Sierra Nevada's Organic Estate Homegrown Ale and their eco-friendly brewing practices

Truly organic beers are few and far between, and certainly none are being made by the macro-brewers like InBev (formerly known as Anheuser-Busch) or SMB (Miller/Coors). For any product to be certified Organic, it has to meet strict criteria. Among the requirements to be able to label anything as “organic” are:

* Avoidance of most synthetic chemical inputs (e.g. fertilizer, pesticides, antibiotics, food additives, etc), genetically modified organisms, irradiation, and the use of sewage sludge

* Use of farmland that has been free from synthetic chemicals for a number of years (often three or more)

* Keeping detailed written production and sales records (audit trail)

* Maintaining strict physical separation of organic products from non-certified products

* Undergoing periodic on-site

The brewery is also well known for its sustainability practices and commitment to renewable energy. They built one of the largest privately-held solar arrays in the country (over 10,000 panels), implemented water conservation measures that are above brewery standards and even put in their own rail line to reduce their carbon footprint. When Sierra Nevada bought land for that rail spur they also acquired extra land, so they decided to grow their own barley and hops. Today, Sierra Nevada grows barley on 35-40 acres and grows Cascade, Chinook and Citra hops on another nine acres.

The Estate Homegrown Ale comes in 750-ml bottles that are sealed with green wax. It pours a clear medium amber color with some red highlights and a fantastic, long lasting, almost white head with very small bubbles. The aroma is grapefruit and spice hops with a faint caramel note from the malts and is quite pleasant, for I was actually expecting more hoppiness in the nose. Flavor is again hop-oriented as it should be, with grapefruit and spice, but the maltiness ends up dominating. The flavors are very complex and extremely well balanced. Personally, I would prefer more of the sticky-green flavor and aroma that I get from the wet-hopped Northern Hemisphere Harvest Ale or the spicy bitterness of the Southern Hemisphere, but this is an exceptional beer nonetheless.

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