ENTERPRISE
Wolaver’s Organic Ales:
Better Brews, Better World
By Kat Schuett
There is nothing like a bad taste in your mouth to inspire you to create
something better. For Morgan Wolaver, it was a sub-par, watered down
organic European beer (we won’t name names) that he tried back in the
mid-90s.
“I thought, ‘There is no reason for this.’ It was like
just because it was organic it didn’t matter if it tasted
bad,” Wolaver said. “I knew it didn’t have to be this
way.” So he and his brother, an organic farmer, set out
10 years ago to make the first U.S. certified organic
craft beer.
“Maybe we were a little ahead of ourselves,” he said in
retrospect. It definitely seemed that way when the com-
pany started approaching distributors, who acted like he
had to have been drinking a little too much of his own
merchandise if he actually thought that an organic beer
would sell.
But over the years the trends caught up with his way of
thinking and now Wolaver’s Organic Ale is the top selling organic beer in
the United States, with over eight different craft varieties and distribu-
tion in 26 states.
