SigMT

it can be malted right away, but now farmers run the risk of the grain sprouting in the fields." Pfeifle says he is excited to see what kind of beer will be craed from his Unitan barley and curious to see what flavors will be discovered. Pfeifle sends samples of his malted grains for quality tests at Montana State University in Bozeman, Mont. "You must have good quality grain in order to make good quality malt," says Hannah Turner, Barley, Malt and Brewing Quality Lab director. "Farmers, like Ryan, are at an advantage as they know their land and they know what makes good quality grain." ree years aer he built his first drum, Pfeifle began selling his malted grains to local breweries. He now offers his malted grains worldwide at www.powerfarmmalt.com. "Ryan custom malts some Buzz barley for a custom beer of ours, called the Rusty Red Ale, which we brew exclusively for Pep's Bar in Big Sandy (Mont.)," says Brandon Roberts, co-owner of Golden Triangle Brew Company in Fort Benton, Mont. "It's a hit." Pfeifle credits his father and grandfather for creating a foundation for his malting success. Pfeifle says his grandfather encouraged him to pursue an engineering degree, while his father taught him work ethic and being fiscally conservative. "My dad is the coolest and he is the reason we are still farming. He steadily worked to build a small farm into a bigger operation," says Pfeifle. "My dad reigns me in – I am more of a risk taker and he is more conservative – which has helped me pay the bills. So, I am able to try new things and build something cool. I can take risks without starving, and if I succeed, it will be fun." e farm-to-table movement has taken a new spin with hyper-local cra beer in north central Montana. "It's so local that we call it 'stupid local' beer," says Ryan Pfeifle, who malts barley on his family farm near Power, Mont. Pfeifle works with Brandon Roberts and Stacia Fuzesy, owners of the Golden Triangle Brew Company, in Fort Benton, Mont., to malt grain grown and harvested in the area and used to brew unique cra beers. "When we were planning our brewery in 2018, we, both being native Montanans, wanted to use as many local ingredients as possible," explains Roberts. "We heard about a small malting facility in Power and saw an opportunity to decrease our footprint. 'Stupid local' is just a play on words, because our beers are so hyper-local." Golden Triangle Brew Company buys wheat from a farmer who lives 15 miles from the brewery and barley from a Big Sandy, Mont., farmer just 30 miles down the road. "Keith Danreuther was one of the first in the state to grow Buzz barley, and his nephew owns Pep's Bar in Big Sandy," says Roberts. "We decided to brew Danreuther barley in a Danreuther beer; so, we grabbed 60 bushels of that Buzz barley and took it to Ryan for a custom malt." e result is the Rusty Red Ale, brewed exclusively for Pep's Bar, in honor of the bar owner's father, Rusty Danreuther. Another popular hyper-local cra beer is the Bummybier, a German- inspired jalapeno honey hefeweizen (wheat beer), named aer Dean Bomgardner, who farms wheat for the Golden Triangle Brew Company. "Bummy is his nickname," explains Roberts. "We named it aer Dean since it is his wheat, and he was the one who asked me to throw jalapenos in beer in the first place. It is one of my best sellers." Even the honey is local. "We get our honey from Yirsa Farms in Big Sandy," says Roberts. "ey have won international awards with their honey." Another popular Golden Triangle brew is the Honyocker, named aer Eastern European farmers who chased "honey" dreams and moved west, says Roberts. e Honyocker is a light German ale featuring Pfeifle's Sloan malt. Pfeifle names his malts in honor of old elevators and stops along the railroad line between Fairfield, Mont., and Power, on which a large portion of Montana-raised barley still travels. "ese were places where a year of hard work finally came to fruition," says Pfeifle. "While industrialization and efficiency has forgoen these places, we choose to remember." Pfeifle's Bole, Sloan, Eastham, Marias, Cleiv and Cordova malts commemorate these places and the farming communities they supported. In 2019, Montana had 92 licensed cra breweries and ranked 28th in the nation. Roberts says he believes the microbrewery trend is still increasing, and supporting businesses are starting to crop up. ere are three cra malt businesses and a handful of hops growers in Montana. "It took a long time for the agriculture industry to catch up," he says. "I hope it continues, and we see a good hop harvest in 2021. It would be nice if all our hops could be Montana-grown, as well." SiG MT 53 S MT Golden Triangle Farmers Partner with Microbrewer to Create 'Stupid-local' Craft Beer Shannon Ruckman has enjoyed writing about Montana agriculture and rural life for 16 years. She has an agricultural communications degree from Kansas State University. She and her family live in rural central Montana and are active in 4-H and FFA. Samples of Pfeifle's malted grains are labeled and sent to the MSU Malt lab for quality testing.

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