Crannog Ales

By Donalee Wallace

Brian MacIsaac is as Irish as the color green; his Celtic lineage and Irish traditions resonate throughout his daily life and especially when it comes to creating his own recipes for brewing ales at Crannog Irish Ales in Sorrento.
While employed as a social worker in the East End of Vancouver, he took up brewing as a hobby and a bit of self-therapy away from work. His ales became popular among his friends who told him to start selling them. Not having the funds himself to buy the land and tanks needed to get started, some of Brian’s friends were able to find backers who invested in the brewery.

Eight years ago, Brian and partner Rebecca Kneen (also a former East End social worker) purchased the brewing equipment and a ten-acre plot of land known as Left Fields Farm in Sorrento. Brian had never farmed a day in his life and says, “I’m an avid reader, I have to find things out before I do them by reading about them, I didn’t know how to grow hops, so I had to learn.” Since then, with a lot of hard work and spirit, they have turned it into an enviable organic lifestyle and the only certified organic farmhouse microbrewery in Canada.

The grudlann (brewery) is operated old school; there are no computerized doo-dads, bells or whistles, just good old-fashioned hands-on brewing with big tanks, coolers and gumboots. “The brewing process for any alcohol is pretty much the same,” says Rebecca, “the difference here is that every ingredient we use is certified organic, and we don’t filter or pasteurize our ales, even our cleaners and sanitizers are non-toxic and bio-degradable.” For the do-it-yourselfers, Rebecca has published a manual titled Small-Scale and Organic Hops Production, an informative booklet containing everything you need to know about growing and processing organic hops.

Crannog produces four styles of ales and stout including: Red Branch Irish Ale, a smooth rich ale with a delicate hop aroma, named after the Red Branch heroes of ancient Ireland, Beyond The Pale Ale, a well-balanced combination of full malt flavour and robust hop bitterness. Hell’s Kitchen is a special red ale made with organic potatoes with great body and a distinctive earthy flavour; Back Hand of God, an award winning dry stout redolent of coffee and chocolate, is a rich, malty and deceptively smooth brew and according to Brian, the farm’s best seller.

Several seasonal ales are also brewed annually when fresh fruit and berries are ripe and ready on the farm, including Cherry Ale - these specialty products are available only while stocks lasts. You can find Crannogs on tap at pubs, clubs and restaurants from Victoria to Kamloops and of course at the farm.

For take-home, Crannogs is available in draught in 18.5L and 58L kegs as well as 8.5 Litre party pigs with a press and pour spout. Brian says, “I’ve been asked by a number of people if I’ve ever thought about bottling our beer, I tell them, ‘yes, I have thought about it... and, no.” Tours and tastings are available by appointment only on Friday and Saturday afternoons during the summer. A very cool and worthwhile way to spend a few hours and get the feel of an organic lifestyle, plus you get to dip on in to The Bloody Stump tasting bar and sample some of the fruits of farmers’ labour.

I asked Brian what kind of hangovers one might expect from a bender on one of Crannog’s brews, he replied, “I’ve never really heard of anyone having a hangover from our beer, tired yes, but no hangover, and I know many who have tried.” He jokingly adds, “We have our own twelve-step program here on the farm - a set of stairs to the upper level of one of the out-buildings that has precisely twelve steps.” Oh puhlease!

And there’s more brewing at Certified Organic Crannog Ales farm than just kick-ass Irish ale; it becomes evident once you’ve planted your flip flops onto the soil at Left Fields Farm and experience the Celtic nature of this place that there is something very ethical and proper going on. Brian and Rebecca, along with assistant brewer Greg Darling, pour their hearts and souls into not only producing the best tasting Irish ales this side of the clover patch but they do it in an innovative and earth-wise manner. Everywhere I looked on this ten-acre slice of nirvana there is a sense of respect for the land and it’s handled with the utmost TLC.

This is a self-sufficient, sustainable farm with organic hop, seed and vegetable gardens and composting toilets; everything is utilized and nothing goes to waste. Brian says,
“We have no concept of recycling, we reuse.” The ales are made with fresh spring water from the farm’s own spring-fed wells. Pigs, chickens and Icelandic sheep are fed with the spent grains from the brewery and in turn supply the farm with food and fertilizer. Brian adds, “We believe in eating ethically and treating everything we eat with respect for giving us food.” Crannogs’ even supports other organic growers by buying their hops.

This fall the farm will be hosting a hop-picking workshop, it will be a weekend at the farm with food and beer supplied. You can pitch your tent and learn all about the hop growing process and while you’re at it enjoy some of Brian’s Celtic artwork that graces many of the rustic outbuildings.

Crannog Ales farm is also involved in the WWOOF program, and no, it does not refer to Connell the greyhound who lovingly mascots the farm, it stands for Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms. In return for volunteer help, WWOOF hosts offer food, accommodations and opportunities to learn about the organic lifestyle and helps people to share a more sustainable way of living. The organization links up individuals wanting to volunteer on organic farms or smallholdings with people who are looking for volunteer help. That’s clearly a win win!

I asked Brian if he could throw me a quote, and this sort a wraps it all up in a neat and tidy stein, he says, “We’re not just an organic farm, it’s a way of living and loving what you do and respecting the things that sustain you.”

“We have no concept of recycling, we reuse.”

Crannogs are ancient
loch-dwellings found throughout Scotland and Ireland. They
were built in bogs and lochs
on stilts or rock piles.

Go to their website at:
www.crannogales.com

Greg Darling, Rebecca Kneen, Brian
MacIsaac and Connell in the brewery
Photo | Submitted