Atwood Farm Brewery releases flood relief stout

Those who buy Atwood Farm Brewery’s new raspberry stout will be giving 90 percent of their money to flood relief.

Atwood Farm Brewery, on Sweet Road, announced January 21 that it will donate 90 percent of the gross sales of its new brew to the Whatcom Community Foundation’s Resilience Fund, a disaster response fund for those impacted by the November flood events. 

Over 500 people were displaced and millions of dollars of damages were incurred last November when the Nooksack River overflowed its banks, leaving much of eastern Whatcom County with standing water. It also left many wondering how they could help.

Atwood brewer and co-owner Josh Smith was one of them. When he and his partner were discussing how they could help with the flooding relief, she figured they should stick to what they know best. 

“In the face of disaster and tragedy, What can I do to help?’ is a question many of us ask,” he said in the January 21 announcement. “Everyone has a different answer, based on their own capabilities, physically, financially or otherwise. Within our own capabilities, this beer is our very small contribution to helping folks in the parts of Whatcom County most affected by the flooding,”

When Smith got the idea to make a flood relief beer, he knew he wanted to highlight a local ingredient, particularly one grown in eastern Whatcom County. “We tried to keep it as local as possible,” he said in a phone interview. “We knew we would use raspberries, and given the time of year we thought a stout would be the best fit. And raspberries work well with stouts.”

The Flood Siren, a Belgian-style stout brewed with raspberries, is made with 100 percent local berries from Clark’s Berry Farm in Lynden, just 12 miles east of the brewery. The beer is also brewed with 100 percent local hops from Bredenhof Hop Farms in Chilliwack, B.C., and 96 percent barley malts from Skagit Valley Malting.

Atwood Farm is a small, family farm that grows ingredients for the on-site brewery. It was established in 2016. The brewery produces unique ales inspired by French and Belgian farmhouse brewing traditions. 

The brewery’s website says it doesn’t brew IPAs, or at least not at the farm, but they have as limited release projects in collaboration with other breweries. 

“We don’t have any hard feelings against IPAs, they can be great beers, but they just do not fit neatly into our brewing philosophy or style portfolio very well,” the website says. “While we do brew some hoppier beers, we are much more interested in exploring the nuances of malt, yeast and adjunct driven flavors and aromas at our brewery. Could we offer you a balanced pale ale, or a nice farmhouse or sour ale instead?”

The brewery saw a large decrease in sales in 2020 due to the pandemic, which forced Smith to learn how to can beers as a way to help sales.

Usually distributed in bottles, Smith said they were fighting for shelf space in stores. With most breweries canning beers nowadays, he said learning to adapt helped sales in 2021. He said he will continue to bottle his beers since that is how the beers they brew are traditionally sold. “Cans just seem to be what consumers want these days,” he said. “And the goal is to sell beer.”

Atwood also received $10,000 in grant money from the Working Washington Border Business Relief Program, which Smith said really helped.

The brewery is open from noon to 3 p.m. on most Saturdays to buy cans, bottles and merchandise. Customers can also buy beer online and pick it up on Saturdays or by appointment.

Smith said at some point he would like to open up a bar or taproom but the right situation hasn’t presented itself yet. “I would love to have a place for people to come sit down and drink our beer.”

For more information or to place an order, visit atwoodales.com.