VT company holds organic beer to a higher standard

(NECN: Anya Huneke, Middlebury, VT) – In recent years, organic products have seen a real surge in popularity. Even in the beer market. One Vermont company has been riding that wave. Tony Yankelitis is a regular at the Otter Creek Brewery in Middlebury, Vermont. Even though he’s from Scranton, Pennsylvania. He’s a big fan of Wolaver’s organic beer. Tony: “It’s hard to find a good beer, and I found it.” And as it turns out, so are many others. Since Wolaver’s moved its main operations to Vermont, Otter Creek – which was bought by Wolaver’s seven years ago – has seen sales jump– by 50-percent in just the first year. John Schweizer\CEO: “That was in 2002. And that has continued to climb the last 5 or 6 years.” Which comes as no surprise based on Wolaver’s history, says Otter Creek CEO and President John Schweizer. John: “We were the first organic beer in North America, and are the benchmark in the industry.” Schweizer says Otter Creek holds its beer to higher-than-required organic standards. And sets it own high standards for operations as well. The brewery is one of the greenest around. The business runs on recycled heat Biodiesel .. Energy efficient lighting .. And a free air cooler system for the warehouse. Mike Gerhart\Brewmaster: “Basically roughly half the year it’s colder outside than we need in here, so we shut all the compressors and pull cold air in from the outside.” Otter Creek tries to minimize waste, so it gives any spent grains to local farmers for feed, and any leftover beer goes to farmers as well, for fertilizer. Maintaining a relationship with the farming community is a priority for the company, which is reflected in a couple of its latest beers. Mike: “We have series beers- farmer series. The summer beer- we bought 8,000 pounds of raw wheat from Ben Gleason- in Bridport, which we used in our white ale. And the beer we’re brewing now- Bill Steven’s Pumpkin Ale- we bought 1,000 lbs. of his pumpkins.” Schweizer admits this has been a rough year for higher priced organic products – in large part because of the economy. But when that turns around, he expects to be making, delivering, and selling even more great beer than before.