BOZEMAN — Kernza is a perennial grain, and MAP Brewing is using it in their latest beer. But did you know that along with being delicious, it's helping to restore and regenerate our ecosystem?
“Patagonia reached out to us a few months ago and asked us if we’d be interested. Last year I think they had 11 or 12 breweries participate. This year they added about 10 more. So there's about 21 breweries. And we are the only brewery in Montana so we're very proud of that” said Tucker Gill, the marketing and events coordinator for MAP.
In 2012, Patagonia launched a different line of products called Patagonia Provisions which focuses on food. Their mission: combating environmental degradation and influencing the community to be more sustainable.
Last year, Patagonia Previsions began partnering with microbreweries across the United States to promote the use of environmentally safe grains in the brewing process.
“That's their idea: a lot of people love beer, a lot of people love to drink beer—how do we make it more sustainable for the future?” says Gill.
The answer? Instead of brewing with your typical wheat or barley, they’re using perennial grains such as Kernza.
Gill explains, “Kernza is a regenerative perennial grain. So essentially instead of having to plant it each year, it comes back. Which allows it to develop kind of a web of roots that get better nutrients and get down to the water table easier.”
Annual grains such as wheat, rice, and corn make up about 70% of the world's farmland and grow only one season before having to be harvested. By using regenerative crops such as Kernza, which remains productive for two or more years as well as nourishing the microbiome of the topsoil, these breweries can make a difference for our environment.
“Breweries use a lot of water to create our product. So we want to do everything that we can to be as sustainable as possible. So by partnering with Patagonia Provisions and using a perennial grain, that allows for us to minimize our impact on the planet and help to be more sustainable,” says Gill.
And although using this Kernza grain took some trial and error due to its small size, MAP brewers were able to brew the grains whole, creating a delicious Munich Helles German-style lager.
“I’m stoked about it. I think it's wonderful. It’s very light, crisp, refreshing. It does have a lot of nice subtle malty sweet notes to it. I think it's going to do very well,” said Gill.
The Kernza Lager will be available strictly at the MAP taproom for the entire year, and cans will be coming soon.
