Dozens of people packed Karben4 Brewing’s tasting room on an unseasonably warm day in late January for an exciting step forward for climate-smart agriculture: the launch of a new beer brewed with Kernza® that was entirely sourced from Wisconsin farms.
The beer, fittingly called Kernza® Pub Ale, was loosely based on an English strong bitter style with a hoppy bitterness and fruity flavors like orange marmalade. Up until recently, using Kernza® grown and sourced entirely in Wisconsin was nearly impossible.
Five years ago, Wisconsin farmers were growing a total of 87 acres of Kernza® — a perennial grain known for its deep-reaching roots and versatility in kitchens, breweries and distilleries alike. As of the 2024 harvest, Kernza® growers had expanded to roughly 242 acres around the state. That number is expected to be even higher by the 2025 harvest season.
LISTEN: Why you should be drinking beer brewed with Kernza® grain
The grain’s recent growth in popularity among both farmers and makers like Karben4 Brewing and Bloom Bake Shop in Madison is due in part to a collaborative project between Clean Wisconsin, Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, Rooster Milling, UW-Madison Extension’s Emerging Crops Program, UW-Madison’s Picasso Research Group and WI Kernza® growers. This group is working to streamline the supply chain for Kernza® in Wisconsin so it’s more economical for growers and end-users.
Clean Wisconsin’s Natural Climate Solutions Manager, Katherine (Kata) Young, has spent the better part of the past two years cultivating new relationships with farmers, millers, bakers, distillers, and brewers, among others, to build out support and demand for this revolutionary grain that offers economic and climate benefits alike.
“I think there’s a real hunger for solutions that people can touch,” Young said.
That’s where Karben4 comes in. Joe Walts, the brewery’s quality manager and R&D brewer, became interested in the grain’s potential after learning about it at a beer festival hosted by Four Winds Farm in late summer 2024. As an R&D brewer, Walts spends his time experimenting with different flavors and ingredients to drum up new possibilities for the brewery’s future.
“I wanted to try to figure out what we could do with the grain,” he said. Interest can only get you so far, though.
Because of Kernza®’s hard shell, milling it to brewers’ and bakers’ specifications takes special equipment. Thanks to Rooster Milling, a cleaning and processing facility in East Troy, Walts was able to get a sample of Kernza® milled to the perfect specifications needed to brew beer. From there, he was able to experiment at Karben4’s brewery where he eventually developed their limited-edition Kernza Pub Ale. The nearly one-barrel test run of his new concoction sold out in less than a week.
Just like with any emerging crop, finding uses and a market can take time. But as Clean Wisconsin and our partners work with people along the Kernza® supply chain, more and more people are recognizing the benefits of exploring this new opportunity — one that has the potential to transform the lives of so many Wisconsinites’ and the businesses that support them.
“For me, first and foremost, it’s just supporting local farmers, regardless of whatever else the grain is,” Walts said. “It’s tough for people to grow barley around here so nobody does, but if they can grow something else, that’s worth getting to know.”
And as the effects of climate change — stronger, unpredictable storms, more frequent drought, and shifting plant hardiness zones — become more apparent, Kernza® offers a chance for farmers to plan for an otherwise uncertain future.
“The opportunity for Kernza®, as well as other perennial crops, is really in the opportunity to provide a more resilient income stream for rural communities. I think that’s the opportunity for growers who are interested in it,” Young said. “They see the promise of a perennial future and that these perennial crops are much more resilient to shifting climates and extremes than the very tender annuals.”
The same is true for all of the makers who rely on those crops to create the foods and drinks we all love.
In a place like Wisconsin — a state whose cultural identity is tied to beer and cheese curds, Kernza® can serve as both an alternative grain for beer and a high nutritional forage for dairy cows. Building a more robust supply chain for the grain is key to making that a reality.
“It’s almost like an investment in the future,” Walts said.
Visit cleanwisconsin.org/kernza to learn more about the WI-grown Kernza® Supply Chain Hub project.
