Wicklow Wolf, embracing innovation, biodiversity and even bees!

Wicklow Wolf began and was established by myself and my business partner Quincey Fennelly in 2014. The seed for Wicklow Wolf was planted in the most unusual places of all – at the school gate of our children. Having both spent time living in California, setting up a brewery together was a case of myself and Quincey putting our money, and passion, where our mouth, is.

My background is deeply rooted in the outdoors and getting my hands dirty as a horticulturist. Quincey had spent his career in the drinks industry working with brands in a sales environment. Both of us had different backgrounds, but a common love for Wicklow, good food and for great beer. Five years on, Wicklow Wolf has grown from strength to strength.

When we set up Wicklow Wolf, we looked to the provenance and pride that we have for Wicklow and Wicklow fast became the centre behind the brand’s values and ethos. Wicklow is a wild landscape and known as the Garden county – full of vast forestry, meandering rivers, rugged mountains, bountiful lakes and a diversity of wildlife. We decided to plant the businesses roots deep, and build a brand that is proud of everything we do. Sustainability and having an as little negative impact on the environment was important in establishing the brand.

The business was established in 2013 after 2 years of market research, we produced our first beer in September 2014, and one of our first acts was to develop our very own hop farm in the Wicklow mountains on Djouce mtn. Being able to work on the hop farm is an integral part of the Wicklow Wolf story and to be responsible for Wicklow Wolf’s sustainability plan certainly keeps me outdoors and connected with nature – which I love, but it also gives me a chance to bring some of my experience and passion from horticulture to what we do at Wicklow Wolf and our commitment to becoming more sustainable, something that I am proud of.

At Wicklow Wolf, we are making exceptional beer in as sustainable a way as we can it is very important to us and our brand ethos. Running a sustainable brewery and business is a foundation stone to ensure we achieve this goal.

Being a sustainably run brewery helps us in several ways: We have control from grass to glass, ensuring locally sourced and the best raw materials are used. It forces us to think outside the box to find ways to make beer in better ways. It makes us sit up and be responsible for what waste we are producing and the environmental impacts. It helps us foster better relationships not only with our suppliers with also with our consumers.

Wicklow Wolf Hops are propagated and grown in a responsible way, the land which we farm is home to over 1,000 indigenous Irish trees that we planted to help offset our carbon footprint creating new areas of biodiversity. The hop farm is home to a wide variety of wildlife and the centre of everything we do at Wicklow Wolf.

Apart from the hops on the farm we also have an apiary, our bees have lots of foraging on the farm including all the typical meadow flowers such as clover, dandelion, thistle and  hedgerow plants including willow, bramble, lime, hawthorn also what the wilds of the Wicklow mountains have to offer as bees will fly up to 3 miles to find the best sources of nectar and pollen, this includes the beautiful heather that carpets the hillside and is in full bloom at the end of the summer making it a very important plant for the bees and humans, research carried out by DCU and Trinity College has shown that heather honey rivals manuka for its beneficial properties….food for thought!!

While bees are really important pollinators  benefiting natural habitats and are essential for biodiversity they don’t help with the pollution of our Hops as all the hops are grown commercially are females (therefore pollination is necessary), just like the majority of bees and workers in a colony are females with the drones (Male bees) only serving one purpose. So why do we keep bees, for the good of the environment, of course, oh yeah and the honey, some of which we use in special Wicklow Wolf brews.

We are working on exciting plans for our new, purpose-built brewery, opening in the coming months, the new home of Wicklow Wolf. Located in Newtownmountkennedy, Co. Wicklow, this new brewery will be state of the art. Built on a 2-acre site the new 17,000 sq ft brewery will be home to our new 35hl brewhouse, tanks, canning line and bottling line. Moving into our new brewery will allow us to drastically decrease our water wastage, energy use and carbon footprint. All our beer will be made using 100% renewable energy, a commitment that we are delighted to have made.

Our plan for the new facility also includes the planting of woodland of native trees, to create new habitats and soften our brewery into the landscape. We want to challenge ourselves to be better and do better. We need to stand up and become more sustainable. We have acknowledged this and developed a sustainability plan for Wicklow Wolf and procedures and practices that as a company we will follow. We are on an adventure to achieving this goal and hope to bring our customers with us on the journey.

Tell us in particular about bees, and how you work with them?

The Locavore Project is a massive part of the story behind Wicklow Wolf. When we set up Wicklow Wolf, with my background in horticulture and the connection between the wolf and hops – Humulus lupulus being the Latin name for hops – the idea of a Wicklow Wolf Hop Farm quickly became a reality. The objective of our locavore project is simple, to celebrate the hops grown on the Wicklow Wolf hop farm.

Picked fresh and brewed within a few hours of picking, this beer style is called a fresh/wet hopped beer. Released once a year after the harvest of hops from the farm, Wicklow Wolf Locavore has seen five different interpretations by our brewing team. Made using Wicklow Wolf hops, Wicklow water, Irish malt and Irish yeast. In other words the only 100% Irish beer available on the shelves.

Keep an eye out on our social media channels:

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/wicklowwolfbrewing/

Twitter – https://twitter.com/WWolfBrewery

LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/wicklow-wolf-brewing-company/

And follow our adventure on our website www.wicklowwolf.com

You can read another article about Wicklow Wolf here.