AUSTIN, Texas — September is National Organic Month, and Big Country Organic Brewing Co. is using it to make a simple point: USDA Certified Organic beer can taste as good as anything else on the shelf.
The Austin-area brewery is currently Texas’s only certified organic craft brewery. After six years of sourcing organic hops and grains and keeping the facility organic-compliant, Big Country is putting medals next to that claim.
Gold medals for organic lagers
Little Wing Light won gold at the 2026 San Diego County Fair Craft Brew Competition. TexMex Lager won gold in the Mexican-Style Pale Lager category at the 2026 U.S. Open Beer Championship.
Those results matter because organic brewing is harder than conventional brewing. Only a small number of farms grow certified organic hops and malt, so recipe flexibility is limited.
Founder and CEO Bill Gillies put it this way:
“We fully believe in the benefits of organic but honestly, it can be challenging. There are only a handful of organic farmers producing hops and grains so we don’t have the flexibility in developing our recipes that the non-organic beverage producers are granted. It is absolutely incredible that we can go head-to-head against the non-organic producers and come away with gold medals for our TexMex and Little Wing Lagers and bronze medals for two of our new hard seltzers. That is a real tribute to our brew team and their ability to make great beer and seltzers and still maintain the clean and eco-friendly attributes of organic certification. Cheers to the great artisans we have on our team!”
New Adventure Pack hard seltzer
Big Country has replaced its original hard seltzer variety pack with the Adventure Pack. The four flavors are:
- Jalapeño Strawberry
- Blueberry Lemonade
- Cherry Organic
- Guava Limeade
Each can is 4% ABV, zero sugar, and 80 calories. Big Country says it is the only hard seltzer line that carries all three of these certifications at once: USDA Certified Organic, Non-GMO Project Verified, and Fair Trade Certified.
Why they stay organic
Organic farming is meant to build soil fertility, reduce chemical runoff into water, cut emissions, and support pollinators. The brewery also points to lower pesticide residue, more nutrient-dense crops, and safer conditions for farm workers.
Fair Trade purchases for the seltzer program have sent more than $100,000 back to the farmers who grow and process those ingredients.
Growing beyond Texas
Distribution is expanding into Colorado and Southern California. Next up is Big Country Gardens, a planned East Austin taproom that will pair organic craft beer with coffee and food in a garden setting inspired by the Texas landscape.
About Big Country Organic Brewing Co.
Big Country Organic Brewing Co. is currently the only operating certified organic craft brewery in Texas. The company carries USDA Organic, Non-GMO Project Verified, and Fair Trade Certified credentials and positions itself as a pioneer of organic beverages in the alcohol category.
For more information, please visit https://enjoybigcountry.com/
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