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April 25, 2021

Member Profile: Maltwerks
Grains Week, Packed with Goodness  |  AGC Member Meeting
CLC Farmer Feature: Molly Breslin  |  Field to Family: Janie's Farm & Mill  
MOSES Podcast  |  Doubting Thomas Farms on YouTube  |  Southern Ground

Hello, readers,

This week, we bring you tales from the malthouse, and notes from our virtual member meeting last week. Read on for stories and events from farmers and millers, a three-part podcast series to listen to, and a recommendation on a new read.

And did you register for Grains Week yet? It's free to the public and starts next week, May 3. 

—Alyssa Hartman, AGC Executive Director

MEMBER PROFILE: MALTWERKS

Jen Zimmerman has been called the Malt Queen of Minnesota, and if there’s an ace up her sleeve, it’s that she always has a story. As the sales director for Maltwerks, the four-year-old craft malting company in Detroit Lakes, MN near Fargo, she thinks a lot about what it takes to bring grains full circle. 

In fact it’s that big picture—who and where grain comes from, how they’re processed, and what they taste good and perform well in—that has helped her build rapport with her brewery customers. “I’ll say something like, ‘Hey, the malted buckwheat is doing well in a hazy IPA. If we malted it would you buy it?’ Sometimes they’ll ask, ‘who else is using it?’ But there are very few that are stuck in their ways. Usually if I bring something new to the table, brewers and distillers are open to that.”

Before joining Maltwerks in 2018, Jen, an Indianapolis, IN native, worked for craft breweries, most recently Firestone Walker in California. Six months into her role at the malthouse, she attended the Minnesota Grains Gathering co-hosted by AGC and Renewing the Countryside, which was her first opportunity to meet grain farmers as well as a seed company. “I really do credit AGC for having open arms and bringing so many people together in one room with different perspectives,” she says, adding that she continues to learn every day from both farmers and brewers.


I always have a story: where we’re sourcing it from, what our process is, what it’s good in. If I have the whole story that ends with ‘and it’s working,’ then that helps.

- Jen Zimmerman, Sales Director, Maltwerks

When Jen started with Maltwerks, they were malting just one type of barley. Now they work with several varieties, as well as rye, oats, and hard red spring and soft white wheats. Buckwheat and wild rice are next on their list. And Maltwerks is doing their best to keep in lockstep with regional growers and end-users as they expand the varieties of grains they malt. Upcoming collaborative brews include one featuring Kernza® from A-Frame Farm.

Jen has seen an evolution in attitudes towards craft malting over the past several years, and credits the Craft Maltsters Guild for facilitating change among brewers and beer drinkers alike. “The Craft Malt Certified™ Seal has helped educate brewers,” she says, so that people have a better sense of what craft malt is all about: relationships and food system change.

She's taking that ball and running with it, spreading the message to her brewery community. Since the program started in September 2019, she’s persuaded 14 breweries to sign on to be Craft Malt Certified. The certification boasts a beautiful logo, now proudly displayed on product packaging and on a wooden plaque that hangs in 145 craft breweries and distilleries across the country—a great way for craft beer and spirits enthusiasts to find truly local beverages near them. Curious whether your favorite craft beer and spirit makers have the Craft Malt Seal? Learn more here.

The pandemic has been tough for Maltwerks, as for many businesses. When breweries paused to adjust to different marketing channels last spring (more bottling and wholesaling with fewer taproom sales), they generally brewed less. On the bright side, Jen sees that the value proposition for craft malting has become new again through the pandemic. People thought more about where they wanted to spend their money: “Customers understand who I am and why I’m doing it. It’s a passion project.” 

Jen went to school to become a geologist, but instead underwent her own metamorphosis. Since developing a taste for craft beer, a love for the craft brewing community followed closely behind. Jen now brings her interests full circle with a sparkling personality and natural affinity for building relationships. She’s a great ambassador for local malt, and we’re lucky to have her as a critical link in our Midwestern grain value chain. Follow along with her and the rest of the Maltwerks team at the links below.
 

