The Locavore Project is a cornerstone of sustainability at Wicklow Wolf.
locavore
noun
North American
- a person whose diet consists only or principally of locally grown or produced food.
How we began
Before we became Wicklow Wolf, we were just an idea between two friends, Quincey and Simon. Influenced by their time spent in California a passion for home brewing and a thirst for craft beer, they began the journey in setting up a brewery in Wicklow.
Simon’s background is in horticulture and he wanted to plant hops on his farm in the Wicklow hills. A seed was planted and Wicklow Wolf was born thanks to the coming together of two friends wanting to start a brewery and the desire to plant a hop farm (the first commercial hop farm in Ireland in over 25 years).
Green Roots
Simon loves to tell the story of him and his friends protesting against polystyrene packaging outside a fast food chain on O’Connell Street as a teenager. His green roots and thirst for a sustainable approach moulded the philosophy for how Wicklow Wolf is run as a business and a brewery.
With this philosophy and approach in mind, ‘Locavore’ was born. A beer release that helped champion and celebrate the Wicklow Wolf hop farm and the year’s hop harvest. Since opening our doors in 2014, we have now brewed 17 different ‘vintages’ or seasons of Locavore.
From Irish blonde ales and Gorse infused Saisons to dry Irish stouts – we have championed the terroir of Wicklow through the ingredients we grow and put into the brews.
where we stand now
Nine years on, we want to do more, to celebrate Wicklow, our terroir, the provenance of this great landscape and to push our commitment to brewing beer in a sustainable way. With this in mind, The Locavore Project was born.
The Locavore Project epitomises the core philosophy that Wicklow Wolf was founded upon, provenance and pride. This allows us to celebrate the terroir of Wicklow, our home and champion it with small batch, local, experimental beers.
Locavore will see four new beer releases per year – Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. These will allow us to experiment with small batches, new ingredients, mixed fermentation and push the boundaries of our innovation to brew something special to reflect and champion our home, Wicklow.
Locavore Spring 2024
Introducing Locavore Spring 2024, the first seasonal Locavore Project release of 2024 and our 21st release in the series. Locavore Spring 2024 is a Barrel Aged Farmhouse Ale aged for 16 months in Chardonnay barrels on our hop farm in the Wicklow Mountains.
Conditioned with wild yeasts and carefully monitored by the watchful eyes of our brewing team, the beer was allowed to slowly mature over time to give a magnificent depth of complex flavours.
The result? A wild, sour farmhouse ale which champions the wild yeasts of the Wicklow Wolf Hop Farm and the Wicklow Terroir.
looking to the future
The Locavore Project is more than just beer. We will be looking at new and important ways to support, protect and champion more sustainable practices for our environment.
To date, we have championed biodiversity and a healthy eco-system by installing bee hives, planting hedgerows among many other things. We want to do more.
We have planted over 5,000 native Irish trees on our chemical free hop farm. We will plant more.
To date we have released a carbon neutral Locavore beer with the support of our friends in Clara Carbon. We want to become carbon neutral, not just for one beer, but for every beer we produce.
To date, we have participated in, organised and ran a number of clean ups throughout Wicklow. We want to do more.
Our mission is to brew exceptional beer in a sustainable way. To do this we need to work harder to do and be better. This is just the beginning for The Locavore Project. We want you to follow and join our journey along the way.