Bill and Kristin Weller, left, started Farmers Brewing in
2017. Today, children Ryan and Lauren, above right, are learning the business. Visitors to the taproom can enjoy a seasonal lineup of beers and views of the brewery’s grain sources, above, or take home any of six styles available in cans, right.
process, then control every step in brewing to get the cleanest rice and wheat qualities. “People who visit the taproom can sip beer while looking out to our f ields of rice and wheat, and see where it all begins,” Gruntz added. He and the brewery crew share their pride in their Calrose rice by giving it a name: Calvin Calrose. The medium-grain rice is planted in late April and harvested in early September. A varied beer lineup Customers can choose f rom 12 beers on tap, including a revolving list of seasonal brews, in the new Farmers Brewing Co. taproom in Princeton. Four core beers in the lineup are available year-round. The most popular is Farmers Light, a low-alcohol light lager. Its name calls to mind the early-morning working hours of farmers. “It’s clean and easy drinking, and has more f lavor than mass-produced light lagers,” Weller said. A f lavorful, unfiltered wheat ale called 530 (a double play on the region’s area code and time of day when beer drinking is popular) is brewed with wheat farmed especially for the brewery by Weller himself. Valle, a Mexican lager named by the farm crew, pairs
Rice is king in these beers A main ingredient in beer is cereal grains, most commonly malted barley, used as a source of starch that becomes fermentable sugars during the brewing process. What sets Farmers Brewing Co. beers apart? Each contains at least 20% estate-grown rice as its grain component, which helps create beers that are light in style and hue. One beer uses only rice as its grain, making it gluten free. “Rice imparts a clean, crisp finish in our beers,” said Adam Gruntz, Farmers Brewing Co. production lead, who works with Weller to oversee the operation from field to packaging. “We aim to make traditional style beers that are incredibly refreshing and easy to drink.” Rice has been used for many years as a key ingredient in light and dry beers, including Japanese beers. American beer powerhouse Anheuser-Busch is the largest single buyer of rice in the United States, and uses rice in its popular Budweiser beers. Farmers Brewing Co.’s proximity to its grain sources, storage silos and well water helps ensure a fresh, quality product, according to Gruntz. “We create our beer from the ground up, working with it in the brewhouse before it gets to the glass,” he said. “We monitor the grains during the growing
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March/April 2021
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