Organic food products are a big deal these days. According to the USDA, organic food still only accounts for 1-2% of food sales in the US. However sales of organic food have been growing around 20% worldwide since the early '90s. And what's not to love about organic food? It is a known fact that organic food is much more sustainable and better for the environment than regular food grown with pesticides, chemical preservatives, and other nasty crap which is harmful to the people actually eating the food. To be fair, there certainly are a few down sides of organic food. First, it is usually more expensive for a number of reasons. Also, something to consider: Is it better for the environment to buy organic food which was grown thousands of miles away and then shipped to the grocery store (using lots of fuel to go from farm to store) or non-organic food that was grown 50 miles away?
Debate still rages on about whether organic food is actually healthier for humans, however it would be hard to argue that it is unhealthier. At the very least, there will be less nasty chemicals and toxins in the food, meaning less will end up in the person consuming the food. Early research suggests that it is in fact usually healthier, with more vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and all that other good stuff that does a body good. Organic food also almost always tastes better, if not just as good, as non-organic.
Fueled lately by scares of overseas food imports, especially from China, it should not be a surprise that Americans are more concerned about their food lately; organic food should continue to show strong growth in the years to come.
What is also growing in popularity and sales in the US is organic beer. Much less known to the common person, organic beer sales are growing at a very rapid rate. The first organic beer sold in the US was in 1982, Germany's Pinkus-Muller. The first US brewery to brew organic beer was Butte Creek Brewing, in 1996. According to Ale Street News (a cool beer publication, which can be found online here, organic beer sales were $19 million in 2005. This is still nothing compared to the multi billion in beer sales in the US, but this still represents a strong growth of 40% from sales in 2003. For more interesting info about organic beers, read this article.
Why such strong growth in organic beer sales? It can most likely be attributed to the same reasons for similar growth in the organic food industry: better for the environment, better for you, and better taste. Also, as Ale Street News puts it, "the fact that organics are cool and trendy".
With all the hype surrounding these organic beers, I wanted to see if an organic beer would taste good. There are plenty of relatively big names in organic beers right now, such as Wolavers, Peak Organic, and Butte Creek Brewing. I found this beer in the singles refrigerator at the packy and wanted to give it a try to see how it would fair. As good as it feels to know you are buying beer that is better for Mother Nature, I, and most other people, will not keep buying it if it doesn't taste good. This brings me to this beer review: Can Orlio Organic live up to the hype surrounding its organic label, or will it turn out flat and just be another common ale as its title suggests?
This beer pours an amber orange/brown color, with pretty decent carbonation. It has a very smooth nutty amber taste, almost like a brown ale. There is no biting after taste, it simply leaves the mouth tasting pure and clean afterwards. A very subtle hint of floral essence is present, allowing the beer to transcend genres of beer and just be damn tasty. This beer should appeal strongly to fans of regular 'common' ales along with devotees of brown ales.
Maybe it is the fact that I went into this tasting knowing it was organic, but this is one of the cleanest and purest tasting beers I have ever imbibed. Whether this is attributed to the organic ingredients is unknown, however this beer lived up to the hype surrounding it, and was indeed no 'common ale'.
Overall beer rating 3 1/2 beer bottles out of 4 (with extra kudos for being organic).
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