The Langley Township in Southwestern British Columbia, often called the “Birthplace of BC” is a quaint municipality with rich cultural heritage and a strong sense of place. This local ethos is undoubtedly fostered in the community of nearby breweries.
One of these establishments, Locality Brewing, belongs to a rare breed of vertically integrated businesses that go beyond the standard business model. As a farm brewery and maltster, the aptly named Locality Brewing operation grows hops and barley, and then malts that barley onsite before the brewing begins. A farm first, “we started from the ingredients side and worked our way up to a brewery,” says co-owner Melanie MacInnes.
“What we’ve done here is out of the movies — always trying to find a new way to keep the family farm,” MacInnes continues. “It’s getting harder and harder in Canada, and I’m sure many other places in the world, as more commercial interest comes in. It’s tough to make a living on farming alone, so we really took the approach of vertical integration.”
All the puns intended, MacInnes goes on to explain that she and her team “really focus on the locality because it actually matters where different products and ingredients come from, and understanding the story and the land and the people behind that. We integrate that story into everything that we do.”
This local focus is evident in the taproom lineup at Locality, including core beers like the Thank You Honey Lager. This crisp, light and slightly sweet lager is made up of 100 percent ingredients produced on the farm — even the wildflower honey addition.
In four short years, Locality has made an apt name for itself not just as a gorgeous farm property serving fresh, compelling beers, but also as an engaged community player. “We’re always looking at cross-promotional ways to work together,” MacInnes says of other producers in the area.
It’s not uncommon to see collaboration beers on tap at Locality. Every year, they team up with two other nearby farm breweries — Barnside Brewery and The Beer Farmers — on a collaboration called Grain Storm that includes ingredients from all three farms. Sometimes the barley grown at Beer Farmers is even malted at another BC malthouse, Field Five Farm on Vancouver Island.
The latest of Locality’s joint brewing efforts is Lean On Me, a collaboration with ‘the Langley Loop’, which consists of all the breweries in Langley: Dead Frog Brewery, Trading Post Brewing, Camp Beer Co., Smugglers Trail Caskworks, 5 Roads Brewing, Farm Country Brewing, Brookswood Brewing, and Locality of course. Also in on this brew day were The Barley Merchant Taproom & Kitchen, Fraser Valley Cider Company, and Roots and Wings Distillery. Made with Locality Pale and Wheat malts, and malted by Andrew Hamer, Lean On Me Double Hazy IPA is a juice bomb bursting with notes of lime zest, ripe peach, passionfruit and white grape.
“Owning a business is tough and the craft beer industry is known for collaborating and working together. The last five years have been tough too,” says MacInnes. “We have worked together and have relied on leaning on each other. The first year of this collaboration, Trading Post was drawn to brew, then Dead Frog, and this third year was us! Locality Brewing’s malt have been used in all three of these brews.”
Locals and BC visitors who want to enjoy this rooted Double IPA can find it on tap and in cans at Locality Brewing while supplies last. The can label, designed by Kaiden Cole, features a beautiful venn diagram of brewing teammates and their outdoor inspiration. At 8% ABV, Lean On Me is an exceptional beer to share with friends and pair with meaningful conversations.
