“You’ve heard of the farm-to-table movement within restaurants. It’s an initiative that brings together local chefs with local farmers in order to curate a truly local culinary experience. The “farm to keg” (or “farm to pint” or “farm to barrel”) movement within the craft brewing industry proposes to do a similar thing—source local ingredients for small-batch brews. This can mean the addition of local raspberries for a raspberry saison, for instance. Or it could mean “going so far as to build breweries on farmland, sourcing raw materials directly from their property, like farm-harvested yeast and shade-grown barley.”
In addition to supporting local agriculture, breweries employing “farm to keg” techniques themselves benefit from the practice. Local ingredients, especially barley and hops, contribute to the terroir of craft beers, giving drinkers a true taste of the region. Brewing “farm to keg” also helps the brewery stand apart from its competition, an increasingly important strategy for the many breweries of Western North Carolina.
So, which WNC breweries have been most successful with “farm to keg” brewing to date?”
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