About the brewery
Certified Organic • no bottles • on-farm • since 2000 • BC only!
Crannóg Ales is Canada's first Certified Organic farmhouse microbrewery, one of only a handful of such breweries in the world. We opened in 2000, after a year of establishing our organic farm. We brew unfiltered, unpasteurized ales using only organic ingredients, some of which come right from our own farm. All our ales reflect the Irish tradition of brewing full-flavoured, complex ales which are also great session beers.
The brewery is located in the lush Shuswap region, just north of the Okanagan Valley in BC's interior. The area is rich in agricultural tradition, including hop-growing, and is central to much of BC. The Shuswap is famous for the Adams River Salmon Run, one of the largest spawns in North America, as well as for wonderful lake recreation and hiking trails. We are located between Salmon Arm and Kamloops, in a town called Sorrento. Sorrento is a lively community, with a great farmers market, lake access, and hiking trails, plus a renowned Bluegrass Festival every August. It's a strong farming region, with an extraordinarily wide variety of types of farms, and a vibrant organic agricultural community. There's lots of great local B&Bs, plus camping and hotels. There's a great 3-4 hour hiking trail within walking distance of the brewery, so you can stop in and get a growler to take up the mountain, and another on your way home.
One of the attractive features of our location is its delicious water. The brewery's water comes from a well on our own property, fed by numerous springs both on and next to our land. The water is quite hard, which helps to give our ales a genuine old-world flavour. We do not chlorinate or flouridate our water: it only goes through a 5 micron filter and a UV sterilizer, so the water retains its unique qualities.
We have a ten-hectolitre system, with a direct-fired kettle and open fermenters. It's a quirky little system, but it works for us! This is a very hands-on brewery: we feel that the greater contact with our processes results in a more original product with a more personal style. Our equipment came from the very first licensed microbrewery in BC, Horseshoe Bay Brewing (sadly defunct), and with many upgrades it serves us faithfully.
Visit the brewery
Sales (growlers and swag): Wednesday through Saturday, 8:30 to 4:30 (Summer Saturdays see us at the farmers' Market, the brewery is closed until noon Saturday)
Tours/Tastings: May-October, Friday and Saturday, 1:00 to 3:30 By appointment ONLY (winter tours as weather permits)
Office Hours: Tuesday to Saturday, 8:30 to 4:30 Closed Sunday and Monday
Farmers' Markets:
We attend a variety of farmers' markets in the region - please see our Contact page for all the current details.
Growler Drop offs:
We drop off growlers in Vernon, Kamloops and Kelowna on a regular schedule. Please see our Contact page for all the current details.
Tours/Tastings/Visits: By appointment ONLY, Friday and Saturday only, between 1:00 and 3:30. You must call ahead to visit the brewery. Please don't just "drop by"! Much as we love you all, we have to brew the beer sometimes, and we cannot have visitors during brewing. Allow us to get our work done so that we have time to show you around!
Get our beer on tap all over southern BC! Click here for the list.
Who the heck are we?
Brian MacIsaac, Alesmith
Brian MacIsaac is our Brewer, co-owner and author of all the great art you'll find on our website and all over the brewery and farm. This is an uncharacteristic pose: he doesn't do a lot of leaning on things, as he spends most of his time brewing, cleaning (some days not in that order) and providing the backbone in our beer. His vision helps us stay true to our values: being organic, honest and inventive.
Rebecca Kneen, Brewster
Rebecca Kneen is our hops farmer, administrator and co-brewer (and co-owner). Her work on writing the Small Scale Organic Hops Production Manual (see our products page) helped kick-start the hops industry in BC in 2004. Besides satisfying the paperwork demons, making casks and keeping the corners clean, she devotes her extra time to volunteering for organic farm organizations and playing with wool.
Lucas Parks joined our team in 2018, and has taken over as our main brewer. He came to us from Coal Harbour brewing, and brings his ethics of hard work, cleanliness and meticulousness to us, along with the best facial hair of our crew. He's gone quickly from the new guy to the core of the brewery team.
Nate Antoniolli joined us in 2021, as our delivery person, market man and brewhand. His great attitude and reliability, plus his great smile have won him lots of fans! You'll see him at our growler drop offs, farmers markets and of course at the brewery - or possibly hunting mushrooms or ski trekking!
The dogs of Crannóg
Cormac the Irish Wolfhound is known for his quiet good manners and size, while Nate's buddy, Matsutake, greets visitors with great enthusiasm and volume. Both our lads are very friendly!
RIP: Greg Darling, the Silver Dynamo, was our left-hand man. He looked after everything from keg management to deliveries, tours and tastings. Greg kept everything ship-shape for 16 years, and we miss him terribly.