Saving the world, one beer at a time

 

 

Photo by The Squirrel Farm

Eating and drinking local is a noble pursuit, but it’s especially easy when you live near Canada's first Certified Organic farmhouse microbrewery, Crannóg Ales, located in Sorrento, BC. (The pronunciation of Crannóg is a bit of a debate, in case you are interested – emphasis seems to shift between the first and second syllable depending on who you ask). 

On a trip down to the coast for a Thanksgiving Wedding we stopped by the brewery to pick up a few party pigs (cutest beer receptacle ever) – our contribution to a very “locavore” wedding feast. The bride and groom get extra points for personally slaughtering the turkeys that were served for dinner. 

But back to the beer! From Crannóg’s website: “The brewery is the marriage of two dreams: to farm organically, and to have our own brewery.” The farm and brewery work collectively to reduce waste – spent grains provide food for the livestock and the farm provides organic hops. A quick tour around the farm revealed fields of hops, composting piles of spent grain, fruit trees and happy sheep in the fields – pretty ideal! 

A crannog - the brewery's namesake. Google it! Photo by The Squirrel Farm

We quizzed the brewer who toured us through the farm and brewery: Where does your malt come from? Where does it go when you’re done? How many litres of beer do you make? How long does it take?

Inside the brewery. Photo by The Squirrel Farm

 The best answers are the ones that come with stories. We tested the Pooka Cherry Ale – lucky for us as they only had a few drops left. This delicious fruity ale is only made with cherries from the farm and sells out in about two weeks. They won’t make more though, because they’d have to source cherries from off the farm. Dedication to their principles!

Photo by The Squirrel Farm

They’ve even been known to “recycle” extra foam from the tasting room. No, not in your beer! The pigs on the farm love it. Yes, a few young pigs have been known to have one too many… but 250 pound grown pigs can apparently take down quite a bit.

Where to find their beer.