This July, Elliott Bay Brewing Company's Burien location became only the second certified organic beer provider in the state and its West Seattle location should follow suit by the end of the year.

To be certified organic, a beer must have all of its ingredients, as well as its brewing facility, meet the Washington State Department of Agriculture guidelines for organic food.

Doug Hindman, head brewer for Elliott Bay Brewing, said the company is now able to offer 12 certified organic beers brewed at its Burien location.

Elliott Bay Brewing started the application for certification of its Burien location last October, but because the application required paperwork from the suppliers of all ingredients certifying their organic nature as well as paperwork pertaining to the brewing process, the certification was not finalized until late July, Hindman said.

Hindman said the company decided to certify its Burien brewery before its brewery in West Seattle because the Burien location handles all of the brewing for the beer that is sold outside of the breweries in retail outlets around the area.

He said the company is in the process of applying for certification for its West Seattle location and hopes to have it finalized by January.

Even though the paperwork for the ingredients was completed already during the certification process for the Burien location, Hindman said certification for the West Seattle location could still take a few months because of the volume of applications received by the Department of Agriculture.

The department has received 1,180 applications for organic certifications so far this year, including 212 for food processors such as breweries, said Miles McEvoy, manager of the Department of Agriculture's Organic Food Program.

Hindman said having their product certified organic by the state was in keeping with Elliott Bay Brewing's values and dedication to being a responsible business.

"Going for certification seemed like the next logical step in what we are trying to accomplish," he said. "That was the answer to what was next."

In an effort to become more of a "green" business, the company has been switching to high-efficiency light bulbs, recycling fry oil and using biodiesel in some of its delivery vehicles, Hindman said.

Hindman said the most important benefit of the certification for Elliott Bay Brewing is the distinction it brings.

"I was really surprised when we started going down this road looking at organic beer in Washington that there was only one other brewery in the state that had certification for their beer and there was none in the Seattle area," he said.

Fish Brewing in Olympia is the only other certified organic brewer in Washington.

Michael Harthorne may be reached via wseditor@robinsonnews.com