Holiday Hours

Greetings, Crannog Ales Citizens. Here are our hours over the year ending time – including ordering deadlines. Pay attention, it’s complicated! Remember, our voicemail is there any time to take your orders, they’ll be processed for delivery on the next available day.

Brewery hours: Closed Dec 23-26, Dec 30-Jan 1.

Pickups at the brewery only – no deliveries – Dec 27-29.

Deliveries to Vernon/Salmon Arm and points east: Dec 19, Jan 2, Jan 3
Deliveries to Kamloops: Dec 20
Deliveries to Kelowna: December 21, Jan 2

Please order by Dec 18 for shipments the week before Christmas, and leave orders on our voicemail for Shipments Jan 2-3 week.

And for Vancouver, Fraser Valley and the Coast:
Order by December 21 at noon for deliveries any time the following week.
Order by December 28 for orders through Jan 2.
Delivery days will be either ahead a day for deliveries Mon-Tues or behind a day for Wednesday deliveries.

There you go! Call us for elucidation, I know it’s a bit bananas!

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Attack of the GMO Beer Yeast!

We are appalled to discover that genetic engineering has targeted beer. Surprisingly, it hasn’t gone after the two agricultural ingredients – barley and hops – but after yeast. Possibly because there has been so much resistance to genetically engineered crops all over the world? We can only hope so.

Nevertheless, the development of a GE beer yeast is infuriating. Yeasts propagate and mutate readily – breeding easily creates many variations. This yeast has been engineered for head retention. According to the articles, this is necessary for both high and low alcohol beers which don’t readily retain a decent head on their own. Apparently brewers have never figured out a way to deal with this! And apparently drinkers demand only one look to beer – all of it should have a wheat-beer head on it. There is no actual excuse for developing this yeas except the need for GE companies to infiltrate all parts of the food system and corporate greed by mega-breweries, who can use this to cut down on some of the chemicals they currently use in place of actual ingredients in their “beer”.

GMOs are not labelled in Canada or in the USA. It is actually illegal to label products as “GMO free” or as containing GMOs, unless the producer belongs to a group whose name includes the phrase.

Rest assured, certified organic beers will not contain genetically modified organisms of any sort. GMOs are totally forbidden throughout the organic world. Rely on organic certification (look for the label to say “certified organic” or to show a certification logo) to protect you from GMO consumption.

GMO products must be approved for use before being released in Canada. This yeast is not yet under review.

Subject: SCIENCE & FOOD: Beer yeats genetically engineered to improve froth
Date: 16 Nov 2012 15:18:01 +0100
From: GENET – news&information
To: genet-news@genet-info.org

PART 1

——————————- GENET-news ——————————-

TITLE: BEER GENETICALLY ENGINEERED TO IMPROVE FROTH

SOURCE: Digital Journal, USA

AUTHOR: Tim Sandle

URL: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/336452

DATE: 08.11.2012

SUMMARY: “Using the yeast used to make beer scientists to create the first gene for beer foam. The gene can be used to improve the frothy foam on beer to create beers that are more appealing to consumers. For many beer drinkers the ‘head’ on a glass of beer is critical. Too foamy or no foam at all can make the beer drinker unhappy, and along with the smell and the appearance, the foam at the top is an important part of the beer drinking experience. According to the research brief, it is the proteins from the barley and yeast (Saccharomyces pastorianus) used to make beer that contribute to the quality of the foam.”

—– archive: http://www.genet-info.org/information-services.html —–

BEER GENETICALLY ENGINEERED TO IMPROVE FROTH

Using the yeast used to make beer scientists to create the first gene for beer foam. The gene can be used to improve the frothy foam on beer to create beers that are more appealing to consumers.

For many beer drinkers the ‘head’ on a glass of beer is critical. Too foamy or no foam at all can make the beer drinker unhappy, and along with the smell and the appearance, the foam at the top is an important part of the beer drinking experience.

According to the research brief, it is the proteins from the barley and yeast (Saccharomyces pastorianus) used to make beer that contribute to the quality of the foam. The foamy head on a glass of beer consists of small bubbles containing carbon dioxide gas. The gas is produced by yeast during fermentation. Proteins gather around the gas, forming the bubbles in the foam.

Foam also relates to the level of alcohol. Foam will not last if the alcohol level is too high (such as Belgian beer in the 9-12 percent alcohol range) or too low (like a Bud Light at 3.2 percent). The optimal level for alcohol is around 5 percent, according to researcher Katharine Gammon.

