When people think of the cold Manitoba tundra around Churchill, images of snow, ice, and polar bears on floes spring immediately to mind. They do not usually think of the edible and delicious wild berries such as cranberries and crowberries that grow there during the brief summer season. And on top of that, they certainly don’t think of a beer made with those berries. Brothers and brewery owners Chris and Lawrence Warwaruk of Farmery Estate Brewery had the great idea to take out two perceptions with one beer.

“We were very active in working with and promoting Churchill last year through our Explore MB pack and through Travel Manitoba, which included custom labels promoting tourism locations throughout the province,” says Chris Warwaruk, co-owner of Farmery Estate Brewery. “We love brewing small-batch beers, very limited editions, and we were thinking of some other interesting Manitoba ingredients we could use to make a beer with. That’s when we reached out to our friends in Churchill to see what they could suggest.”

That person was Carley Basler, Sustainability Manager of Churchill Northern Studies Centre and Assistant Maintenance Supervisor/Manager of Rocket Greens, a greenhouse project to help promote food sustainability and security in the North. Chris and Lawrence pitched the idea of using a berry native to the Churchill area and northern tundra, and Carley suggested wild cranberries and crowberries. The project was green-lit and the work commenced. Carley and her team foraged by hand the berries—cranberries are foraged last in September as they require the frost to help ripen—and had to prep themselves with rifles for protection from polar bears, as polar bears are also a fan of these berries. The berries are ripe for picking for a brief amount of time, about a two-week window in September, and so getting enough berries together to brew with was the challenge.

 The berries were shipped by plane back to Neepawa. Lawrence and Farmery brewmaster Ben prepped the berries, and Ben brewed a beer with the pulp and juices of the cranberries and crowberries. The result? A delicious, lightly-berry infused lager called Foraged Berry Lager was produced.

Foraged Berry Lager