Wiesen Edel~Weisse (Brauerei G. Schneider & Sohn)

There are quite a few European beers that carry the USDA Organic stamp these days. I'm sure its a selling point on both sides of the Atlantic, but my guess is that the organic beer market is much more hyped here at present. That being said, the Schneider Weisen Edel~Weisse is made with both organic malt AND organic hops. Some organic American brews labeled as organic are not brewed with organic hops. This is because organic hops are expensive and hard to source and a beer does NOT need to be brewed with organic hops to be labeled as organic. Because hops constitute less than 5% (dry weight) of the total product, they do not need to be organic. Currently there is quite a bit of action to get this overturned and require all organic beer to be 100% organic. 

This 100% organic hefeweizen pours a dark yellow to orange color. Its hazy and it looks thick since its unfiltered. This is not some pale yellow hefeweizen to be served with a fruit wedge. This is a serious looking German wheat beer. Be prepared. The head is big and fluffy white. It sticks around for quite awhile before slowly but surely sinking back into the beer.

Smell is sweet fruit, cinnamon, cloves, a bit of holiday potpourri and some nice yeastiness. Quite a pleasant smelling beer. Another one I'd like to make into an air freshener. If this beer is half as tasty as it smells I am in for a treat.

Tastes spicy and sweet. A couple sips and I can make it some green apples, cloves and some wheat. I was surprised that this beer was brewed with cascade hops since I really don't taste any of the citrus that they usually provide. Its definitely not a big, juicy fruity beer like Aventinus. Instead its a little more thin in mouthfeel and very easy drinking. This is pretty much perfect on a warm/hot day. Its very thirst quenching and refreshing. 

For a great article about organic beers go HERE!

BEER FACTS

Name: Wiesen Edel~Weisse

Style: Hefeweizen

Brewery: Brauerei G. Schneider & Sohn

Location: Kelheim, Germany

Container: 500 ml. bottle

Malts: Organic Wheat & Barley 

Hops: Organic Cascade & Hallertauer

ABV: 6.2%

IBUs: ?

Cru D'Or (North Coast Brewing Company)

Cru D'Or is one of two organic offerings (the other being Old Plowshare Stout) from North Coast Brewing Company out of Fort Bragg, California. Cru D'Or which means "Golden Vintage" in French, was originally brewed exclusively for the 25th Anniversary of Whole Foods. I guess its appropriate that I found this bottle at the local Whole Foods.

Pours a very dark mahogany color with a rich creamy head. I let this glass sit for about 15 minutes and the head didn't go away at all, in fact it became thicker and tighter. This is an impressive looking pour.

Leaning in for a whiff of this brings a strong wallop of juicy apple and yeasty smells to the nose. Their is some subtle spiciness along with some definite malty sweetness. Lots of very appropriate smells for the style. I think we are 2 for 2 so far...

The taste is very smooth and the alcohol I couldn't smell too much of definitely comes through on my tongue. The strong fruitiness is really not as present as I hoped but the spiciness is more than I expected. The smoothness is very nice and as I continue to drink this one a lot of tastes become apparent and the complexity really comes out. Way to go North Coast! 

BEER FACTS

Name: Cru D'Or

Style: Dubbel

Brewery: North Coast Brewing Company

Location: Fort Bragg, California, USA

Container: 12 oz. bottle

Malts: ?

Hops: ?

ABV: 8%

IBUs: ?

Wolaver's Brown Ale (Otter Creek Brewing Co.)

Wolaver's is a line of Certified Organic ales produced by the Otter Creek Brewing Company. They've been around since 1997 and were some of the first organic beers produced in the US. 

When I first saw Wolaver's years ago I kind of wondered to myself what the big deal was, but now that the organic food trend has snowballed I can see they were ahead of their time. Wolaver's is now a leader in the organic beer market here in New England. 

The Brown pours a lighter shade of...well...brown. Its also got some nice little bubbles flying upwards to produce a rather thin head. A nice clean looking pour. 

The smell is sweet caramel, some baked apples and raisins and nice, rich maltiness. This beer has a lot of great characteristics even before its touched my tongue.

Taste is toasty malt, more caramel sweetness with a nice touch of bitterness at the end. I smell a lot more of the hops once I've jammed my face into the glass for a sip. The carbonation is nice on this one as well, it makes for a very easy drinking and delicious beer. 

I am really impressed by this beer. Regardless of whether or not its organic, this is a great brown ale. If you are into the organic thing, this is where you should turn for your brown ale fix. 

BEER FACTS

Name: Wolaver's Brown Ale

Style: Brown Ale

Brewery: Otter Creek Brewing Company

Location: Middlebury, Vermont, USA

Container: 12 oz. bottle

Malts: Caramel, Munich and Chocolate

Hops: Tettnang, Hallertauer and Liberty

ABV: 5.7%

IBUs: 21

Maple Oat Ale (Peak Organic Brewing Company)

Peak Organic Brewing Company is an independent brewing establishment that contract brews at the Shipyard Brewery. All of their beers are certified organic and seem to be catching on with the beer drinking populous quite well. They have three stable brews they sell in six packs but this is the first I've seen being sold in 22 oz. bottles.

According to the bottle Peak Organic brews their Maple Oat Ale with "Maine-grown GrandyOats and maple syrup from Vermont's Butternut Mountain Farm". That's pretty cool if you ask me. Its nice to see this sort of collaboration go into making a beer.

This pours a nice clean, clear golden color. Its definitely fresh considering this beer was just released this week. It smells sweet, crisp and a bit like brown sugar. The head is thin, but again I think its because I drink my beer a little colder than I should.

Call me crazy but I think this beer tastes very similar to Geary's Pale Ale. It has a similar sharp taste and that crispness that is sort of lager-esque. This is a very clean beer with a touch of malt sweetness and not a lot of hop bitterness.

I think that people are going to find this a very easy drinking beer. Its hard to detect the maple syrup (or the oats for that matter) but its likely supposed to be that way. I am not a huge fan of the other Peak beers but thats mainly because they are rather run of the mill. Give this a shot if you see it, its a special release so it probably won't be on the shelves for long.

BEER FACTS

Name: Maple Oat Ale

Style: Pale Ale?

Brewery: Peak Organic Brewing Company

Location: Portland, Maine, USA

Container: 22 oz. bottle

Malts: ? & Oatmeal

Hops: ?

ABV: 5.2%

IBUs: ?

Brewed in Maine