The Eel River Brewing Co.’s Taproom and Grill is known for big portions, according to owner Ted Vivatson. Eel River raises its own grass-fed beef to serve along with its organic beers.

Proud that beer is the top-selling alcoholic beverage in the world, the philosophy of Eel River Brewing Co. is to let the big corporations fight the beer marketing war, while it focuses on making “the best beer from the highest-quality ingredients.”  

Ted Vivatson, founder and owner of Eel River Brewing Co., realized his passion for high-quality beer when he was young, serving a couple of years in the U.S. Army, stationed in Germany. “I cut my teeth on German beer,” he says. “I gained an appreciation and love of the art of beer and brewing.”

When he came back to the States, he went to college to study forestry and engineering, and worked in restaurants throughout his time in school. Vivatson missed the German beer, however, so he started “playing around with home brewing.” Eventually, Vivatson and Margaret Frigon, his partner and fellow home brewer, developed a plan to supply the market with “excellent, hand-crafted beer and great food in historic surroundings.” In 1995, the two opened the Eel River Brewing Co. at the former site of the Clay Brown redwood lumber mill in Fortuna, Calif. It wasn’t long after that a customer asked for a “naked” beer.

“I’ve always believed in the soil and we raise our own grass-fed beef for use in the restaurant,” Vivatson says. “But I started to think about organic more when a customer told me he wanted ‘naked’ beer, which had ingredients that were made with no pesticides, no chemical fertilizers, nothing like that. I thought about it, and back in the day, farmers didn’t called this ‘organic,’ it’s just the way it was. I realized that organic beer definitely fit with our operation and what we were doing.”

Getting Naked
After doing some research, Vivatson found there were no beer producers in California that were certified organic. He went to the California Certified Organic Farmers Association to find out what it would take to create an organic beer, and he worked with the company’s suppliers to ensure they realized the requirements.

“It was a long, hard process,” Vivatson admits. “But anything that’s worth it is hard.” To get Eel River’s suppliers on board, he had to rid them of the “carrot syndrome,” he explains.

“You see an organic carrot in the store, and it’s small and ugly, especially compared to the beautiful ‘corporate’ carrots,” he says. “People think if they buy organic, they have to settle, and that’s B.S. I have organic carrots the garden at my house, and they’re gorgeous. However, I started asking for organic hops, and I was laughed out of rooms. We import ours from New Zealand and they’re great.

“I decided that if we were going to make organic beer, it was going to be award-winning,” he adds. “I went to my suppliers and told them what I needed to ensure this beer was the best.”

Eel River Brewing became the first certified-organic brewery in not just California, but the entire United States. In 1999, the company introduced the Organic Amber Ale, and since then has expanded its organic offerings to include its Porter, Extra Pale Ale, India Pale Ale, Ravens Eye Stout, Triple Exaltation, California Blonde and Acaí Berry. In addition, the beef, cheese and a number of other items served in its restaurant are organic. The company also adopted the tag line of “Be Natural, Drink Organic.”

“Since introducing our organic beers, we have won more than 200 state, national and international beer awards,” Vivatson explains. “We have some of the top beers in the world and we are the only craft brewery in the United States that exports its products to Mexico.”

Moving Up River
One of Eel River’s first beers was the Climax California Classic, named after the Climax Engine, a steam locomotive that used to haul logs out of local forest.Vivatson explains the company takes its beer development and brewing very seriously.

“Climax Noel is a big imperial red that we make every year, but it always changes a little each year,” he says. “The brewmaster and I and a few others sit down and ask, ‘What do we want to achieve? What color do we want it to be?’ We ask a lot of questions. Each person lays out what they want, and we sit and argue about it over a few beers.

“If we go in and we don’t know what we want to achieve, we won’t achieve anything – we will just make a beer,” he stresses. “Climax Noel is perfect for the holiday season – it’s a huge beer and nice and warming. When we create beers, we know what kind of beer we want, and have the knowledge, expertise and experience to achieve that. That really separates us in the market.”

In Eel River Brewing’s first year, the company brewed about 380 barrels of beer. It has grown consistently since then; last year it grew by 55 percent, and Vivatson believes Eel River will continue this level of growth for the next five to 10 years. The company now produces about 12,000 barrels a year.

In 2007, Eel River Brewing opened its second location in Scotia, Calif., just a few miles upstream from the first site. Known as Mill A, the new site is an operational redwood mill that had extra space. All the power used to brew the beer in Scotia is produced from mill scraps, such as wood chips and bark. So, not only is Eel River the first certified-organic brewery in the United States, it also is the nation’s first biomass-powered brewery.

“We were definitely in the right place at the right time,” Vivatson says. “Organic is not a fad, and we’re not a fad either. We’re sticking around. If you have faith and vision, you will succeed.”