By Kevin Howe – Board Member, Ecologist, Master Naturalist
Protected land is the key to clean water. And clean water is the key to good beer!
Northern Neck Land Conservancy and the Nature Conservancy-Virginia are part of a partnership with strong ties to Bay View, Northern Neck Land Conservancy’s 225-acre ambassador property in Northumberland County. It’s a partnership that will soon give birth to SWMP Lager, a lager beer made with branches and leaves gathered from Bayberry plants at Bay View.
The new variety is part of the OktoberForest Virginia Collection a project that pairs craft brewers with landscape conservation programs across the commonwealth. SWMP Lager – which stands for Stream and Wetlands Mitigation Program – represents restored wetlands and streams like the freshwater wetland the Nature Conservancy-Virginia has undertaken at Bay View.
Bay View, itself, is the result of a partnership with The Nature Conservancy-Virginia. Northern Neck Land Conservancy is the region’s local land trust. It holds title to the land at Bay View, ensures a regular caretaking presence and facilitates community visits on a regular basis to share the value of land conservation. The Nature Conservancy-Virginia is the statewide arm of a national nonprofit that has protected close to 120 million acres in its 75 years of existence. The Nature Conservancy has restored a depleted freshwater wetland at Bay View through its Stream and Wetlands Mitigation Program.
Water is a critical resource; it is the lubricant of life and at Northern Neck Land Conservancy we know that as well as anyone. Forests and wetlands filter and clean at least half of our nation’s waters. A creative craft brewer and the Nature Conservancy have created a unique forest and water education program using beer as the focal point, after all beer is 95 percent water.
In 2019, Virginia brewer Josh Chapman, approached the Nature Conservancy-Virginia and suggested they brew beer with Longleaf Pine needles to help educate the public about these unique pines which once covered most of the coastal plain from Virginia south. So, the Nature Conservancy OktoberForest Virginia Collection began with the Longleaf India Pale Ale. The beers with native plant essence continued from there with Allegany Highlands Farmhouse Ale (sassafras leaves), Barrier Island Gose (eelgrass) and Clinch River Amber Ale (red spruce tips).
This year’s OktoberForest beer/native botanical mix is the Stream and Wetland Restoration Program, or SWMP, Lager. It contains two wetland plants: Bayberry and Spicebush. Both species occur in the Northern Neck and Essex County. The two wetland natives are widely used in shoreline stabilization projects, riparian buffer plantings, and wetland restoration projects.
The Bayberry (Myrica cerifera) leaves and branches used for this beer were harvested from Bay View where it grows in some abundance. Also known as Wax Myrtle, it is a shrub or small tree that is common in our Coastal Plain’s swamps, and damp forests. The leaves, bark, berries and roots have been used by Native Americans and Colonists for medicinal purposes, and the fruits were a widely used source of wax for Christmas decorations such as Bayberry Candles. It has a high-fat berry that is a major food source for birds like Yellow-rumped Warblers that occur at Bay View in winter abundance. Now it’s going into beer!
The Spicebush (Lindera benzoin) used in this brew was harvested at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Rice Rivers Center on the James River. This fragrant shrub also forms thickets but in contrast to Bayberry, Spicebush loses its leaves in winter. Spicebush is found throughout Virginia tending to grow in wooded areas and it is the host plant for none other than the Spicebush Swallowtail Butterfly (host plants for butterflies are the plants where the female must lay her eggs). Colonial land surveyors used the occurrence of Spicebush as an indicator of good agriculture lands. Native Americans made a tea from all parts of the plant and used it for many aliments. Now it, too, is in a beer!
For more information on the Nature Conservancy’s native botanical beer collection, please check out OktoberForest in Virginia | The Nature Conservancy.
Please don’t forget to secure your ticket for Northern Neck Land Conservancy’s annual fundraiser, Boots and Barbeque on October 3 from 1 to 4 pm. This is our annual celebration of all the things that drive Northern Neck Land Conservancy’s commitment to protecting working farms, waters and woodlands in our region. Each year the event is held at a property protected by a NNLC conservation easement. This year it is at Lawson Bay Farm, a protected property on the Rappahannock with an amazing history. Join us! Boots and Barbecue 2026 | Northern Neck Land Conservancy. We hope to have some OktoberForest Beer on hand at the event.
Northern Neck Land Conservancy’s mission recognizes that the preservation of our heritage and our quality of life is fundamentally dependent on the health and vitality of our forests, wetlands and open ground of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries.