Organic Beer: The Facts
By: Yvonne Kam
Organic beer is getting to be big business. In the past few years, many large brewers have introduced organic products, joining a growing number of breweries using traditional methods to produce organic beer. The next time you stock up on eco-friendly ales, think about how it’s helping the environment. When you buy organic beer, you're supporting a farm system that uses no pesticides and synthetic fertilizers, which in turn enhances soil fertility, increases species diversity, conserves water and produces fewer greenhouse gases.
So what’s in it? These beers are made with 100 percent (Europe Standard) organic ingredients even down to the water used. Water for these breweries comes from natural springs or glaciers, the purest sources free from human contamination.
Check out this helpful tidbit regarding the different process of making beer:
The large scale industrial production of popular commercial beer is very different from traditional way of brewery. High gravity brewing is widely practiced in large plants, shortening the fermentation time under 12-18 oC, followed by rapid “lagering” under subzero temperature. The whole brewing process can be thus completed in less than two weeks. Artificial colors are often added for darkening the beer.
Traditional brewing, on the other hand, takes much longer time ranging from 2 to 18 months, due to a larger fermentation time and the temperature never exceeds 9 oC. The longer brewing process preserves the higher quality and nutritional values of the yeast. The lagering temperature differs in each type of beer, but the longer process ensures that it takes its natural course. Organic beers pick their hops and malt from farms that do not use harmful pesticides and artificial fertilizers.
Organic Beers can come in many different flavors and have many of the same characteristics as the brews we’re used to. Surely, it contains profound and great nutrition purely. There’s even some that are non-alcoholic. Perfect for those Hong Kong girls who like to go out and drink but can’t take the alcohol.
Benjamin Franklin once declared, “Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.”
What about beer and health? Well, recent research has revealed that moderate beer consumption can contribute to clot prevention, cleaner arteries and reduced stress.
Beer is rich in vitamins and folic acids?!
I hope that this fact would not surprise you. To most people, beer is just a tasty drink. Only very few of them are aware of the fact that beers are rich in vitamins. Don’t forget that beer comes from malt, a highly nutritious cereal, and to a certain extent, it can be considered “Liquid bread”.
Organic Beer and Hong Kong. Well, it’s slowly picking up here and you still won’t easily find it at bars and restaurants. The best place to look would be an organic shop that distributes it. The price is higher than the normal beers out there but as they say, you get what you pay for.’
Yvonne Kam is the director of Organic To Home, an organic shop located in Central that exclusively distributes IHR Organic Beer from Switzerland as well as various other organic products.