HighGrain Brewing
Silverton, Ohio
HighGrain Brewing is focused on more than just brewing great beer. They want to ensure a healthy planet that will sustain brewing and enjoy great beer for generations to come. That begins with how they procure ingredients for their beer and food offerings.
“We source grains and hops locally as much as we can,” says cofounder and brewmaster Matt Utter. HighGrain buys most of their hops from Ohio Hops Guild member farms, such as Zachrich Hop Yard in Mechanicsburg, OH. Much of their malt is purchased from Rustic Brew Farms in Marysville, OH, which grows and malts their own barley and wheat. In addition to the lower transportation costs of buying from local growers, HighGrain purchases carbon credits to offset any carbon footprint from beer production.
That same local focus extends to their kitchen as well, where chef Christian Ireland is looking to his surroundings to stock his Southern-inspired menu.
“When I started last July, one of my main focuses was to start locally sourcing as much food as possible, and right now our menu is about 75% locally sourced,” Ireland says. He works with Gorman Heritage Farm, Perch Farm, and others to purchase produce. He’s also found success with What Chefs Want, a regional distributor that connects chefs with great ingredients in their area.
HighGrain’s commitment to ecological responsibility is built directly into their physical property. The brewery roof has 15 kilowatts of solar panels, and local wood infected by pests was salvaged and used for fixtures and tables. Thirteen 350-foot-deep holes were drilled into the ground for geothermal heating. They buy their additional energy needs from Ohio wind farms, and purchase carbon credits to offset natural gas use. Even the brewery’s vehicle fleet is electric. The brewery would like to increase their solar array, and are looking into acquiring an anaerobic digester that could produce natural gas from their spent grains.
“We’re trying to hone in as much as we can to make what we do as close to carbon neutral as possible,” Utter says. At HighGrain Brewing, with great beer comes great responsibility.
Photography: ©, Anjali Fong Photography