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June 5, 2015 CapitalPress.com 17 Dairies, breweries make unusual partners By GAIL OBERST For the Capital Press Gail Oberst/For the Capital Press Brewers Steve van Rossem, left, and John Crane at Plank Town Brewery in Springfield, Ore., are among many who use dairy equipment for brewing beer. Dairies and breweries help each other in many ways. historian and writer. The sec- ond wave of small craft brew- eries followed suit in the early 2000s. Alan Sprints, owner of Portland’s Hair of the Dog brewery, once used several former milk receivers as fer- menters. One of these contin- ues to operate as a mash tun at his popular brewery. The trend continues today, and as a result, prices for used equipment are increasing in the beery Northwest. Andy Walton, owner of Halsey’s Lake View Farms, which includes a small dairy operation, said the demand for second-hand stainless steel tanks can make it hard for small dairies to find used equipment. “There’s very little used stuff for the small guy any- more,” Walton said. “It’s all going to the breweries and wineries.” Walton said small tanks under 500 gallons were once “a dime a dozen.” Today, not so. He recently went shopping for a stainless steel tank and found that the bargains had Grain By-Products Barley Products Distiller Grains Corn Rolled Mill Run of spent grain, which would cost $8.4 million to compost, where applicable, or $18 mil- lion for the landfill charges, said Brian Butenschoen, the Oregon Brewers Guild’s ex- ecutive director. In 2013, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration pro- posed new rules that would require additional and expen- sive packaging and testing to deliver the mash, citing food safety concerns. Brewers and farmers banded together and demanded a review, saying the proposed changes would be so burdensome that the practice would probably dis- continue. With help from legislators, the FDA backed down and maintained the sta- tus quo. “One argument that reso- nated is that FDA is attempt- ing to provide a solution to something that isn’t a problem and hasn’t been for the thou- sands of years brewers have been feeding spent grain to animals,” said Paul Gatza, director of the Brewers Asso- ciation, a national group that promotes craft brewers. Whole Cottonseed C ALL U S F IRST Rape Fine Pellets Meal F OR A LL OF Y OUR Canola Soy Meal Hominy F EED C OMMODITIES AND D RY M INERAL N EEDS !!! $1.55/LF $1.65/LF D15-1/#7 Where would breweries be without dairies? It might not be apparent at first glance, but some breweries wouldn’t have gotten far without help from the diary industry. For example, you might step into a former creamery that has been repurposed as a brewery, as at Klamath Basin Brewery in Klamath Falls. Or maybe you’ll sidle up to a farmhouse beer at Agrar- ian Brewery near Eugene, which was built in a former dairy barn and uses some re- purposed dairy equipment. Or, you might sip a craft beer that was brewed in a stainless steel former dairy tank, as at Roseburg’s Back- side Brewery, whose owner K.C. McKillip converted dia- ry tanks into a mash tun and other tanks used in brewing. Many of Oregon’s early craft breweries, including the Widmer Brothers, Bridgeport and McMenamins used for- mer dairy equipment in their start-up years, according to Pete Dunlop, long-time beer migrated outside beer country to the Midwest and eastern U.S. In addition to craft brewer- ies and wineries, small cream- eries and even small coffee roasters are buying up old dairy equipment. Walton said he’s not com- plaining, though. As a long- time farmer who direct-mar- kets his produce to the same people drinking craft beer, wine and coffee, he said every- one benefits from the demand for locally made products. “It’s good for all of us to promote this craft communi- ty,” Walton said. Cheese-mak- ers, dairy owners, brewers and winemakers all benefit from the exchange of information and equipment. The “I’ll-scratch-your- back” attitude extends beyond equipment. For centuries, breweries have been dispos- ing of their spent grain at local ranches and dairies, where it is used as silage supplement. Forwarding the spent grain benefitted the brewers as well: In one year in Oregon, brew- eries generate 140,000 tons 1-888-677-7781 (208) 436-7777 P.O. Box B, Burley, ID 83318 • 98 South 200 West, Rupert, ID 83350 John Evans, Bob Mai, & Johnny Miller Rupert, ID • (208) 436-7777 D15-1/#16
