Innovations in food production are coming at a pretty swift clip. Call it the rise of the woke consumer. We care more than ever before about where our food and drink comes from and how it’s produced. Scientists, companies, and craftspeople are taking note and working tirelessly to bring us sustainable and innovative versions of our favorite staples and treats.
Now Patagonia Provisions has teamed up with Hopworks Urban Brewery and The Land Institute to push the envelope even further. They’ve put their heads together and took a long look at wheat-fueled beers to make some improvements that can net a positive environmental and agricultural impact while still making a beer people love. The Portland, Oregon (duh) brewers devised a recipe for Long Root Ale. The ale replaces standard wheat with The Land Institute’s Kernza grain.
Kernza is a perennial of some pretty staggeringly positive proportions when stacked up against your run-of-the-mill wheat. Since Kernza issn’t an annual, the fields it grows in don’t have to be plowed. This can potentially save on a huge amount carbon dioxide from being released into our already over-strained atmosphere. Regenerative agriculture is being looked as the future of farming. Patagonia Provisions champions Kernza because it “restores soil biodiversity, sequesters carbon, and efficiently grows crops without chemical fertilizers or pesticides.” On top of all that, it also requires less water to grow and it’s better capable of absorbing rainwater. We might as well chalk this one up in the win column already.
So, how’s the beer? Well, you’re going to have to take a trip to the City of Roses and visit HUB’s bar for an answer to that. Patagonia lauds the ale as having “crafted Grapefruit hop flavor…balanced maltiness…as refreshing as its dry, crisp finish.” As Kernza catches on with farmers, chefs, and consumers expect to see it appearing on more menus very soon.
(Via Patagonia Provisions)
