18 BREWERIES toured
Dead Frog Brewery was the natural second stop on the tour. It makes 25 to 30 types of beer each year and has steadily shifted to buying more of its hops locally even though this makes it more vulnerable to a short crop. “In the last three years, we’re up to
[sourcing] about 90% of our hops from the Fraser Valley,” says Dead Frog co-founder Derrick Smith. Dead Frog also has a number of water conservation strategies and samplings of effluent go to Metro Vancouver to ensure proper pH and no harmful pollutants.
Water makes spirits better At Roots and Wings Distillery in
Langley, the conversation turned from hops to potatoes. Co-owners Rebekah Crowley and boyfriend Rob Rindt grow 12 acres of Kennebec potatoes to make spirits. They’re higher in starch, which yields more sugar. “The more sugars, the more alcohol,”
she says. “It’s a lot of booze,” Rindt adds. “We get six to eight tons per acre.” Prepared in 30 and 100-gallon
Kentucky Hillbilly stills, Roots and Wings Vital Vodka is 75% potato and 25% corn. When asked if the soil makes a difference, Crowley said yes. But water may have a greater impact on the flavour.
“I think it’s part of where we get our
flavour profile,” she says. “We use our own [well] water.” Crowley is looking at making rye
Rebekah Crowley, distiller with Roots & Wings, showcases her crafted spirits.
next year from the winter rye cover crop (alternated with barley) grown at
COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • DECEMBER 2018 nfrom page 17 nearby MacInnes Farms. The tour wrapped up at Singletree
Winery in Mount Lehman where Debbie Etsell explained that climate change is a reality in the local microclimate. “We keep seeing [the heat units]
gradually go up,” says Etsell. “Abbotsford is usually around 16 heat units and we usually get around 22 up here.” But the heat is ideal for grapes like the winery’s hallmark Siegerrebe, Pinot Noir (the only red grape at the Abbotsford site) and Grüner Veltliner. It also explains why Singletree is one of five grape and fruit wineries in the area. With the acquisition this spring of 17-
acre property on the Naramata bench, there will be even more to come from Singletree and Etsell’s winemaker son Andrew in the future. “He’s done things like put wine in a
concrete reservoir so it gets minerals in it,” Etsell says. “This is the hardest agriculture we’ve ever done. It’s the most labour-intensive.” With five different soil types across the winery’s 14 acres of vineyard in Abbotsford, it’s easy to understand the challenges. Adding to the natural challenges is
the prospect of changes to the Kinder Morgan pipeline that runs through the vineyard. “When you move soil around, it
doesn’t do well with vineyards. That makes us nervous,” she says, noting there are no examples of vines being pulled out, replanted and surviving, despite claims from a Kinder Morgan arborist.
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