Young Farmer Grows His Own Brand Of Beer

Young Farmer Grows His Own Brand Of Beer CROPS Miscellaneous Craft brewers have opened thousands of new establishments in the past decade literally flooding the market with new beers Jeremy Beach is also a craft brewer but in a very unique way “I’m growing all the ingredients for my beer on my own farm rather than just producing it in a micro-brewery with purchased ingredients ” says the 33-year old Wisconsin farmer Beach is experimenting with different strains of hops barley and oats on a portion of his family’s 650-acre farm Mostly the farm grows corn soybeans and hay Beach’s hop production takes place under 1 700 strands of twine each one 18 ft long Beach cut every piece of twine by hand in the winter of 2016 more than 6 1/2 miles worth Then in the spring Beach and his father used a specially built hop stringing wagon to tie all those pieces of twine to cables above the growing plants The string and hops are supported by cables attached to more than 100 locust timbers that Beach and his father cut from a nearby woods He also grew 15 acres of Conlon barley and about one third acre of hull-less oats for his beer Other plantings include wheat rye grapes high-bush cranberries pear trees blackberries hazel nuts ground cherries and Aronia berries Beach says his plan is to experiment with different flavors and styles of beers Beach says producing everything but the yeast and water on his farm makes his brews especially unique Beach has invested about $25 000 so far into his beer farm mostly for building the hop yard that grows 7 different varieties In 2015 he harvested about 100 lbs of hops by hand and produced a 400-lb yield in 2016 He sold the 2015 hops to an Illinois craft brewer and with the 2016 hops plans to brew a 10-barrel batch that will be sold in kegs and bottles He also sells hop shoots a dining delicacy to a 4-star restaurant in Madison Beach says the shoots are sauteed in butter and garlic and taste like asparagus “Having my own business has been a dream for several years ” says Beach who graduated from the University of Wisconsin and also holds a master’s degree in rural sociology He’s worked as a statistician for the USDA in Oregon and also as a survey methodologist in Washington D C His work on the farm is a long way from either of those jobs but Beach says he’s always been interested and passionate about food farming and agriculture Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Jeremy Beach Cheese City Beer Company N1671 Honey Creek Road Monroe Wis 53566 www cheesecitybeer com

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