Wolaver's Wit Bier (VT)

"White beer with orange peel & coriander," it says on the front label. None of Wolaver's other beers feature a similar description, so apparently they concluded many of their target customers wouldn't know what a wit bier is. They may be right.

This is a fairly weak example of the style. The color is very pale, there isn't much aroma (some orange) or taste (again orange, plus some spice and wheat beer twang). The body is light too, with zippy carbonation. The finish is very dry.

This is sold a summer seasonal, and I wouldn't refuse one on a steamy afternoon. But to me, it stands aside a lot of other too light American wheats, such as Widmer Hefeweizen and Wagner Valley Grace House Wheat. Meh.

Samuel Smith's Organically Produced Ale (ENG)

Beer Activist is hosting The Session in March and chose organic beer as the topic, which is a departure from the usual style-oriented topics. I liked the two organic beers I've reviewed already: Samuel Smith's Organic Lager and Orlio Black Lager. For The Session, I chose the Tadcaster brewery's other organic offering.

This ale pours clear golden with a fluffy white head. It has that Samuel Smith's texture that I love: fairly full, restrained carbonation, creamy. The flavor is on the subtle side, at least compared with American takes on the style. Slightly bitter hops are accompanied by lemon and somewhat acidic notes. The finish is mostly clean. It's a fairly good beer, but in some respects, I was more pleased with their organic lager. I suspect this has to do with my expectations. As an American, I expect pale lagers to be flavorless pale ales to be hop-laden. This isn't really fair to Samuel Smith's, I'll admit.

As far as the politics of organic go, I'm more likely to jump on the "local" side of the local vs. organic debates (of course, SS is organic but not local). Some of this is because I have more confidence that the person at my local farmer's market is really local than I do that the food labeled organic is really organic. When I read that Wal-Mart is trying to make a dent in the organic market, I cynically assume they'll just try to lower the standards for the category. But my foodie leanings trump both local and organic considerations. There's a local natural foods store that is loaded with dreck such as organic canned mac 'n cheese that I wouldn't eat with your tongue. Of course, in many cases, organic, local and tasty coincide.

Will this be the case for organic beer? It's hard to tell. Remember, the brewer may not be trying to appeal to craft beer fans, but to organic shoppers who are merely looking for a more socially-conscious version of Miller Genuine Draft. I guess we'll see. Anyway, check out SS's Organic Ale if you'd like, but I'd rather steer people toward Orlio Black Lager, which is less well-known but a good beer, IMO.

Orlio Organic Black Lager (VT)

I'd never seen this before in my area, and at the time I bought it, was unaware that it was made by a subsidiary of Magic Hat. Orlio brews three organics: a year-round common ale, an IPA for summer, and this black lager for winter. The brewer describes this as:

A rich medium-bodied black lager whose sweet deep malt flavor is balanced by a moderate hop bite and roasted malt tartness that create notes of bitter chocolate and a slight lingering sweetness.

It pours very dark. Only when holding it up to light can I see my fingers on the other side, along with shades of red. The initial waft of aroma reminds me of pork rinds -- not what you'd like to advertise for an organic beer -- but really that's just roastiness and maybe smokiness. The body is fairly rich with restrained carbonation. The taste is what you'd expect from a nice schwarzbier. Roasted malts, more coffee than chocolate to me. It leans more toward sweet than dry or bitter, and the above description of "lingering sweetness" is accurate.

I don't like this quite as much as Sam Adams' take on the style, but I'd still recommend this for those who like the style or for those seeking all things organic. The truth is, that organic beer is closer to, say, organic apples than organic hot dogs. There's no particular reason its quality should suffer.

Samuel Smith's Organic Lager (ENG)

I grabbed a 550 ml bottle of this at the supermarket from what must have been a Merchant du Vin display: Samuel Smith's, Ayinger, Lindemans. Appreciative of the selection (this wasn't even the good supermarket in my area), I felt compelled to buy something.

Pale lagers get very little respect, of course, but what about one from an esteemed brewer? The first thing to impress me is its terrific head: tall, thick, lacy and durable. The second is its mouthfeel. Wonderfully creamy with fine carbonation underneath, it actually reminds me a lot of a hefeweizen. The taste isn't much like a hefe, although it is a tad sweet, more malty than hoppy. The finish is fairly long and dry, but there's never really any bitterness. Although it doesn't have a lot of flavor compared to other styles, this beer brings much more than you'd find in any macro pale lager.

Rating to style, Samuel Smith's is absolutely killer. Even compared with other styles, I like it and would drink it again. The downside is the price: I think I paid $3.50 for one over-sized bottle, and I assume a four-pack of 12-ouncers costs more than $10.