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GRAINS WEEK, PACKED WITH GOODNESS

One week from tomorrow—Monday, May 3—Grains Week will commence!

We’re so looking forward to a packed week with our friends across the country—and world!— discussing our favorite topic. The event’s host, Culinary Breeding Network, is working with a smattering of partners on the effort (most brought together by USDA OREI grants) including: UW-Madison, Grow NYC Grains, Cascadia Grains, Cornell University, Oregon State University, eOrganic, and the Washington State University Food Systems Program, as well as AGC.

The many wonderful speakers include the following AGC members: Amy Halloran, Erin Silva (UW-Madison OGRAIN), Halee Wepking (Meadowlark Organics & Meadowlark Community Mill), Harold Wilken (Janie’s Farm & Mill), Jesse Bussard (Craft Maltsters Guild), Julie Dawson (UW-Madison Seed to Kitchen Collaborative), Lucia Gutierrez (UW-Madison Cereals Breeding and Quantitative Genetics), Matt Leavitt (Albert Lea Seed), and Michelle Ajamian (Shagbark Seed & Mill / Appalachian Staple Foods Collaborative). 

Check out the full program & register for free! 

AGC'S APRIL 2021 MEMBER MEETING

We enjoyed a really productive virtual gathering with 49 AGC members last Monday. During our two-hour meeting, we discussed current AGC projects including efforts related to public education, food safety, and research into distilling, environmental quality, and consumer behavior and purchasing habits. We also:

  • rolled out the ‘AGC member’ version of our new logo, which you’ll start seeing on websites and in other communications,
  • prepared for the official launch of our long-awaited, much-pondered grain value chain infographic (coming in the next newsletter!), and
  • reviewed the new AGC website that will launch in May (sneak peek above).

We've got so many exciting projects in the works, and are so grateful for the wonderful folks we get to partner with to bring them to you.

Green Lands Blue Waters recently featured AGC member Molly Breslin of Breslin Farms in their CLC (Continuous Living Cover) Farmers Series. Take a peek for an honest assessment of the challenges small grains present, the process of managing diversified crop rotations, the ecosystem benefits of perennialization, and the importance of hope in spring. 

Photo: Breslin Farms 

Did you catch the Earth Day Field to Family discussion hosted by Reshaunda Thornton? She talked with AGC members Harold Wilken and Jill Brockman-Cummings of Janie's Farm & Janie's Mill in Danforth, IL, and Alec Shingel of Winslow's Table in St. Louis, MO. They took questions from the Facebook-livestream audience about all things grain, and played pre-recorded snippets from Reshaunda’s on-site visits to the farm, mill, and restaurant. If you missed the live program, find the recording here.

AGC member Doubting Thomas Farms is taking part in the limited-time FEAST! Online Marketplace co-hosted by AGC member Renewing the Countryside. As part of that effort to promote local foods, vendors were assisted with making simple videos to share their passion for what they do. Take a look here at Noreen's!

Our full 3-part podcast series in collaboration with MOSES and other AGC members is now available for your listening pleasure. Episodes include Behind the Seeds: seed research and breeding with Julie Dawson (UW-Madison Seed to Kitchen Collaborative) and Lisa Kissing Kucek (USDA-ARS), Diversifying Crop Rotations: organic transition and food-grade marketing with Jason Federer & Michael O’Donnell (Living Prairie Family Farms), and On-Farm Milling: a discussion with Andy Hazzard (Hazzard Free Farm) and Jeff Hake (Funks Grove Heritage Fruit & Grain).

Southern Ground, a long-anticipated cookbook for grain aficionados, is coming to a bookstore near you this Tuesday (here's a fun review). In telling the story of Carolina Ground flour mill in Asheville, NC, founder/miller/baker Jennifer Lapidus amplifies the work of craft bakers and millers throughout the South. In addition to stunning recipes, there are profiles of regional bakers who love Carolina Ground flour.

We value your feedback & content suggestions—
please send them to Elena Byrne, AGC Communications Manager.
See you in two weeks for our next edition!

We leave you with this closeup of malted barley from Maltwerks:
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