The beer yeast, Saccharomyces pastorianus is a synonym of the yeast species Saccharomyces carlsbergensis, which was originally described in 1883 by Emil Christian Hansen, who was working for the Danish brewery Carlsberg. Sometimes other yeasts are used to make beer (the Digital Journal noted recently that a man used a yeast found in his own beard to brew up a golden ale).

Whilst scientists have known for some years that proteins from the yeast help to stabilize the foam, preventing the head from disappearing too soon, it was not known, until recently, which yeast gene was responsible for making the foam-stabilizing protein.

The researchers identified the gene, (called CFG1). The gene is similar to those already identified in wine and sake yeasts that also are involved in foaming. The research was led by Tomás G. Villa. The findings have been published in the ACS Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

PART 2

——————————- GENET-news ——————————-

TITLE: A HEADY DISCOVERY FOR BEER FANS: THE FIRST GENE FOR BEER FOAM COULD IMPROVE FROTH

SOURCE: American Chemical Society, USA (ACS)

AUTHOR: Press Release

URL: http://portal.acs.org/portal/acs/corg/content?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=PP_ARTICLEMAIN&node_id=223&content_id=CNBP_031118&use_sec=true&sec_url_var=region1&__uuid=4a9e29ca-0327-43a2-a511-34a7dcc18c98

DATE: 31.10.2012

SUMMARY: “The yeast used to make beer has yielded what may be the first gene for beer foam, scientists are reporting in a new study. Published in ACS’ Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, the discovery opens the door to new possibilities for improving the frothy “head” so critical to the aroma and eye appeal of the world’s favorite alcoholic beverage, they say. Tomás G. Villa and colleagues explain that proteins from the barley and yeast used to make beer contribute to the quality of its foam. The foamy head consists of bubbles containing carbon dioxide gas, which yeast produces during fermentation. Proteins gather around the gas, forming the bubbles in the foam.”

—– archive: http://www.genet-info.org/information-services.html —–

A HEADY DISCOVERY FOR BEER FANS: THE FIRST GENE FOR BEER FOAM COULD IMPROVE FROTH

“Cloning and Characterization of the Beer-Foaming Gene CFG1 from Saccharomyces pastorianus”

The yeast used to make beer has yielded what may be the first gene for beer foam, scientists are reporting in a new study. Published in ACS’ Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, the discovery opens the door to new possibilities for improving the frothy “head” so critical to the aroma and eye appeal of the world’s favorite alcoholic beverage, they say.

Tomás G. Villa and colleagues explain that proteins from the barley and yeast used to make beer contribute to the quality of its foam. The foamy head consists of bubbles containing carbon dioxide gas, which yeast produces during fermentation. Proteins gather around the gas, forming the bubbles in the foam. Studies have shown that proteins from the yeast stabilize the foam, preventing the head from disappearing too soon. But until now, no one knew which yeast gene was responsible for making the foam-stabilizing protein.

The researchers identified the gene, which they call CFG1. The gene is similar to those already identified in wine and sake yeasts that also are involved in foaming. “Taken together all the results shown in the present paper make CFG1 gene a good candidate to improve the foam character in the brewing industry,” they say.

Posted in beer, industrialization, politics, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

For International Women’s Day, a beer in honour of Vandana Shiva

 Cardamom-scented dry-hopped Insurrection IPA

International Women’s Day 2012

In honour of IWD, we dedicate this beer to Vandana Shiva, India’s leading teacher of sustainable agriculture and anti-GMO activist. Our Insurrection took a trip to the heart of IPA, and came back infused with one of Rebecca’s favourite spices: cardamom. The sweet warmth of cardamom complements the citrus aroma of our own farm-grown Cascade hops. There’s plenty of caramel malts to keep our feet on the ground, in the soil which nourishes us. All organic ingredients, of course!

Dr Vandana Shiva

 

Dr. Vandana Shiva

“The primary threat to nature and people today comes from centralising and monopolising power and control. Not until diversity is made the logic of production will there be a chance for sustainability, justice and peace. Cultivating and conserving diversity is no luxury in our times: it is a survival imperative.”

It all started with a river.

Decades ago, a young Indian woman living near the Himalayas was on her way to one of her favorite rivers as a child. She wanted to visit it before she left to pursue her Ph.D. in Canada. When she reached the site, however, she was stunned: the river was gone.

