Michigan Beer Guide, The Guide To Craft Brewed Beer in Michigan

Can Michigan Grow Brewer’s 2-row?
Written By: Rex Halfpenny

It was a long drive out to Shephard, Michigan to see Wendell Banks. Wendell called me a week earlier to inquire about the need for Michigan grown organic brewers 2-row barley and hops. Sure there is a need, but is it practical? After listening to this man’s enthusiasm for a half hour, I decided I had to see him and tell you his story.

Wendell Banks is a Certified Organic Grower doing business as Morning Dew Farms. Morning Dew Farms is a 20 acre farm that supplies organic produce to 60 Meyers stores.

Wendell has a great deal of enthusiasm and energy. His plans are bold and very optimistic, especially considering how little information he has to begin with. Fortunately, his wife has a full time job which allows Wendell to pursue his interests as an organic farm activist. His dream is to have his own place that serves the food he grows and the beer he makes from the crops he has grown. Beyond that, he would like to see a day where local producers supply virtually all the needs of the surrounding community.

Now in his fifth year as an organic farmer, Wendell got interested in craft brews back in 1985 when he visited the Front Street Brewery in Santa Cruz, CA. To this day two of his favorite beers are Anchor Steam and Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. It was during this period out west that he learned to farm.

Wendell explained that vegetables are the most extractive type of crop for pulling nutrients out of the ground. “We need a rotational crop and it tends to be one of Michigan’s big three; corn, soybeans and wheat, which aren’t worth a penny right now.” Could brewers 2-row barley be used?

“I started making my own beer and I saw a potential for it,” said Wendell. “I think that if I can produce the malted barley and hops, Michigan brewers would love it. I have talked with a couple Michigan brewers and they expressed interest in the idea. The impression I have gotten as a grower, is that it seems like local brewers are trying to come up with new and better ways to market their products. One of those could be a simple label statement: “Made from Michigan grown ingredients.”

I asked Wendell if he was aware of the grape and wine industry’s financial support form state money generated by alcohol excise taxes. The money is made available through the department of agriculture because of the tie with grapes grown in Michigan. His response was a bit more than I anticipated. “I was totally aware of that because I have read it in your magazine. I have always considered myself first and foremost an activist and now I consider myself a farm activist. I am interested in both small farms, which are an endangered species, and at the same time I want to stick it to the government any chance I get. When people say you can’t do something it sparks my interest. But mostly I wanted the industry to take notice about what I am trying to do here.”

“When I went out west I learned that there was real beer and when I returned home I didn’t think any more about it except buying it and drinking it. Then I got on the farm and a buddy turned me on to extract brewing. I did that once or twice but did not feel like an artist. People were impressed but I feel that I can teach my 14 year old how to do it in 20 minutes, so I decided to take the challenge. To see if I can grow everything that goes into that bottle. I am a farmer, grow it.”

Wendell’s reading pointed out that monks and farmers grew the crops from which they made their beer. The fact that they didn’t even have the benefit and knowledge of sanitation or instruments like thermometers or hydrometers reinforced his position. “They learned from experience and they made beer and life was good.”

“I really do feel like I have a different goal from most homebrewers. I will never clone a thing. I want to make my own beer and it will come out the way it comes out. La cerveca de la casa. Beer of the house. Every batch will probably have its own flavor. The key is, if I can’t grow it, it does not go in the bottle. I want to produce bottled organic beer. There is nothing more natural, more closer to home then if you could take it from the field into the bottle.”

My next step is to get my own yeast cultures growing. But yeast is a very small percentage of the whole net content. But that is a much more long range goal of mine. Right now my interest is to grow barley and to grow hops and let someone else malt it and provide those products to Michigan brewers.

I am in this phase now, growing CDC Stratus 2-row barley that I got from the University of Saskatchewan. It is not yet on the market, but I am told it is the wave. It is essentially Harrington improved for drought resistance and reduced lodging (laying down of the grain which makes it hard to harvest with the columbine). It is a short variety so that improves its ability to stand up and not lay down.

As for hops I prefer Cascades. I have Chinook, Galenas, Mt. Hood, and Nugget. I want something that has aroma as well as bitter without the high alpha. I would also like to grow something with real bittering potential. Puterbaugh Farms is where I get my rhizomes. They grow 800 acres or so and it all goes to AB or someone. For what they do they are looking for total alpha. There is this new variety now called Generic, which is like 16 percent alpha.

To pull off his big experiment, Wendell applied for and received a grant from Michigan State University. The grant is called “Meeting the needs of the Michigan Microbrewery Industry. Does the demand exist and can we grow it.”

The big problem that remains is malting. He needs 50,000 pounds to send it to Briess, which is 20 acres of barley. So to get things rolling he poured a slab in his Michigan basement and is floor malting his 2-row grain down there. “I have no hope at this stage of making a specific malt type. It will be fully modified brewers 2-row. It will make what it makes.”

He has brewed one batch of beer so far, a honey brown ale made with his organic grain and hops and a neighbor’s honey. His next step is finding a brewery who will consider taking 1000 pounds and brewing a 15 barrel batch.
MBG

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