Microbrewed Adventures - Charles Papazian [38]
Morgan recalls, “Back in high school my chemistry experiment was brewing beer.” Before I could ask the obvious question, he added, “Yes I drank it.” But his first intention in starting a business was not so much about beer as about advocating and practicing sustainability. He had traveled quite a bit while working in the oil industry as an oceanographer. There were lots of opportunities to taste great beer while working in England. Morgan expresses a passion for sustainability and reveals that it was an odd quirk of serendipity that caused him to embrace beer: “I tasted some organic beer from overseas. It didn’t taste good at all! Rather than discourage me, I was inspired. I asked myself, ‘Why couldn’t one brew great organic beer?’”
Morgan Wolaver
Morgan Wolaver and Steve Parkes. Courtesy Otter Creek/Wolavers Organic Beer.
With the expert help of brewmaster Steve Parkes, he set out by contracting with six American microbreweries to brew his beer. Steve, a veteran brewer whose focus has always been on quality control, guided the brewing of Wolaver’s Organic Beer in California, Colorado and Chicago and at Otter Creek. Before moving to the United States in 1988, Steve brewed in very small-scale breweries in England. He’s been brewing in America ever since. In high school, Steve reflects, “I wanted to do biochemistry, but when I began my coursework at Heriot-Watts University in Edinburgh I realized that the blending of science and art manifested itself in brewing and an end product. Now, every day I consider it an honor to get up, go to work and make beer.” Steve has had brewing endeavors with such successful brands as Oxford Class in the mid-Atlantic area and Red Nectar in northern California. He says, “What has been great about Wolaver’s and Otter Creek is that I never needed to be sold on the idea of ‘organic.’ The whole concept of sustainability meshes perfectly with craft-brewing ideals. We need to be supporting the people who support us in the long run. And now that we’ve made a commitment to organic farming we are already seeing an improvement in the quality of ingredients such as organic barley. Currently all New Zealand hops are organic and we’ve found a few varieties we really like such as New Zealand Hallertauer and Saaz. Cascade hops are the only organic American hop available right now. We use organic oats in our stout and organic raw wheat grown 10 miles from the brewery in our Wit Beer.”
Succeeding in growing beer drinkers’ appreciation of Wolaver’s ales from 27,000 cases to nearly 70,000 cases in a short while, Morgan and Steve soon realized there was quality and a lot of opportunity with Otter Creek. Morgan bought the brewery in 2002. They have continued to grow the reputation of the small craft brewery.
Steve Parkes
Morgan Wolaver and Steve Parkes. Courtesy Otter Creek/Wolavers Organic Beer.
“‘Organic’ is value added,” Morgan says adamantly. “Organic grains look like healthier malt. One of the premises we try to instill in all of our organic beers is complexity. The wine industry would go broke if they had to have consistency. It’s a plus for the wine industry; why can’t it be a plus for brewers and their beer?”
Asked about the difference between the two brands brewed at the Otter Creek Brewery, Morgan emphasizes that Wolaver’s beers are bigger beers, being “bigger interpretations” of the classic American microbrewed styles such as IPA, brown ale and Belgian-style wheat (wit) beer. Their beer drinker’s table of beers include Wolaver’s Brown Ale, India Pale Ale, Pale Ale, Wit Bier and Oatmeal Stout.
Otter Creek brands offer beer drinkers in the Northeast a selection of light and dark ales as well as German-style