The Backhand of God is no longer in the hands of Brian MacIsaac and Rebecca Kneen.
After 25 years of producing the award-winning stout and other certified organic Irish ales at their Sorrento farm, Left Fields, the couple have tapped out of the brewing business with the sale of Crannóg Ales to BNA Brewing Co. and Kelowna owners Kyle and Carolyn Nixon of Nixon Hospitality Group.
Production of Crannóg Ales beer has already left Left Fields for the BNA Brewing operations in Vernon and Kelowna.
"Our classic Irish ales will continue to be brewed according to our long-established recipes, using our same organic ingredients and with hops from Left Fields Organic Farm," said Kneen and MacIsaac in a May 23 announcement.
"We were ready for a change," Kneen told the Observer. "We weren’t sure what it was going to look like, and we sort of happened to be having a conversation with Kyle and this came up as an option, which is a really exciting option for us, honestly, because we didn’t know what the future might hold…
"The brewery can continue in a new form and it needed that."
Having crafted Crannóg Ales with staunch adherence to guiding principles that include environmental stewardship, social responsibility and integrity, Kneen and MacIsaac are comfortable with the brewery being in BNA's hands.
"BNA brewing are really wonderful people – they’ve been customers of our beer before, we've had a long-term relationship and we trust each other," said Kneen. "We really appreciate their business sense, and the way they treat their customers and staff is the way that people should do such things – the way we would like our people to be taken care of."
Kneen said she and MacIsaac are supporting BNA in a number of ways, from the sharing of knowledge and experiences, to working with them on sourcing and maintaining the beers' organic status.
"There’s a lot of stuff we’ve been unable to do because we are here on the farm… and moving the brewery like this really opens up a lot of doors," said Kneen. "It increases capacity which will make for wider distribution, and there’s the potential to be canning…"
With the sale of Crannóg, Kneen and MacIsaac will be focusing more on their farm.
"We’ll still be growing hops for BNA, our beers – I’ve got to stop calling them 'our beers'…," laughed Kneen. "We’re both looking forward to being able to focus on the farm and all the other things – all the volunteer work and the art, and doing those things that we’ve really been trying to do but have been kind of off the edge of the desk."
Asked if the sale meant MacIsaac won't still brew the odd ale at the farm for their personal enjoyment, Kneen responded with a laugh, "Well, I don’t know about that! But no commercial brewing here at all."
MacIsaac and Kneen will continue to sell Crannóg growlers at Salmon Arm's All-Organic Farmer's Market held from 2 to 5 p.m. on Wednesdays at the Uptown Askew's, as well as offer tours of their farm over the summer.
For more information about Left Fields and Crannóg Ales, visit crannogales.com, and for BNA Brewing, visit bnabrewing.com.
