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zoom233 · 07-26-2006, 01:31 AM

So I moved out to the country and have a small (1/2 acre) field now. Some part of me wants to put it to good use; maybe farming is in my roots. So I’m wondering if anyone grows their own ingredients? If I grew my own grains what might I have to do to them to use them in a beer? I ask because I have only brewed extract beers so far and don’t know much else. I know hops grow around Oregon just fine too so I could cover that aspect fine. If I wanted to grow it all what else might I have to grow? Anybody here a farmer and know what sort of production I could expect from .5 acre? I’m probably crazy because I know you aren’t supposed to plant the same crop year after year and such too but I just don’t know much of anything more than that.

Let me know how nuts I am or am not,
Bryan

PS. I have a tractor already but no implements for planting or harvesting grain, what might I need for that?

david_42 · 07-26-2006, 03:35 AM

I would spend some time looking around the OSU website, as they are major players in both hops and barley research. Barley runs 1500-2500 pounds per acre, so we are talking a small patch. Plow, tiller, cultivator, seeder, combine, thresher (barley is a beast to thresh). Then you need to sprout it, dry it, roast & toast it. There aren't any good winter malting barleys, which is really what Oregon needs, but the folks at OSU are trying.

I grow hops, but barley seems like way too much time & money. I'd rather buy a Sabco rig and brew. Then, I'm not much of a gardener. Plant apple, pear & cherry trees (tart ones).

ahoym8e · 07-26-2006, 05:03 AM

Oklahoma State? Ohio State? Oregon State?

ahoym8e · 07-26-2006, 05:04 AM

plant grapes, make wine...

zoom233 · 07-26-2006, 08:59 AM

Not sure if David remembers I am right next door to him or not but we are both in Oregon so I'm pretty sure he means Oregon State U.

The barley thing is probably a goofy dream but a nice one none the less. I should probably plant berries or other things to flavor a good brew with.

I thought about a micro vineyard but apparently grapes aren't cheap to plant and take a good long time to be very productive along with being fairly labor intensive. I don’t know about you but kicking back with a beer and watching the grass (barley) grow sounds a lot better than pruning and training grapes.

Guys / Gals let me know what you’d dream of doing / growing if you had a ½ acre or more to grow on.

Thanks,
Bryan

mbreen01 · 07-26-2006, 12:03 PM

How much are you willing to invest (time, energy, etc)? Overall, I think that growing an amount of grain sufficient for personal brewing would be easy. The hard part would be processing and malting the grain. Water soaks, kiln dry, etc. What I'd suggest is growing your own hops but continuing to buy grain.

Marc.

BootYtRappeR · 07-26-2006, 02:49 PM

you could lease it out to a barley grower and take part of the harvest as payment! that's the easiest and most realistic approach given as david_42 pointed out...threshing would be a b|tch to do by hand.

david_42 · 07-26-2006, 04:23 PM

You're down by Steel Bridge, right? If your tractor has a PTO with a lift, you could probably do all of the field prep with a roto-tiller. On the plus side, barley is easy to harvest, the grain sticks to the stalk. You might be able to find an old reaper that would be small enough or even a hand cradle should you have a strong back.

Or you could learn to love blackberry cider & wine. and jam, and jelly, and cobbler, and ...

G. Cretin · 07-26-2006, 06:23 PM

BYO did an article recently on growing a brewers garden. It was detailed and informative. It's what I would do if I had 1/2 an acre.

zoom233 · 07-27-2006, 02:53 AM

So I figure grain is probably out of the picture as to much investment.

Yes, I am on Steel Bridge Rd. Between 18 and the S. Yamhill.

BYO? I figure that means Brew Your Own but is that something online or a magazine or something? If it's online do you have a link? If offline how do I get a copy?

Thanks,
Bryan