It may not officially be spring, but Maine’s Peak Organic Brewing has a beer to get you in the mood for the impending warmer weather.
High Note is white ale inspired by classic Belgian witbiers. It’s a style you’re familiar with if you’ve ever had a Blue Moon (or preferably an Allagash White), and the brew usually includes both a citrus component (say, orange peel) and a spice component (primarily coriander). Judging by the ubiquity of Blue Moon and the fact that White continues to be Allagash’s bestseller after more than 20 years, many of you like these beers very much.
While mediocre bars are happy to serve your witbier with a slice of orange on the rim, the brew shouldn’t require it. To make High Note, Peak Organic brewers add 60 pounds of lemongrass and 33 pounds of orange peel into each batch.
“You think of those jars in your cupboard that are like point-seven ounces,’’ says Rob Lucente, Peak’s co-owner, underscoring just how much lemongrass and orange peel go into every batch.
Because Peak Organic is USDA-certified organic, all of its ingredients qualify as such. Peak partners with farms around the country, sourcing hops, grain, lemongrass, ginger, and more from farmers who are finding a larger demand for their organic products from the beer industry.
“It’s a lot easier now, 10 years in, than when we first started,’’ says Lucente. “We had to convince the farmers that if they grew organically, we would buy their hops.’’
Some of Peak’s partners include Valley Malt in Hadley, a grain-growing and -processing operation, and farms like Charlie’s Redhouse Farm in Winchendon and Blue Heron Organic Farm in Lincoln.
“The farmers have been encouraged and see there is an economically viable business plan,’’ says Lucente. “It’s mind-blowing the quality of ingredients we’re getting these days.’’
What does nearly 100 pounds of lemongrass and orange peel taste like in a beer? Start with the smell, which — if you’ve ever cooked with lemongrass — is that pure, distilled, almost dish-soap lemon aroma. Banana and cloves from the Belgian yeast are present but not prominent. The orange peel rounds things out: Each sip is a little dry and a little sweet. There may be some unwanted bitterness here from the citrus pith, but overall it’s a really nice beer.
High Note isn’t the only interesting brew Peak is making these days. Organic Azacca hops, for example, lend notes of papaya and mango to The Juice, a pale ale that drinks like the new IPAs you’ve been digging but, at 5.8 percent ABV, is more crushable.
“It’s a game changer,’’ Lucente says of the hop.
High Note is on shelves now, for a couple more months. The Juice is available year-round.
Gary Dzen can be reached at gary.dzen@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GaryDzen.