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Farmer’s Perspective: Growing Grains for Flavorful Spirits

In the second of two articles looking at a farm-to-bottle relationship between distiller and farmer—in their own words—Jason Cody of Colorado Malting discusses the challenges and benefits of growing and malting characterful grains on a small scale. As told to Ryan Pachmayer.

Jason Cody Feb 5, 2024 - 7 min read

Farmer’s Perspective: Growing Grains for Flavorful Spirits Primary Image

Photo courtesy Laws Whiskey House

Our goal with Colorado Malting has always been to drastically reduce the farm-to-glass supply chain. Having a malthouse on the farm—we’re harvesting the grain and then putting it in the malt tanks on site—has reduced a lot of the transportation and emissions.

At the same time, there’s this repristination back to what it used to be. Historically, in continental Europe, you wouldn’t have found a major malting company located in one area. The old model worked for thousands of years—a farm, a malthouse, and a brewery.

We’ve only seen the effects of the industrial models for 150 years now, tops. But we have seen the kind of tried-and-true, tested methods of these traditional models. Our whole business philosophy is a repristination—a restoration—back to what beer and spirits used to be.

Growing for Flavor

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