HOPS AND HOPES IN SCOTIA
Humboldt Beacon / Franklin Stover / January 18, 2007

The Eel River Brewing Company of Fortuna was the first in the nation to get the official “certified organic” label.  Still breaking new ground, the locally based beer concern is about to pull out all of the stops in a bid to grab a bigger piece of the organic beer market.

Margaret and Ted Vivatson established the restaurant and brewery in 1995 on Alamar Way near the River Lodge.  The brewery part of the business will be moving about three miles south to Scotia because they’ve run out of room at their Fortuna location.

According to co-owner Margaret Vivatson, “we just needed a lot more room.  We’re starting out with 20,000 square feet, with another option for 10,000 in the future…and we’ll see if that does the trick.”

For starters, they’ll move into Palco’s old shipping office in Mill A.  You can see the big yellow building from Highway 101. 

Scotia has some very large and very vacant buildings as the result of a depression in the logging industry.  The brewery worked out a deal with Palco to lease a part of Mill A, and the beer maker will be the first tenant or “anchor” of what is now called the Scotia Regional Business Park.

Retrofitting of Mill A to accommodate the brewery won’t be a particularly daunting task, according to Vivatson, “because it’s already an industrial site.”

What distinguishes “ordinary beer from organic” beer? First off, the methods don’t vary much, but with the organics, 95 percent of the ingredients must be certified as “organic” by the USDA to get the distinction of “certified organic.”  The brewing process has to be certified as well.

Actually, Eel River stands way out as producer of 100 percent organically made beer, while most others produce only partially organic beers.

The Eel River Brewing Company currently markets to 16 states, and with plans for expansion, they’ll be marketing to other states down the road.  This means that they’ll be looking to hire some new people after things have been set up.  The Scotia plant should be fully operational by sometime in March.

A ribbon cutting will be help today, January 18, at 4 p.m. behind Hoby’s Market in Scotia.  A reception will follow the ceremony at the Scotia Inn.