and other Belgian-inspired styles, including the earthy Peche ‘n’ Brett and the tart Cerasus, which uses two pounds of sour Oregon cherries in each gallon of beer.

Eel River Brewing has been making certified organic brews since 1999, and their Acai Berry Wheat Ale a light and refreshing, and it’s easy to find in bottle shops and even grocery stores in L.A.

Bison Brewing’s lineup includes the previously mentioned foody beers, and they also create a handful of brews that focus more on hops than on other ingredients. Look for Kermit the Hop, an imperial IPA showcasing organic Simcoe hops, or Hop Cuvee, which uses a blend of different organically grown varieties (and will soon feature the pungent Amarillo hop variety now also being grown organically).