2017 : Athena / Walla Walla / Willamette

Goschie Farms seeded our 2017 Walla Walla Valley locale on May 10: 9.5 acres of OSU Full Pint, 9.5 acres of WSU Lyon, and 10 acres of LCS Genie. A long winter and frequent spring rains had pushed back our spring barley seeding dramatically. We were all a bit anxious to get the seed in the ground. We had a narrow window to do so and the rains promptly returned. These fields are managed in a Salmon-Safe certified program to reduce erosion, enhance water quality, and promote soil health. The Goschie family also grows Salmon-Safe certified hops and winegrapes, both seen in much of this footage. The rains keep coming and the soil is warming up. Very soon... we grow. Learn more at MainstemMalt.com

Crop Notes

GROWER: Goschie Farms
GRAIN: LCS Genie, Two-Row Spring Barley (11 Ac); OSU Full Pint, Two-Row Spring Barley (9.5 ac); WSU Lyon, Two-Row Spring Barley (9.5 Ac)
SUSTY: Salmon-Safe Certified; Dry-Farmed
PLANTED: May 10, 2017
HARVESTED: August 9-11, 2017

Most PNW brewers are familiar with the Goschies' hoppy contributions to the craft beer industry. That's because they're a multi-generational hop farming family in the Portland area, with over 550 acres of the world's first Salmon-Safe Certified hops. This year, we're honored that they've joined the Mainstem farming team to grow their first crop of malting barley. Welcome aboard, Goschies. And cheers to 100% Estate-Grown and Salmon-Safe Certified ingredients for beer.

Our 32 acres of Goschie spring malting barley were split to trial three different varieties at pilot production scales. The Willamette Valley is not commonly known for malting barley production, but recent work at Oregon State University's Barley World has been showing great potential. The climate is much different than our Walla Walla Valley and Athena locales, so we thought we'd give it a shot.

The Genie variety was chosen due to past performance and for comparison across all of our locales in the 2017 vintage. Full Pint was chosen due to its newfound cult following, its Oregon State barley breeding origins, and to enable cross-locale comparisons with 2017 Full Pint grown in the Walla Walla Valley. Washington State University's Lyon was chosen for its German malting barley lineage. We were also excited at the opportunity to have barley breeders from both OSU and WSU be part of this project.

April 21, 2017

Even more so than in our Athena, Oregon and Walla Walla Valley locales, the soggy spring has kept these farmers out of their fields. The farmers have just recently been able to start preparing the fields, with the goal of seeding during the next prolonged fair weather window.

May 10, 2017

All fields are now seeded! Literally hours before the next string of wet weather. The field we had planned for the LCS Genie barley was still too soggy, so there was a slight change of plans with an interesting twist. The Genie is now in a field that was just rotated out of hops. Very rare situation and SO COOL!

June 7, 2017

Following prompt emergence, each of these varieties has been quickly making up for lost time. It's interesting to note that our underdog/wildcard variety "WSU Lyon" is over 2" ahead of the other two varieties. A vigorous grower, for sure. If the season continues with its merciful intervals of cool precipitation and warm sunshine, we should end up with three top notch malting grain lots. Fingers crossed, perpetually.

July 18, 2017

With about 30 days since the last precipitation, it's safe to say that the parched Mediterranean summer has thoroughly set in. Yet thanks to deep, fertile soils and nighttime dew, this barley could not be looking much better. The stands are uniform and the kernels are plumping up nicely. The team's consensus is that our underdog, WSU Lyon, is the most beautiful and tasty of the three varieties. We're all eager to see the final quality numbers and most importantly, see how it performs in the malt house. Full Pint and Genie aren't far behind in terms of splendor, and it's all changing fast. Harvest will be upon us within the next couple weeks.

August 11, 2017

Our Goschie-grown Willamette Valley 2-Row is off the fields and into the bins! Lyon, Full Pint, and Genie varieties are all looking fabulous in harvested form. Please stay tuned for more information on yield and quality.

August 31, 2017

Our QA results are back from the lab and compiled. All six 2017 vintage grain lots across our three locales are malt-worthy. Brewers and distillers can now reserve grain from these lots, in craft malted form, for delivery through 2018.

2017 : Athena / Walla Walla / Willamette