Conscious Choice Seattle: A Fish Story

April 2006 | Cover Report

A Fish Story

By land, sea and, of course, foam, Fish Brewing in Olympia is a clear leader in the budding organic beer industry

By Ritzy Ryciak

Organic is hot. Beer is cold. Pair the two together, and you get something, well, quite cool.

The verdict is out on whether organic beer always tastes better than non-organic, but no doubt a growing number of people are making the switch.

It only seems natural—along with greens and apples—that our brew should be pesticide free too. Since it ain’t braggin’ if you can do it, it goes without saying that, as usual, the Northwest is playing an impressive trail-blazing role.
"Choosing organic is not just about what goes into you," says Lyle Morse, president of Fish Brewing Co, an Olympia-based, craft brewery that specializes in British-style organic ales and German style lagers. "You are also supporting an industry."

Morse, a fit and animated man, is seated in front of a flickering fireplace at the Fish Tale Brew Pub, located in downtown Olympia Alison Krauss plays in the background and one of Washington’s wettest and windiest storms of the season rages outside. Today, the Pub is a cozy, relaxing and quite popular place to be.

"When you consume something that is organic," says Morse. "You aren’t just supporting the beer, you are supporting the organic farmers [who grow malts and hops without pesticides]."

We’ll sip to that.

Fish Brewing’s organic Wild Salmon Pale Ale is its top seller, moving more than 10,000 cases last year. The popularity pleases Morse, of course, but the principle of it is just as important to Morse. Originally from Montana, he calls himself a "Butte Boy" and has toxic memories about his hometown.

"You kind of get a bit of an attitude about what proper business is and what it isn’t," he says, describing his childhood experience with copper mining and the "toxic holes" that open-pit mining left behind.

"When the creek that runs in front of you is orange and the mining companies tell you that if they had to invest in clean water and air they couldn’t survive…Growing up in a town like that—the effects were huge."

Surf’s up for clean water

Not so coincidentally, Fish Brewing Co. produces brews like the Clean Water Ale, a portion of proceeds go to Puget Sound Keepers Alliance. Fish Tale Blonde Ale is a proud sponsor of Surfrider Foundation, which organizes the Clean Water Classic, a professional surfing competition that raises money to promote and protect oceans and beaches. Fish Brewery hosted the 2005 Slurp event during which attendees ate oysters and other seafood fare all-the-while raising money for a cleaner Puget Sound.

Fish Brewing Co. is renowned for its sustainability policies and attracts staff members at every level who are ecologically minded. Being right next door to Evergreen College doesn’t hurt.

That said, Morse remains a self-proclaimed businessman who believes in the capitalist system. The difference is that in his capitalist system, everything that you do and say is a message of who you are or want to be and—businesses make waves.
"Are you going to leave a big wake?" asks Morse. "Are things better behind you or worse?"

After sampling Fish Tale’s brews, chatting with the staff and nibbling from the conscious menu at the brew pub (many seasonal and organic options to choose from) it is not hard to see where Fish Tale weighs in.

The company produces three organic brews: Fish Tale Amber, Fish Tale India Pale Ale and the aforementioned Wild Salmon Pale Ale. It also crafts an impressive selection of non-organic seasonal brews.

Fish Tale distributes its ales throughout Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington, making the organic brews available on draught and in bottles. It has recently expanded into markets in northern California, Arizona and Canada. Its website features a state-by-state listing of Fish Tale sources. Here in Washington, Fish Tale ales can be found at Whole Foods, PCC, some smaller natural markets and conscious pubs around town.

Fifth-generation hops

It should be noted Fish Tale purchases organic hops from Steve Carpenter, a 5th generation hop farmer with more than 500 acres of hops in Washington’s Yakima Valley—his family has been growing hops there since 1870.

That’s 136 years and counting.

Organic hops set Fish Tale apart from many other organic beer producers because the amount of hops added to beer is such a small percentage that beer can be considered "organic" and still contain non-organic hops. Growing organic hops is not easy and Carpenter has spent the past four years experimenting with different growing techniques, plus control of ladybugs and lacewing insects in order to make it a more feasible option. The typical organic yields are about a third of what conventionally grown hops.

This year, Carpenter will expand his four acres of certified organic hops to 12 acres and he is looking increase organic acreage as demand grows.

This should come as great news to Jen Gridley, the head brewer at Fish Ale.

"I am a hop-head," she proclaims, laughing. "I really like hoppy beers and hops. I like their spiciness. I love the smell of them. I love to see them growing."

She admits to going through a lot of recipe changes in order to make the perfect India pale ale or IPA. Her passion and attention to detail have made for some seriously committed beer drinkers. Morse says he is able to note “Jen’s care."
"You can taste the preparation that goes into it," he explains.

Helen Ray, a resident of Olympia for 20 years and a firefighter at Seatac, absolutely agrees: “They just have great beer.”
Ray, a fan of "fresh beer," came to the Fish pub three days after it opened in 1993 because it was one of the only non-smoking bars and brew pubs in the area. She drink Fish brews for the most important reason: Wonderful taste.

"I appreciate that they have organic beer," she says. "But I don’t really notice a difference in flavor between the organic and the non-organic."

While Ray doesn’t consciously choose organic beer, talking about the subject does remind her of a study she recently heard on NPR.

The study, published in Environmental Health Perspectives, focused on 23 Seattle-area kids who were switched to an all-organic diet. The EPA-funded study found that after only five days, the level of pesticides (commonly used in agriculture) in their bodies dropped to near-zero. When the kids started eating conventionally grown food again, the pesticide levels increased.

"It was pretty amazing hearing the differences in the chemical buildups," she admits. "I definitely am a believer in trying to keep as many toxic things as possible out of your body."

Ironically enough, depending on who you are and what you consume, choosing organic beer may be, let’s say, more relevant to your diet than the greens and apples. Whatever your habits, organic beer is here and that’s no Fish Tale.
On second thought it is...well, never mind.

Ritzy Ryciak is a contributing writer and editor for Seattle Conscious Choice.

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