Peak Organic Announces New Brew

Peak Organic

PORTLAND, Me – The newest addition to the Peak Organic family is Simcoe Spring, or Spring Simcoe depending upon who you ask.

Co-Owner Rob Lucente said that everyone had been calling it Spring Simcoe, but they took a look at the finished artwork and it was entitled Simcoe Spring.

In any case, this single-hopped and single dry-hopped pale ale rounds out the four total seasonal offerings from Peak Organic. Lucente said they have been utilizing a cold fermentation method for various seasonal brews.

"We are single hopping and dry hopping this beer with just Simcoe hops," said Lucente. "This is a cold-fermented pale ale that really allows the hop character to pop"

300 Barrels of Simcoe Spring have already been produced and will hit shelves this week. An additional 300 barrels is scheduled to be made at the end of February. 

Peak Organic prides itself on making quality, hand-crafted brews made with 100 percent organic ingredients. Recently, a revision to organic standards in the brewing industry was made, requiring brewers offering 'organic' selections to use 100 percent organic hops. Until the revision, breweries were allowed to mix non-organic hops with a small amount of organic hops, cutting down on cost. 

"We have been producing our beers with 100 percent organic hops for years because we think better ingredients makes for better beer," said Lucente.

Peak Organic contract brews out of Shipyard in Portland but is quick to note that all of their recipes are original and have taken years to perfect. Founder Jon Cadoux explained how they take a more 'hands on approach' to the contract brewing process and really manage every aspect of the operation, from grain to glass.

"Some contract brews wont actually make their beer and just handle sales and marketing," Cadoux said. "We do multiple, 5 gallon, R&D batches, manage shipping and logistics, ingredient procurement and perform fermentation monitoring."

With such attention to detail, it's no wonder Peak Organic grew 49% over 2010 and is hoping for 30% growth in 2011.

Though Peak Organic does not release annual barrel production to the media, Cadoux did say that all of their growth has come without the expense of adding distributors.