Colorado Grain Farmers and Consumers Collaborate to Build Community Within the Industry

The Colorado Grain Chain is supporting growers, brewers, bakers, and others in the grain economy to bolster the local grain movement

Eric Larken, co-owner and brewer at Cohesion Brewing in Denver, had been eyeing Greely-based Weldwerks Brewing Co. as a potential collaborator for a while. When he saw an advertisement for a microgrant from the Colorado Grain Chain to support local brewers, he knew he’d found his opportunity.

The idea was to combine Larken’s unique brewing techniques and locally grown malt with Weldwerk’s nationally known brand to make a unique beer that would help promote the mission of supporting the Colorado grain economy. Winning the microgrant made it possible.

“Malt for beer is so important and it’s such a fun ingredient to really delve deep on, and that collaboration may not have come about if we didn’t have that grant,” Larken said. 

The Colorado Grain Chain is a membership-based nonprofit aiming to build a vibrant community among Coloradans growing, using, or consuming local grains. CGC is currently offering $5,000 microgrants to six businesses in the middle phase of the organic grain supply chain — after harvest and before retail — to help bolster the industry and promote local grain producers, said Communication and Events Manager Audrey Paugh. 

CGC was founded in 2019 by local brewers, distillers, millers, and farmers who attended the University of Colorado Colorado Springs and realized there was no entity to spearhead the local grain movement in Colorado. 

The grain movement aims to help regional grains, particularly specialty grains like heirloom varieties or culturally significant grains, continue to be grown and used throughout the grain supply chain Paugh said. 

“We see in the grain value supply chain gaps in marketing, gaps in awareness around the value of locally diversified whole grains, and gaps of access to infrastructure and processing within geographical reach for the stakeholders that need that kind of infrastructure at the appropriate scale,” Paugh shared. 

Microgrants became part of CGC’s mission after the nonprofit was awarded the USDA organic market development grant, which awarded CGC with funding over three years. The first microgrants in 2023 awarded $5,000 to breweries and distilleries around Colorado to craft and release 100% Colorado-grown grain beverages into the marketplace. 

WildEdge Head Brewer Tucker Robinson pours malted barley from Root Shoot Malting into the mash for the beer ‘From the Fields.’ Photo by Corey Robinson.

A central goal of the program is to inspire more collaboration and partnerships between various grain suppliers and users and 2023 applicants were asked to describe how they would accomplish that through their brewing projects, Paugh said. 

Larken and Weldwerks had already been in contact about a potential collaboration and were highly motivated to get the beer made whether the grant came through or not. But when they did become recipients, it made the trial process of creating a unique beer much easier, Larken added. 

“Foamies” is a Czech Pale Ale available at Cohesion Brewing, Weldwerks, and at many retail stores along the Front Range. A new batch is prepared to be brewed and released at the end of July Larken said. 

“We’ve been excited to rebrew the beer, work with them, and get support out for what the grain chain is doing in supporting these local producers,” Larken said. “It’s great work that they’re doing, so I’m happy to support it.” 

WildEdge Brewing Collective in Cortez, Colorado has regarded supporting the agricultural community as one of its founding principles for more than eight years, said co-owner and head brewer Tucker Robinson. They became members of CGC around a year and a half ago and used the microgrant to collaborate with Root Shoot Malting in Loveland, Colorado. 

“It’s built into the WildEdge business plan that we want to support the Colorado grain economy, so when we found out that there was an organization that was also doing that, it made sense for us to engage, get to know more about them and further our goal of trying to boost the regional Colorado agricultural community,” Robinson shared. 

When Robinson contacted Root Shoot for a potential project, the maltsters were super excited about a caramelized malted wheat called “munich wheat” that wasn’t on the market yet. Their excitement inspired him in turn, and since they planned to brew in the fall, Robinson developed a darker German-style Dunkelweizen beer called “From the Field.” 

WildEdge already sources upwards of 80% of its grains from local Colorado producers and maltsters, but being part of the grain chain has really fortified and expanded their connection to others in the community, Robinson said. 

“The greatest thing they’ve given me is tied me into the greater grain economy within the state, and have actually connected me with other people in my area that are part of the grain chain,” Robinson added.  

Applications for the 2024 organic grains microgrants are due by September 27, 2024, and can be submitted on the Colorado Grain Chain website. 

“We’re excited to see innovative ideas,” Paugh said. “Colorado’s known for its craft grain industry, and we’re just really excited to see what everybody’s gonna bring forward.”