That made me realize that I couldn’t take for granted that our beautiful world will continue to stay that way, and there are very powerful interests out to destroy it. I’ve been sort of an ecological activist ever since.”

Her organisation promotes biodiversity, conservation and small farmers’ rights. She is an authority on globalisation and biodiversity, lobbying governments and challenging agriculture giants such as Monsanto.

When I found global corporations wanted to patent seeds, crops or life forms, I started Navdanya to protect biodiversity, defend farmers’ rights and promote organic farming.”

Vandana advocates for the use of traditional farming practices and against the use of biotechnology, such as genetically modified seeds. Vandana’s main theme is biodiversity – the power of agribusiness, she says, will lead to a domination of homogenous genetically-engineered seeds, that will eventually require farmers to use vast quantities of chemical fertilisers, pesticides and water. Farmers in developing countries will not reap the economic benefits of their harvests, she argues; instead, that will go to a handful of global companies who will also hold the future power of food security.

Dr. Shiva also co-founded Diverse Women for Diversity, an international organization combining women’s rights and nature’s rights, celebrating our cultural diversity and biological diversity.

“Women who produce for their families and communities are treated as ‘non-productive’ and economically inactive. The devaluation of women’s work, and of work done in sustainable economies, is the natural outcome of a system constructed by capitalist patriarchy. This is how globalisation destroys local economies and destruction itself is counted as growth.”

Find out more:

www.vandanashiva.org

www.navdanya.org/home

Ecofeminism. M Mies, V Shiva. Halifax/London: Fernwood/Zed Books, 1993.


Monocultures of the mind: perspectives on biodiversity and biotechnology. Penang: Zed Books and Third World Network, 1993.

Earth Democracy: Justice, Sustainability, and Peace.Cambridge: South End Press, 2005

Posted in beer, events, politics, sustainability | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Canada Organic Week events!

As part of Organic Week in Canada, we are participating in a couple of events. Please join us to celebrate organic food and drink!

On October 19, we will be at the All-Organic Market in Salmon Arm from 3:00-5:00, at the Deo Lutheran Church on 30th. There will be samples of lots of local organic produce, bread, cheese and … more. We will also have information about organic agriculture, regulations, and ways to support organics all over Canada. Please pre-order growlers for pickup at the Market.

The following night, we’ll be enjoying an open house with Conkers Fine British Imports in Sorrento. Organic cheese from Gort’s Gouda Cheese Farm in Salmon Arm, local organic veggie platters from Kazy Farm and Notch Hill Organics, and of course beer samples! We’ll be running from 7:00 – 9:00. Come enjoy local food and let’s talk more about what we can do to support organic agriculture and feed people in Sorrento.

Interestingly, this also coincides with Waste Reduction Week. We will have information about how we can reduce our load on the planet both as individuals and as businesses. Let’s talk more about how Sorrento can reduce and re-use, now that we don’t have a recycling facility.

Posted in beer, events, food, sustainability | Tagged | Leave a comment

More feasting at the Farm!

Tickets go on sale Tuesday August 2 for our annual 100 Foot Feast. This year will feature a cask of seasonal fruit ale, and delightful food prepared by chefs Geoffrey Couper and David Colombe. Tickets are $75 inclusive of taxes, in advance only. This event sells out in about 24 hours, so please phone on Tuesday August 2 to order tickets. 250-675-6847, in case you’ve forgotten!

Posted in beer, events, food | Leave a comment

Beer Dinners at Rogue Wet Bar in Vancouver

July 12 & 13, we have a pair of beer dinners at Rogue Wet Bar in Gastown (Vancouver). We’re very excited by the menu, and very pleased to finally be able to make this happen. Check out the poster at the Rogue Crannog Beer Dinner! This is the latest installment of our summer dinner events, focusing on local and seasonal food.

Tickets from Rogue Wet Bar, phone 604-678-8000 or email marnie@roguewetbar.com

See you there!

Posted in beer, events, food, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Red Brunch June 26

This is going to be a delicious event. June 26 we celebrate beer for brunch with Chef Rob from Shuswap Chefs. We’ll have local and seasonal ingredients, beer bread, beer sausage, and everything made with the Red Branch Irish Ale. Tickets are very limited, please call the brewery right away to reserve!

