Farm406

farm406 28 "Many of the farmers have ties to MSU," said Johnson, who earned his bachelor's in business marketing from MSU in 2004 and is in the process of acquiring ownership of the brewery from another MSU alumnus, Brad Talcott and his wife Linda Caricaburu. The recipe for Golden Bobcat also calls for the honey produced by Smoot Honey Company of Power, Montana, just north of Great Falls, where fields of alfalfa and clover along Montana's Rocky Mountain Front impart flavor to the bees' handiwork. "It's sweet but kind of spicy, too," Smoot Honey co-owner Mark Jensen said of his family business's product. On Jan. 19, when the first batch of Golden Bobcat was being brewed for packaging in cans, he helped dump 135 pounds of the amber-colored honey into a steaming kettle while touring the facility. The use of locally sourced ingredients is a defining characteristic of the burgeoning craft brewing industry, which makes beer in smaller batches and expresses a bond with place through the names and flavors of its products, Johnson said. The trend, he noted, is creating a new market for brewing-specific barley varieties developed by MSU's barley breeding program in the Department of Plant Sciences and Plant Pathology in the College of Agriculture. "Craft brewing is a growing, professional industry, and it's something MSU has ties to through its agricultural college," he said. "I think that's something MSU can be proud of." Brewmaster Tristin Bradford and Jeremiah Johnson Brewing Company owner Jeremiah Johnson talk during production of the Golden Bobcat Pale Ale at their Great Falls facility. MSU photo by Kelly Gorham Brewer and Great Falls College alumna Tianna Hinojosa adds malted barley to a grinding mill. Most of the barley used to make Golden Bobcat Pale Ale is sourced from nearby farms and malted in Great Falls. MSU photo by Kelly Gorham

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