In the brewing world, hops tend to overshadow their teammate malt in the flavor category. Brad Klann and his son Seth Klann are working to change that by growing and malting a particular variety of barley that imparts distinct flavor characteristics and then selling it to craft brewers and distillers. They are betting the farm on the success of Mecca Grade Estate Malt.

"We're the only craft-malt house that is sourcing all of our grain from ourselves on our farm," Klann says. "It's kind of like an estate vineyard and winery in that sense. And that's what we're modeling it after."

Previously, the Klanns grew wheat on their 1,000-acre farm. Now they grow a variety of barley called Full Pint. Developed by Oregon State University 20 years ago, it's loaded with flavor.

Mecca Grade can't compete with the big maltsters on price. "So we have to offer a really unique product," says Klann, "that focuses on the terroir of Central Oregon."

The beer's Full Pint malt from Mecca Grade Estate Malt in Madras, Oregon, and its organic Gargoyle hops from Hops-Meister in Clearlake make it unique — and extremely limited in quantity.

Mad Fritz beer is usually only for sale at the brewery in St. Helena and is available by exclusive membership. Needless to say, the wait list is long.

Does barley matter for beer flavor? That’s one of the main questions OSU’s barley researchers are seeking to answer. One of the school’s grad students is currently involved in a flavor project. Besides breeding barley for flavors specifically requested by craft and microbrewers, other desirable traits include cold tolerance and disease resistance.

As craft brewing continues to grow, barley production is rising in Oregon to meet the increasing demand for local ingredients. With the influx of some new funding, OSU will soon have a lab for malting small, experimental varieties.

He talked a bit about Central Oregon malt terroir and how locally sourced ingredients could create a regionalized drinking area. Aside from a couple of breweries, no one is really brewing with Full Pint yet, but there are some that are pretty excited to try, especially those who are passionate about using local ingredients (e.g. Paul from The Ale Apothecary who brews in the historic way). But in this case it’s not just about growing the ingredients, but malting them here too!

"With roots in local farming dating over a century, Klann family farms take aim at producing gourmet grain for growing brewing industry."