Coming up: Beer for Breakfast!

Posted in beer, events, food, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Slow Beer at the Irish Heather

Join us for the Slow Beer and Spot Prawn Boil!
Thursday, May 2, 6:30 PM

at the Irish Heather in Gastown.

We’re pouring three (or more… surprise!) different beers, all paired with Chef Alvin’s seasonal food.

Please come join us as we celebrate “Slow Fish” and the art of craft beer. The evening will begin with a mingle in the Shebeen along with a few words from Slow Food Vancouver, Crannóg Ales and Organic Ocean. Then, guests will make their way to the long table to roll up their sleeves, sit down, share and enjoy with fellow foodies a good old fashion prawn boil prepared with local ingredients by Chef Alvin. BC Spot Prawns are one of the most exciting delicacies to come from our oceans, and are an Ocean Wise approved seafood. In the interior, of course, we never get these – so we’re very excited! The Spot Prawn season is quite short, so make the most of this very seasonal opportunity.

We are pleased also to be back with our friends at the Irish Heather – one of the beers will be our famous and delicious potato ale, which used to be a feature at the Heather. Come see how our beers adapt to the new environment!

There will also be some free giveaways for a few lucky guests… and all proceeds go Slow Food Vancouver for the Terra Madre 2012 fund. Crannóg Ales is planning to be part of the delegation to the 2012 event, please come out and send Canadian beer to Italy.

Call the Irish Heather for tickets: 604-688-9779.

$50 includes beers, meal, tax & gratuity.
RSVP: sean@irisheather.com

http://longtableseries.blogspot.com/2011/05/craft-beer-spotted-prawn-boil-at-irish.html

Posted in beer, events, food | Leave a comment

Do we play with the big boys?

It’s a mark of success, sort of. Wal-mart, Loblaws and Sisco are aggressively marketing “local” and “organic” food. 20 years of creating a strong image for organic agriculture, backed up by community organizations and stringent standards has resulted in such a strong “brand” that the big boys want a piece of it.

We work to create local organizations that link together eaters and farmers, so that we have stronger communities with more interdependence and more independence from the global food system. We educate folks about eating local and about food miles. We find ways to help people understand the role of agrotoxins in community health. We help farmers develop more ecologically sane ways of farming, benefiting their families, their community and the ecology on which we all depend. We build all this – and they come. The big agribusinesses see that we’ve developed a genuine market sector with increasing power, and they discover that with a few key phrases they can jump on board.

Never mind that it is precisely the global agribusiness model that the local and sustainable movement was created to avoid. Never mind that it is the antithesis of the entire movement, that companies like Wal-mart gut the very communities we’ve spent so much energy building up. Never mind that foodservice companies like Sisco are yet another middleman between farmer and eater, and that their basic goal is to make money for themselves, not to increase community strength, health and resources. As long as they tell everyone their food is “local” (and to where is it local, exactly? which Walmart outlet buys direct from the farmers in a 100 mile radius?), we’ll tell ourselves that they are trying to help us be more sustainable, and we don’t actually have to change anything. We duck our community responsibilities and go shopping. Again.

Corporate agribusiness works on a very clear model: make money. Farmers are paid as little as possible. Companies like McCain’s sell farmers the seed potatoes, tell them when to plant (by the calendar, not the weather), what and when to spray with various agrotoxins, when to harvest – and only if they meet all the conditions will they buy the harvest, often at a price significantly lower than the cost of production. All the risk is taken by the farmer. In real terms, Canadian wheat producers earn less per bushel now that in the 1930s,  during the Depression. Centralized warehousing for big food retailers and wholesalers means that they can only deal with large producers who can meet their packing standards and minimum quantities. Food is shipped back and forth all over the country, often coming from one town, going to another to be warehoused and held, then shipped back to the original town again. Contracts between shops and their wholesalers mean that they simply cannot buy local, even if the farmer is in their own town. In the meantime, the wholesaler makes money moving food around, while the farmer gets an unlivable income. Let’s try not to be fooled by this model, let’s not accept the greenwashing. Buying local means buying direct, not from global companies, regardless of their marketing strategies.

When we buy from or work with global agribusiness, we are lending them our credibility. They get to say that they support local organizations, that they are genuinely sustainable. And what do we get? Co-opted. We get to buy a slightly different version of the same food. We get easy access to globally sourced “organic” food, without having to actually support local farmers. We get an easy escape from doing the real work of community building and ecological support. We get to feel good without doing anything real.

