Organic Raspberries at Hedlin Family Farms
Organic Grain at Hedlin Family Farms
Alice Waters, an American chef & restaurateur, once said that “good food depends almost entirely on good ingredients.” We discuss the quality of ingredients often in the food world, but it’s not a topic that comes up often on the beer side of things. Let’s have that conversation!
“How we interact with the world around us plays a huge part in the impact we have both socially and environmentally. Selecting ingredients that support our local community, and its efforts to make a positive impact on the world is what gives us a sense of place, and pride. It helps that there are many farmers who are committed to the same principles. Organic doesn’t mean a lesser quality product. In fact we find it to be higher quality, and certainly less homogeneous. It makes it much easier to see where things are coming from.”
Frank Trosset – Head Brewer at Aslan Brewing Co.
As a 100% organic brewery, it can be difficult to source high-quality organic ingredients at times. Thankfully, we have fantastic partners across Whatcom and Skagit counties that supply incredible organic goods. Our favorite example of partnering with organic suppliers in our community has been our partnership with Hedlin Family Farms and Skagit Valley Malting.
Hedlin Family Farms is a 4th generation farm that grows organic and conventional produce on 500 acres. They have been farming in the heart of Skagit Valley all the way back to 1906. What makes them such a unique partner for Aslan is that they supply us with organic produce for both our beer and food. Every year we purchase over a thousand pounds of their strawberries and raspberries for beers in our dojo series. On the food side of things, you can find their Poblano peppers in our Curry Bowl.
In addition to produce, Hedlin grows specialty organic small grains that then get malted locally by Skagit Valley Malting (SVM). “Like every grape, coffee bean or hop variety, each grain variety has a story to tell – that of its provenance, of the soil in which it grew, of the farmer and farm community which nurtured it. [Skagit Valley Malting] source grains from local growers and expertly malt the best of each crop in [their] Single Vessel Malting system” (https://www.skagitvalleymalting.com).
We are proud to be the first brewery to purchase organic malt from SVM! You can find SVM malt in a wide variety of our beers, such as Simcoe Slice — our most recent beer release. We also use SVM malt in a some of our flagship beers, including Batch 15 and Dawn Patrol.
By sourcing produce and grain from the same farm, it allows us to create beer that captures the terroir of our community. This would not be possible if it wasn’t for folks like Heldin & SVM partnering together to prioritize organic ingredients. Cheers to organic ingredients and organic beer!
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