Local Farmers and Brewers Work Together to Produce All Shawnee County Beer

Roger and Jason Hamm, fourth and fifth generation Shawnee County farmers, have collaborated with John Dean, Brewmaster, and Alvaro Canizales, Head Brewer, at the Blind Tiger Brewery, to produce a brand new beer never before brewed.  It is called Shawnee County Golden Ale. John and Al, the brewing team at the Blind Tiger, are quite proud of how it turned out.

Roger and Jason Hamm, through their company Two Mule Malting, have grown legacy strains of barley, and malted the resulting grain themselves, and supplied the product to the award-winning Blind Tiger Brewery.  John Dean and Alvaro Canizales, the brewing team at the Blind Tiger Brewery, have turned that barley-malt into a rich, golden, easy-drinking ale.

To our knowledge, this is the first time ever that brewing-quality barley has been grown in Shawnee County.  It is also the first time ever that the complex and delicate task of malting the resulting barley has been performed here.  Quite an accomplishment for these intrepid farmers and entrepreneurs.

"Talk about hyper-local.  Talk about a low carbon footprint.  This malt originated within five mile of our brewery." said John Dean, Brewmaster at the Blind Tiger Brewery.  John went on to say, "I can assure you, our beer is only as good as our ingredients, and this top notch barley-malt from the Hamms easily passes the test."

Roger Hamm said, "Our mission is to provide brewers with malt varieties not currently available on the market as a form of seed conservation.  We started this journey seven years ago and it is now reaching fruition.  So many barley varieties may vanish, so I want to do my part and hopefully those rare varieties can find a place in award-winning beer."

Jay Ives, principle owner of the Blind Tiger Brewery, said, "The Blind Tiger Brewery is always looking for ways to trade locally and offer local products, and this relationship, resulting in such a great beer, is a big step in that direction.  Quality is number one in our brewery and this barley-malt, and the beer that has resulted from it are right there."

Shawnee County Golden Ale at 5.2% alcohol and rich malty flavor will be on tap starting at 5:30 pm on Wednesday August 28th at the Blind Tiger Brewery at 37th and Kansas Ave. in Topeka.