If we are going to build on the work we’ve been doing over the last 20 years, we have to maintain the strength of the ideals of local and organic food. We have to support local farmers and find ways to make sure that farmers make a real living. We have to save agricultural land – even if it means fewer golf courses or highways. We have to teach people to eat seasonally and how to find and eat fresh food. We have to be uncompromising: if we’re not, we’re just allowing the status quo to continue. And since it’s the status quo that got us into this mess, why on earth would we want to do that?

Posted in consumerism, food, growth, industrialization, sustainability, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

making a difference

“I love your beer – why can’t I buy it at a liquor store? Why don’t you bottle?”

Over the last eleven years, we’ve answered these questions at least once a week. (The answers are below, in case anyone needs a refresher.) When we opened, everyone assumed that we would, sooner or later, start bottling. After all, everyone else does. But of course, we don’t follow the herd. We keep sheep because we like to shepherd the flock, not be part of it.

The response to our answers used to be mass confusion, and the strong sense that we were mad, idiots, or simply bad managers. After all, the environmental effects and effects on the quality of the beer cannot be all that significant, since everyone else is bottling. Why would anyone do it if the profit margin is as slim as we report?

Over the years, the attitude has changed. It’s easier for people who come to the brewery, who see the operation and understand how the farm and brewery fit together, and how serious we are about not allowing waste. But even for people who don’t come to the brewery, the idea is taking root.

In February, we did a presentation to a small group of (admittedly, pretty enlightened) people in Ottawa. When we explained why we don’t bottle, the response was totally different. People were astounded that bottles are not re-used, but recycled. They were shocked at the amount of waste that bottling involves and creates throughout the process from creation through consumption to recycling. Most of all, the environmental and quality rationale rang true to them. Instead of being incredulous that we don’t bottle, they wondered why anyone would!

It may have taken 11 years, but clearly attitudes are changing. Environmental awareness is spreading more widely, and basic ideas are becoming more accepted. The idea that re-use should come before recycling alone is a huge step, and it seems to be prevalent. After years of activism, we are seeing a widespread acceptance of sustainable ideas. This is reflected in the interest in organic food, organic beer (yay!) and food sovereignty.

What we all need to do now is to ensure that the depth of knowledge equals the breadth. By which I mean that we need to deepen people’s understanding of sustainability, their tolerance for reading labels, understanding the difference between unproven “natural” claims and certified organic, understanding that we can have both local and organic food as the best of all worlds. We need to help people think beyond greenwashing and easy solutions. We’ll start by continuing to explain why we don’t bottle.

Reasons We Don’t Bottle:

  • We would have to either filter or pasteurize our beers, which would change them dramatically.  We could bottle-condition, but we don’t really want to and it doesn’t suit the styles of most of our beers.
  • We don’t have room for a bottling line.
  • Bottling uses additional water (lots) – we expend effort conserving water already, we don’t want to add more water use to stress our farm supply.
  • Broken glass is inevitable, and would wind up in our compost or on our pastures – bad!
  • The smaller the container, the more chemicals (for cleaning and sanitizing) are used and remain in the container. Larger containers use less by volume.
  • The smaller the container, the higher the price. Why pay more for a container instead of for the beer?
  • Bottles in Canada are recycled, not re-used. In other words, every bottle uses massive amounts of energy to return it to production, far more that would be used by washing and re-use. This is environmentally irresponsible.
  • The nature of convenience (like single-serve bottles) is that it creates more cost to the producer and more waste, while raising prices for the consumer.
  • The economics of bottling are crappy, especially when the treatment of bottles by the LDB is included in a real audit. We have no desire to submit our beer to bad conditions!
  • Recycling downstreams responsibility: by throwing your “waste” in the blue bin, you’ve absolved yourself of responsibility, and you’ve still made “waste”, just in a different form. As soon as the bin goes out, you’ve offloaded your responsibility for creating waste onto someone downstream, the same way big companies don’t count their toxic waste as their responsibility or include dealing with it in their budgets and costs. We take responsibility for our crap: we re-use, we recreate, we reduce everything that goes out so that there isn’t waste at all.
  • It would break our hearts to see one of our bottles making litter by the side of the road.
Posted in beer, economics, growth, sustainability | 2 Comments