Interview with Bison Brewing Company

I'm excited that I have two interviews with organic brewers so that I can now technically call it a "series." So, here is the second of my series of interviews with brewers; Daniel Del Grande of Bison Brewing located in Berkeley, California. Since I live in Minnesota, I have not had this beer, but Bob's Woodshed has some great reviews of their beer: http://bobwoodshed.org/beer/ and the scores at Beer Advocate seem to be really solid. Daniel was nice enough to take the time to answer some questions for me about his brewery, organic beer, and some things we can all do to be more sustainable.

First off, how long have you been a brewery?Bison was founded in 1989 by brewpub pioneer Bill Owens. I bought it in 1997. We have focused on bottling our organic beers exclusively the last 4 years when the restaurant closed, but have been brewing organically since about 1999.

How did you get started or founded? Did you know you wanted to start a brewery with the goal to be organic or wanted to appeal to that niche? We had started small scale bottling and when organic brewing malts began to become available, it made sense to sync my personal life with the business. It is easy being green in Berkeley, CA, and easy being organic, so it all just made sense to me. Back then, there was really only Wolaver’s organic beers brewed domestically under contract all around the country (great business model, too bad it didn’t work out for them). So in 2000, we brewed some Bison Blonde organic (but uncertified) and put it on tap, then bottled it as “Bison Light.” By now I was “certified” organic, but I only did a couple beers….slowly I added the Belgian, then the Red, then the IPA and finally, I could buy ingredients to do the Chocolate Stout once all the roasted malt was available organically. Some of my malt comes from Germany. Quality of malt does vary more with organic. Ultimately, being organic is important to me and my customers. But if the beer sucks, you won’t buy it again, even if it is organic. So I focus quite a bit on quality. A couple years ago, I decided to do all bottle conditioning for quality reasons, but given my size, I was not able to keep uniform carbonation levels so I stopped because I thought, overall, it actually hurt my quality. Anyways, I feel pretty good about converting my business like that. It was a risk, and at first consumers didn’t understand what it all meant. “What is that USDA symbol on your label? What does it mean to be organic?” It was a fun educating people, and the process continues. For example, I tell customers (you guys) that obviously the most green thing you can do is patronize a beer on draft, but if you have to buy bottles, buy organic to be just that more ‘green’.

As a homebrewer, its only been the past year or so that organic materials have become easily accessible. On a larger scale, has it been difficult for you to be able to find organic grains and hops?
Yes, as described above. It took about 3 years before I could declare my whole product line fully organic certified…..I had to wait once I could make my most popular Chocolate Stout organically. Homebrewers could get the grain theoretically, but think of it from the shop owners perspective….should they carry twice the # of malts for the few homebrewers that want to do organic? Check on line. There is at least one homebrew shop that does mail order of organics. Tough call. At a minimum, you should be able to ask your homebrew shop to buy you a bag of organic 2-row. In any event, brewing it at home and reusing bottles, or better yet, kegging, is way greener for the planet than buying beer at the store, so take that into account and pat yourselves on the back.

What are some things you do at your brewery to be sustainable or minimize your environmental impact?
1. Every beer I make is certified organic and sports the nifty USDA logo. Every other “organic” brewer that I know of ALSO brews non-organically because of convenience. My conviction is to go as far as possible.
2. Paperless office (I bought Adobe Professional to jockey documents on my laptop….well worth the price).
3. Home office (short commute).
4. Instead of buying and building a resource intensive new brewery, I recently did a brewery co-op with a brewery. My idea is that it is more green to use an existing brewery and bring it closer to full capacity and optimal efficiency than to start a second, private location. It is like a newspaper printing press which can print many different newspapers using the same equipment and people, but the Bison beers has its own exclusive “editor” and “sales and marketing” staff and distribution network….just like a different newspaper editorial board…..
5. Bought a VW Jetta TDI from Detroit so I could run biodiesel during my sales calls (and personal life).
6. Sold my old Isuzu Box Truck which was terrible on fuel efficiency. Now I rent a diesel truck about once per week (not biodiesel, but better mileage).
7. I use recycled paperboard and soy based ink for all my 6-pack carriers…..BTW, recycled cardboard boxes are the norm, so I can’t really take any credit for that.

I have looked at carbon credits and schemes like that, but feel it is just a license to pollute, so I haven’t gone down that road.

What tips do you have for organic homebrewers or just homebrewers in general?
Brewing is 80% cleaning, 10% fermentation temperature control, and 10% recipe…..sometimes homebrewers mix that up.

Where do you see organic brewing going, especially with the recent surge in popularity with a lot more organic beers on the market?

First, there are almost no organic hops available, so hopefully farmers around the world will see the demand and start planting and converting their fields (a 3 year process). I wish the quality was there with today’s organic hops, but it just isn’t. So I have to use conventional hops, but as you know, it is a small %. Important thing is to send a market signal to those darn farmers. I think that is why the USDA gave us a few years allowance to use conventional hops, to develop a market for hops. We will see.

You are right, there are a lot of new organic beers on the market. I am fortunate to be one of the pioneers and think I’ll have staying power, but generally, consumers have to be willing to pay an extra $1 a 6 pack to support organic brewers….if we continue to make sub standard economic return on the business, you will see some existing organic brands convert back to conventional or go away. ALL beer is under pretty intense pressure to increase prices due to world supply and demand of malt and hops. Organics just need a little extra consideration when you are shopping. Heck, people spend $3.25 for a hot latte in a paper cup that took 2 minutes to make, yet the same person won’t spend $10.99 for six organic beers that took 3 weeks to brew, keep cold, package in colorful cardboard packaging, keep cold, and deliver to a market?

Remember, 60 years ago, ALL beer was “organic.” Heck. All agriculture was “organic”. Industrial farming post WW II has harmed our soil health, increased erosion, polluted our rivers and streams, harmed farm workers, and a list of other harms that add up to one big mistake. As consumers, converting to organic has a ripple effect through the economy and environment well worth the small increased price. For some fresh fruits and veggies, there is also a personal health bonus for consuming organic, but not really for beer. Ultimately the goal is to rid ourselves of the widespread reliance on chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides. I hope all beer is organic again in the next 30 years.

Check out their website for further information: www.bisonbrew.com
Salud!
The Bearded Brewer