Sometimes, a casual hobby can turn into a full-time endeavor. For farmer Bill Weller, brewing beer began as a hobby, using grains grown on his family’s Sacramento Valley farm. It started in his home garage and soon expanded to an old barn on the farm. But it didn’t stop there. Weller, a fifth-generation farmer, took his passion for brewing to a higher level last year by putting the finishing touches on his new Farmers Brewing Co. facility: a 25,000-square- foot operation capable of producing up to 30,000 barrels of beer annually. Weller anticipates brewing close to 10,000 barrels this year. The new brewery and taproom overlook his family’s rice and wheat fields—key ingredients in the lineup of Farmers Brewing Co. beers. Family-farmed almonds are also featured in some of Weller’s seasonal brews. The family has farmed rice, wheat, almonds and walnuts in Glenn County for three generations. “Our initial plan was to build a small brewery,” Weller said of the vision he shared with his wife, Kristin, who co-founded the company with him in 2017. “But that changed when I located the brewing equipment I needed at a brewery that had closed in Arizona. It took 18 truckloads to move it here.” It also took three years of retrofitting equipment, permitting and construction to complete the project from the ground up. “It was a lot of work,” Weller said. “But we have the equipment, and farmers are used to getting their hands dirty, so we did much of the work ourselves, including installing drainage and setting the tanks.” Weller’s goal has always been to use ingredients from the family farm to make Farmers Brewing Co. beers. “It’s very satisfying—both as a farmer and a brewer—to use our own rice and wheat,” he said. “It also provides us with a unique branding position: We’re a field-to-glass brewery.” Hobby turns into 10,000-barrel business Story by Jolaine Collins • Photos by Fred Greaves
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March/April 2021
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