Our role in the craft beer industry is to be the link between farmers and brewers. All of the work that we do happens between when the farmer harvests the grains and when the brewer mashes in, and it represents an important conduit between the crop and the keg.
Spread across several fields outside of West Branch, Michigan, Robert Filhart is growing 90 acres of premium barley for Koops’ Malt Haus. The Metcalfe and Conlon two-row barley has headed out and is looking even better than we could have hoped. The once green rolling hills of our northern Michigan farm are starting to turn a golden hue that makes us dream of the inspired beers that will be borne of their fruits.
Robert Filhart personifies Michigan agriculture. He farms fields in West Branch and Coleman and is the owner of the Rosebush Sale Barn. For decades he has grown alfalfa, oats and soybeans, and has dealt in the buying and selling of dairy cows throughout the Midwest. He even owns and pilots a single-engine plane that is painted to look like a dairy cow. We don't know if he calls the plane “Bessie,” but we would like to think that he does.
Robert Filhart is new to growing barley, but he is an old and experienced hand at farming, and he knows the ins-and-outs of growing a cash crop.
“It was cooler and damp this spring,” Filhart says, “That’s good for small grains. This two-row barley is heading out and looking nice, it will be ready for harvest in late August.”
Filhart has noticed the increase in demand for two-row barley in the last several years, undoubtedly an indicator of the thriving craft beer industry in Michigan. Our search for a barley farmer put us in contact with Filhart through Paul Gross of the Michigan State University Agricultural Extension.
“I had looked into growing barley years ago, but there was no market for it in Michigan, it was a feed crop here, you had to go to Wisconsin to sell it as a cash crop,” Filhart says. “I had no interest in growing barley as a feed crop, and I certainly didn't want to haul it to Wisconsin.
“I’ve known Paul Gross for many years, and he called me up and told me that he had a couple of guys here interested in contracting some barley.”
Those “couple of guys” were, of course, Chip and Chris Koop, and the result of that introduction is the 90 beautiful acres of barley now growing in Filhart’s fields.
An enthusiasm about growing barley as a new crop was part of what attracted Koops’ Malt Haus to Filhart as a grower, he possesses the same pioneering spirit and passion for Michigan based agriculture as we do.
As good as the burgeoning barley looks, Filhart’s rye fields are a sight to behold. A winter crop, rye is planted in the dry days of early fall and harvested in the arid summer weeks- a convenient prospect for grain farmers.
“There’s more flexibility with winter crops like rye,” Filhart says, “You can wait until the fields are dry to get out on them, both in fall and in summer. The rye is looking really good this year.”
Koops’ Malt Haus will be using Filhart’s rye in test batches this fall.
Our relationship with Robert Filhart is indicative of our devotion to producing a Michigan based malt, made for Michigan brewers. Larger malt houses deal with larger farms, and we understand that. But we are a grassroots business, and we walk the fields where our crops are grown, and we swap jokes with the farmer that harvests our grains.
We know where our grains come from, and we think that you should too.
Spread across several fields outside of West Branch, Michigan, Robert Filhart is growing 90 acres of premium barley for Koops’ Malt Haus. The Metcalfe and Conlon two-row barley has headed out and is looking even better than we could have hoped. The once green rolling hills of our northern Michigan farm are starting to turn a golden hue that makes us dream of the inspired beers that will be borne of their fruits.
Robert Filhart personifies Michigan agriculture. He farms fields in West Branch and Coleman and is the owner of the Rosebush Sale Barn. For decades he has grown alfalfa, oats and soybeans, and has dealt in the buying and selling of dairy cows throughout the Midwest. He even owns and pilots a single-engine plane that is painted to look like a dairy cow. We don't know if he calls the plane “Bessie,” but we would like to think that he does.
Robert Filhart is new to growing barley, but he is an old and experienced hand at farming, and he knows the ins-and-outs of growing a cash crop.
“It was cooler and damp this spring,” Filhart says, “That’s good for small grains. This two-row barley is heading out and looking nice, it will be ready for harvest in late August.”
Filhart has noticed the increase in demand for two-row barley in the last several years, undoubtedly an indicator of the thriving craft beer industry in Michigan. Our search for a barley farmer put us in contact with Filhart through Paul Gross of the Michigan State University Agricultural Extension.
“I had looked into growing barley years ago, but there was no market for it in Michigan, it was a feed crop here, you had to go to Wisconsin to sell it as a cash crop,” Filhart says. “I had no interest in growing barley as a feed crop, and I certainly didn't want to haul it to Wisconsin.
“I’ve known Paul Gross for many years, and he called me up and told me that he had a couple of guys here interested in contracting some barley.”
Those “couple of guys” were, of course, Chip and Chris Koop, and the result of that introduction is the 90 beautiful acres of barley now growing in Filhart’s fields.
An enthusiasm about growing barley as a new crop was part of what attracted Koops’ Malt Haus to Filhart as a grower, he possesses the same pioneering spirit and passion for Michigan based agriculture as we do.
As good as the burgeoning barley looks, Filhart’s rye fields are a sight to behold. A winter crop, rye is planted in the dry days of early fall and harvested in the arid summer weeks- a convenient prospect for grain farmers.
“There’s more flexibility with winter crops like rye,” Filhart says, “You can wait until the fields are dry to get out on them, both in fall and in summer. The rye is looking really good this year.”
Koops’ Malt Haus will be using Filhart’s rye in test batches this fall.
Our relationship with Robert Filhart is indicative of our devotion to producing a Michigan based malt, made for Michigan brewers. Larger malt houses deal with larger farms, and we understand that. But we are a grassroots business, and we walk the fields where our crops are grown, and we swap jokes with the farmer that harvests our grains.
We know where our grains come from, and we think that you should too.
RSS Feed
